The all-time worst photo of me

appeared in the July issue of Locus alongside the announcement of One Jump Ahead winning the Compton Crook award. Being a glutton for punishment, I showed the photo to everyone at home when I saw it. I felt the love:

"You look like the Compton Care Bear."

"Give that man a purple carnation."

"Oh my God!"

"It's not that bad, it's [breaks down laughing and snorting and finally runs away]"

You get the idea.

To bookend my day, I got up this morning at 5:15 a.m. after a nearly useless two hours in bed, and took Kyle to the airport. Along the way, we spotted a kitten eating some roadkill. Unfortunately, we spotted the kitten too late to swerve, so I went over it and feared I had killed it. After I dropped off Kyle, I retraced my route, pulled over at the scene of the possible crime, and checked the whole area for traces of ex-kitten. To my great relief, I had not killed the kitten--and it had even managed to take the last of the roadkill with it. One great big softie, yes I am.