I shooed a spider out from under my desk before I sat down and now my ankles seem to be under the impression that they are being attacked by spiders. There are no spiders to be seen. I am so very suggestible.

I am attempting to get enough things in order � calendars updated, school supply lists taken care of � so that I can head into the city for a book group meeting tonight. We�re discussing a book I�ve barely started � Murray Bail�s Eucalyptus -- although it�s not too long and seems to be a fast read, so I am hopeful an hour and a quarter of concentrated time on the train should get me through it. Yes, I cram for book group meetings now. Sad, but true.

I�ve also got to track down the cover for our new box set of the first season of the Muppet Show. The cover is fuzzy and green, like Kermit the Frog and AJ has taken a particular liking to it. He insisted on sleeping with it during his nap yesterday. We watched the first episode after he got up. I was laughing like crazy, but AJ was a little perplexed by the whole variety show concept. I found this surprising, as sometimes it seems like his whole life is a vaudeville act.

The Muppet Show came out while I was living in England, before it came out in the U.S. Rumor had it that it had been first rejected by American studios. The variety show was a much more lively genre in England at the time � the U.S. had moved on to things like Dallas and the Love Boat and Fantasy Island. Our whole family would watch it together and we loved it. In watching it again, though, it is quite a different show than I remembered. There is much to go over the heads of children. It is not simply Sesame Street redux. It�s delightfully insidious.

Yes, my life is just about as exciting as it sounds. But this will all change tomorrow, when our new refrigerator arrives. I am assured, from the advertisements, that it will revolutionize my life. I will smile all the time. My teeth will be gleaming. My family will be happy. My kitchen counters will be clean and the floor will be mopped. I think it will even cook all our food for us! I wonder if it also does the shopping? Think of the time I�d save. Ah, the wonders of modern technology!

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