As some of you know, a sudden dose of uncertainty has graced my life with the abrupt and unexpected demise of Magnet Interactive's West Coast office. Magnet was going through a merger, and, with no warning the new company closed down the L.A. office. While becoming unemployed was a bit of a shock, I've been doing a lot of thinking and planning, and expect only good to come of the situation. Life can be a lot like a forest - for new growth to occur, some event like a storm or fire needs to come through and clear the way.

Among the more dramatic changes that this has ushered in has been the return of the printed Meander invites for the non-email recipients. Yes, all it took was enough time to discover that the error message "Printer not accepting data" translates to "Hey, the printer's out of ink, but we're not going to light up the out-of-ink light." That's what is generally called a "User Friendly Interface" in the industry. I mean really.

The other great thing is the opportunity to watch Hummy. In the rose bush in the front yard, a hummingbird has built her nest. Braving rain and cold, she has hatched two tiny eggs, and every day I can look out the window and see how they're doing. Hymavathi and Humphrey are growing quickly, although I expect they're as tired of all the rain as I am.

In any case, if it's still raining Saturday (that's the prediction... again), we'll Meander around the fireplace at the Quagg.

Phone in comments to 310.210.3347, meil 'em to the postal address skillfully concealed elsewhere on this page, or email 'em to samuelg@themeander.org

• excerpts from Pantagleize by Michel de Ghelderode
• "The Second Bakery Attack" by Haruki Murakami from The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami
• excerpts from Bad Dog and Superhero by Kenneth Hughes
• excerpts from Drive Angry by Kenneth Hughes
• excerpts from Paul Klee by Paul Klee
• excerpts from The Time of Your Life by Kenneth Hughes
• "Chinese Medicine" by David Warfield
• excerpts from All's Well that Ends Well by William Shakespeare
• "Martha Stewart Nation" by David Warfield
• "Terms of Service" by David Warfield

All misspellings, misattributions, omissions or errors in naming should be construed as Acts of God, directed through yours truly (for reasons at which we as mere mortals may only guess...)