The trouble with alphabetizing my paperbacks is that I've got my James Kirkwood books next to some Dean Koontz books that I'm certain I've never seen before. Now, not having read anything of Mr. Koontz's, I am completely out of line if I imply that he is a sub-par author. However, it is not unreasonable of me to assume that his books do not match up, so to speak, to Mr. Kirkwood's, which I'd put on the same level of literature as J.D. Salinger. And of course, only one of them threw a hissy fit and stopped publishing, so I think it's safe to say James Kirkwood is one of my very favorite authors of all time, with James M. Cain and Shirley Jackson and Neil Gaiman. (It is, of course, only fair to note that I am aware of only three novels of James Kirkwood's, though I also know that he wrote plays. Perhaps he, too, stopped publishing. Must look into this.)

Speaking of books, The Return of the King is eyeing me from across the room. Bastard. I really want to see the movie unspoiled, as it were. The first two movies I saw with very little idea what to expect, and though I know more about this story, I don't think I should read the book first. I don't want to have expectations.

On the other hand, the suspense is killing me. Poor tiny Sam! (Obviously, I read the end of The Two Towers, against my better judgment.) I have other Tolkien-related books to occupy myself with, but half of the stuff I've looked at gives away major events in the last book, which makes it pointless to not just read it.

Note to self: Get a life.

Oh! Speaking of books (again), two of my paperbacks got stuck together during the moving and storage portion of this past year. I pried them apart, and it seems that the culprit was some runaway shampoo (or something like), and it is still all over the covers of the books. One of them has a glossy cover, and I think I can clean it with a damp cloth, but the other is old and frail and very much paper - any ideas on how to clean it?

I made myself a latte this morning, and had the unfortunate experience of drinking coffee, milk, and dish soap. As I was too distraught to identify the object responsible, I got a new cup and am now drinking black coffee. Not what I wanted at all.