A little of this and that

Today, the image of tooth marks on pencils popped into my mind. I have never understood gnawing on pencils. You know that kid in school who chewed up his pencils, nibbled off the erasers and pinched closed the metal part on the end with his teeth? What is that about?

I also do not understand shoes without socks. Am I the only one whose feet rub and blister if I am sockless?

Speaking of socks, why do my children pad around outside in the damp weather in their stocking-feet? Do they enjoy clammy wet socks?

I would never walk around outside in my socks. However, I am weird in my own way. For instance, I still have magazines from 2002, the year my daughter was born. Some dim lobe inside my brain is convinced that I am going to read them. They are neatly stacked upstairs on a shelf. Clearly, I need professional help.

Finally, I spent the last twenty-four hours speed-reading a Harlan Coben book (Tell No One). Why have I only recently heard of this writer? I literally did not want to do anything at all but read this book. (That, after putting down Songbird by Lisa Samson because it did not grab me after reading halfway through. I always feel like a traitor when I do not finish a book.) I have two more Harlan Coben books on my shelf and will read them . . . as soon as I read two other books I started (a diet book and a book of essays that I will tell you about soon).

Wow. That was random.