Authors--and Jacob

Roberta Isleib's guest post on this blog is a hard act to follow--I think I got more comments than I've ever had in one day. I guess today was my day for brushes with well-known authors. Austin novelist Sarah Bird was at TCU to discuss her new novel, How Perfect is That?, a satire about Texas high society and politics. Only in her speech she didn't talk about the book at all--she talked about being a columnist (she writes a monthly column for Texas Monthly) and how being a columnist could change all of our lives. Funny thing--I write a monthly column for the Dallas Morning News on Texas writers and all I notice is that the monthly deadline makes me crazy to know what I'll write about. Sarah has more freedom and can talk about whatever topics hit her brain--and some are pretty zany, She accompanied her talk with lots of body language, and everyone in the room was laughing out loud. One woman told her she should be on "Saturday Night Live." Probably one of the best--and best attended--programs we've had in the "What's on Your Book Shelf?" series.
Tonight she's gone off to do a reading at a bookstore in Plano ( a really long way from Fort Worth) but she's headed back tonight to stay in my guest house. I'll probably be long asleep by the time she gets here, but we'll have lunch tomorrow and catch up on visiting.
Last night and tonight I had Jacob for company. He's not exactly sparkling company after a long day at day-care, although today I noticed on his daily report that he had a two-hour nap. Still he's kind of solemn, whiny for Mama, and not as loving as he is when he's rested and happy. Still we got along fine. I heated some meatloaf for him and doused it in ketchup (his favorite food) but he wanted none of it--he wanted the really rare chopped sirloin I had fixed for myself, kept saying, "More, more!" His mom came from a business meeting a little after seven, wolfed down her food, and took him home. I'm going to demand more mid-day visits.
Texas is preparing for a hurricane which apparently will cut a wide swath. Colin called tonight to say, "We may be blown away this weekend." Such a comforting thought. They are north of Houston, about 80 miles inland, but I suspect they'll get heavy rains and high wind. He says they're pretty much ready. We're predicted to get rain, possibly wind, possibly thunderstorms by late Saturday or early Sunday, and the storm will continue up into Oklahoma and even Kansas. What I worry most about is what to do with Scooby and his pathological fear of storms, but I guess I don't have to worry about it for a few days.