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7:23 p.m. - January 09, 2003 She pushed again for my photo on the book (back cover, lower third, left-to-center) with the brief biography and I'm none too thrilled with the idea and while it's not that I envisage fleeing from the hordes of fans like a scene from a low-budget straight-to-video movie, I'm concerned that my (ahem) youthful looks may impair gravitas and credibility. Yeah, Barbara-the-Editor didn't buy that argument either. And I have another extension - I didn't have to ask - until the beginning of February, anyway. Why the surprise last-minute flexibility? They are going to print my book at two presses simultaneously and ship directly, which is less on-press time and more No Rush time. Apparently I didn't respond enthusiastically enough because Barbara-the-Editor said That's rare, very rare. I guess. I suspect that nothing will truly sink in until I have my book in my hands and promptly put it away out of sight; I'm sick of this project and I feel I've been in labor for two years. Wait, I have - ha, get the entendre? - but I was thinking more along the lines of pushing this hated thing out of my body and handing over the polyp to a caretaker for disposal. And after this one, there are five left. Five! Ran into a former student and her mother tonight at Trader Joe's (almonds, blueberries on sale $.99, cereal) and both asked Did you get married yet and I smiled and said No, no, no time for that and made small talk while standing in a line that simply did not move. Mother left the line to retrieve another item and former student said She's flirting with you She always thought you were cute and I laughed awkwardly and tried not to recoil. But yeah, she was one of the more active parents but I no longer have a teacher's desk in a classroom and cannot play Teacher - Student. Oh. But I do have an office. And in a few years I'll be hooded and she could call me Dr. Jason or Professor Jason or just plain Daddy. Mmmmm. Where is my mind tonight other than the gutter?
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