I spilled a cup of ice water on my lap this morning. This was bad for two reasons: (1) spilling cold liquids on your extremities is no fun, and (2) it looked for all the world like I had peed my pants.

I did avert disaster, however, by sneaking down to the gym and using the hair dryer to dehydrate my trousers, with no one the wiser. I call that a triumph.

I finished Moby Dick last week. It’s a baffling book. Not much happens in the way of plot. But there’s plenty about whales. Chapters devoted to the anatomy of whales, how to hunt whales, how to get oil from whales, how to prepare whale to eat, good painting of whales, bad paintings of whales, etc. It’s a combo story-encyclopedia-how to manual.

It’s also not an easy read – it’s something you’ll have to read a few times to really get. Maybe I’ll pick it up again someday. But I have read it.

I wonder what takes its pace as The Book I Really Should Have Read But Never Did. Probably “The Sound & The Fury.”