THIS & THAT: As I mentioned in my COMMENTS, I somehow had the big Mo to head down to the workout room last night upon arrival in Minneapolis. In typical me fashion, I had a bit of a spaz-out down there, using the treadmill, the elliptical, the weights and weight machines, the pool, and the hot tub. Had a nice dinner of local walleye and some veggies, and I slept pretty well. I also made the mistake of making a late-night run to the local Borders store which, according to their website, should have been open until 11PM. Alas, when I arrived there entirely frozen (no, Mom, I did not bring a hat or gloves) at 9:55PM they told me I had five minutes to thaw out on accounta: "We're closing, bub." Nice. I had head-freeze on the walk back which was quickly remedied by a big to-go glass of the house Zin. And...scene.

Just finished Michael Collins' LOST SOULS, a book I grabbed on a whim in Santa Monica 'cause I liked the cover and one of the blurbs on the back. And wow! This guy can write his ass off. Sort of David Gates meets Michael Connelly. Artistically sound, rather bleak prose that organically pulls the reader from page to page like a Grisham...with none of the aftertaste. A definite model for the kind of novel I hope to write.