This'll be a short one, as I'm on break (yes, to those not in the wonderous know, I got my job back at the library. Which means, you know, breaks. I forget how absolutely non-union dishroom is 'til I get back here, that's for sure) but at least it'll be an entry.

I'd make the usual excuses of not having anything to say, but, as it stands, a few things have happened. I just haven't been online much at all. Dial-up is still a bane of my homelife, and Diaryland's been giving me that "wait a few" message every time I have been on. It's hard enough, me not having any motivation to write, without a little message saying I can't when I do work up some energy. Nevertheless, I understand why they do it... Maybe I'll get a paid account. If only for protecting my few moments of energy...

Michael Lowenthal finally wrote a new novel, Avoidance. I've been waiting ages for his next novel, ever since reading The Same Embrace. I checked it out yesterday, and returned it today (ended up reading both Susan Minot's Monkeys and that in the same day. Not sure if that speaks more for the talent of the writers or the boredom of the reader) as a matter of fact... It was excellent, but I really prefered his previous novel. I'm not quite sure why--I guess there was just so much power in between the relationship of the brothers in the prior, and Jeremy, the lead in this latest work, is a bit antisocial--so his relationships aren't so pulling. I also thought the whole Amish thing needed more going in to. Still, Lowenthal's prose is solid.

Actually, in a great work of irony, he dedicated the book in part to Scott Heim, writer of Mysterious Skin, another one of my favorite contemporary novels. Perhaps the world of gay literature is smaller than I think?

Eck, break's over. I would like to elaborate... but I suppose you all will just have to wait 'til next time I've got motivation, and diaryland's server has room.

Music-- none, but I've got that "I'm Sorry Ms. Jackson" song stuck in my head for some godawful reason.