Obviously, I haven't updated this weblog in quite a while. I procrastinated a bit, and had begun a short piece on Joseph Mitchell which I was planning last week to post Tuesday or Wednesday. Since then, in Martin Amis's words, the 'temperature of planetary fear has been lifted towards the feverish' and working on Scribbler has felt a bit absurd. And this weblog isn't meant to function as a political forum. I've decided to launch a second weblog, at http://blowback.blogspot.com which will be an unabashedly biased and political page, linking to stories chronicling whatever hellish path we are apparently marching down...

I may continue to post general interest pieces here again soon, but for now my heart's not in it.