First, I need to apologize for short-changing Nathaniel West--his complete opus runs 421, not 321 pages. As penance I read Miss Lonelyhearts, which isn't the worst thing you could do if you have 75 spare minutes. It's about the guy who writes the "Miss Lonelyhearts" column for a New York newspaper, but while he took the job as a lark, he finds himself completely broken down over time by the realization of all the real tragedies people pour out to him. Suffice it to say, it's not exactly a pick-me-up.

The new gig started today. I am working for _____ doing _________. Since it's a law firm, there are confidentiality agreements out the ying-yang. Suffice it to say I'm helping to manage documents for a case with over 1,000 bankers' boxes of documents. The pay and the work itself are better than anything I've done in a long time. It looks like the commute is about an hour 45 in the morning and slightly less coming home. That I could do without, but over half of that is spent on the T (Pittsburgh's subway/trolley thing), so at least I can read or nap for parts. My schedule is flexible, so I'm experimenting a bit this week with different start and end times, but if I take a Major Test Prep Company class in the near future, I may be starting at 7 at least one day a week. That would involve getting up at a time that starts with a 4 and contains an "a.m." Very not good times.

Also, you may notice I got all of 6 Sweet Sixteen teams, which sadly enough is not a personal low. In 1992 I got four, though I did correctly pick the Dookies that year, before I realized they were evil. The alma mater is doing very nicely, though, so I do have something to continue to pull for.

Finally, DEK and I saw "Star Dates: Kim Fields" while flipping through games on Saturday. It's as entertaining as the Dustin Diamond episode, and perhaps even a little more so--and I don't say that lightly. But it contains perhaps the single worst date anyone has ever had anywhere that didn't involve amputation or restratining orders. It does lose some points for having a second date that wasn't particularly funny at all, but which was worth sitting through just to see the bad first date preening during the credits. If you have 25 minutes to spare and it's between this and reading one-third of Miss Lonelyhearts, choose E!