To my dinner companion: I was right. Pralines are candies that contain nuts - not the nuts themselves.

(I was completely spoiled by having some heavenly ones in Savannah years ago. Now I'm a praline snob as well as a chocolate snob.)

Books: Well, another chapter was born tonight. It's going to take some research to get it right - I don't have a first draft of this one. I just need to add some space between the two chapters I'm working on now, and realized in a discussion tonight that I hadn't explained a particular concept very well. Here's my chance - now I need to do some research on it so I don't sound foolish. Wish me luck. (But I confess most kinds of research are a lot easier with the Internet around. I guess I can't whine about it too much.)