Well, I got the oil changed in my car today and I gave it a bath. Now there's a pet I can appreciate. I feed it once a week. It sleeps outside and never begs to come inside and mess up my house. It only complains for good reasons. And in return? I get to work every morning and can escape the city at will. I call it a healthy symbiosis.

Cats: I'm not optimistic about how long this can last. It's only been one day and I'm sick of them. I guess I'm not very good at giving affection on demand.

Garden: I picked a handful of beans today. Cool. There will be more, too. It also produced a pepsi can.

Books: Well, I finished up a few dangling rewrites and got one new chapter written. It's not exactly lightspeed, but it is progress. I hope the others go more quickly. They're not as complicated. Pretty straightforward action, really. We're into the home stretch.