SCENE: Harriet�s very messy office.

AJ: (eyeing an enormous white binder with the words �Dissertation Notebook� on the cover): Hey, Mommy, that book makes me think of Stanley. Do you know why?

Harriet: Why?

AJ: Because it�s the Great Big Book of Everything.

* * * * *

Stanley, a cartoon boy on the Disney channel with an overdeveloped fondness for animals, has a magic book called The Great Big Book of Everything, in which he is able to look up facts about every animal imaginable (organized alphabetically, for maximum efficiency). But the book does not simply list the facts. Stanley, accompanied by his pets Dennis (a goldfish), and Elsie and Harry (a singing cat and dog with a very limited repertoire), leap into the book and become the animals they�re studying . Occasionally the book is also the conduit through which said animals make unexpected appearances in Stanley�s suburban bedroom.

The Great Big Book of Everything mediates most of Stanley�s problems and provides most of his education and entertainment. Other than the Great Big Book of Everything, Stanley seems only to need friends, family, and of course his beloved pets to make his life complete. Hmmm. AJ�s comparison is sounding more and more apt.

I printed out the latest draft of the diss this morning. Parts I and II are mostly finished (a few references here and there to chase down and a couple of arguments to flesh out better) and clock in at 6 chapters. Together with the introduction, I�m up to 275 pages, with an estimated 75 left to write (we won�t speak of my completely out of control bibliography). Holy cow, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I wouldn�t go so far as to call it the Great Big Book of Everything, but it is starting to feel like an accomplishment, albeit one that is not yet quite accomplished. I aim to have this particular pile edited and on my advisor�s desk by the time he returns from Europe at the end of July. The thing that�s amazing about that deadline is that at the moment, it is feeling totally achievable.

But, of course, there are many distractions, like the garden and the pool and running through the sprinkler with AJ and taking AJ to every playground within a 50-mile radius. I�ve been keeping a list of people and institutions I need to thank for my acknowledgement page (my fellowships, my committee, my family and editorially-inclined friends). However, I�m starting to think I should be keeping a parallel list of all the things that got in the way (my job, my family once again � they�re playing both sides of the fence, my self-doubt, my common sense).

And speaking of AJ, he has been making some quite remarkable projects in his summer camp. They�ve been doing a two week unit on building and have been learning to use hammers and nails to make wood projects. So far they have made a box out of popsicle sticks, complete with a lid. Today we brought home a beautiful string art picture made with copper-headed nails and thin red twine stretched around the nails in lacy patterns. They�ve also built a toolbox (AJ�s was still drying when I picked him up at school) and for their final project this week, they�re making a train with an engine and two cars. I have to say that these projects are MUCH better looking than the things I cobbled together in wood shop in junior high when I had almost a decade on AJ�s current age. Still, I have to question the sanity of preschool teachers who opt to teach woodworking skills to a bunch of four and five year old kids. AJ swears he�s hammering in all the nails himself. I wish I could watch.

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