Fall break in D.C.

This evening I am descending on our nation's capitol to visit my kin: brothers, sister-in-law, and nieces who will maybe be two feet taller than when I last saw them in June. My Dad and stepmom will be out of town…in China!

I can't wait.

Dave is coming, too. We fly in on different flights on different days. What a good sport!

While there, I'll put This is How You Lose Her in my brother Matt's hands. I'll scour my sister-in-law Virginia's impressive collection of magazines. And I'll try, in vain, to read 18 books  of my own but only read 20 pages of one. But maybe I'll read my nieces 18 picture books before they go to bed. I'll check some out of my library, some of my favorite picture books, stuff them in a carry on, and smuggle them east. Traveling with library books is usually taboo in my mind, but, as they say, there are exceptions to every rule.

The agenda also includes hounding Matt for his latest reads. Matt fulfills the older brother role of finding off-beat books and music with panace. Remember who introduced me to Junot Diaz? He's the kind of brother who buys you Cat Power for Christmas and The Wind Up Girl for your birthday. And then he inadvertently makes you feel like the most run-of-the-mill, boring 20-something out there whose idea of unique is Zadie Smith and Indigo Girls. Well. What can I say? We like what we like. I expect him to toss me a few paperbacks. Matt's pretty good at finding great fiction, and he is my go-to when I need that fiction most. After all, great fiction is, I believe, where most readers are born.

So off to D.C. I go! Until we meet again (in 4 days) Indianapolis! I'm out.