AUSTIN, Texas, August 31, 2004 — Some newspapers. Are You Somebody: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman by Nuala O'Faolain.

AUSTIN, Texas, August 30, 2004 — World Food Ireland book and newspapers. Worked the NYT Crossword puzzle in the Monday Arts section. Are You Somebody: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman by Nuala O'Faolain.

AUSTIN, Texas, August 29, 2004 — World Food Ireland book and newspapers. Worked the NYT Crossword puzzle in the magazine. Almost. Started Are You Somebody: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman by Nuala O'Faolain. Probably finish it on the plane to Dublin.

AUSTIN, Texas, August 28, 2004 — World Food Ireland book and newspapers.

AUSTIN, Texas, August 27, 2004 — I've been reading the books I bought for my trip to Dublin off and on. I only allowed myself the Eyewitness Travel Guide. a small Knopf Citymap Guide and the one I read on the bike today: the World Food Ireland book from Lonely Planet. Martin Hughes talks about potatoes and fish and dairy products, of course. But there's a goodly amount about drink, too. I've been avoiding or limiting alcohol trying to get myself into perfect shape before a trip to a place where I hope to have a Guiness or two and a shot or two of Irish whiskey. I read about distilling and brewing and sweated.

I read in one of yesterday's papers that Gore Vidal was giving up his Italian villa. He said he wouldn't need such a big place if he didn't have 8,000 books. He has a big house in Hollywood apparently. Well, now, we have 3,000 books and considerably less space, I'll bet.

AUSTIN, Texas, August 26, 2004 — Finished Charmed Circle: Gertrude Stein and Company by James R. Mellow. It's sad in the end, Alice without Gertrude kind of misused by Gertrudes nephews children (I think it was). Gertrude spent her life thinking. It was often wrong-headed and without punctuation and she had a huge ego. But she was not afraid to think. And innovate. And pass judgement. And those paintings she collected. Who could have known?

AUSTIN, Texas, August 25, 2004 — Charmed Circle: Gertrude Stein and Company by James R. Mellow at bed time. I was going to finish it today but I didn't. WWII is over, though. They survived (American Jews in France!) and so did most of the paintings. (She sold a Cezanne to eat.)

AUSTIN, Texas, August 24, 2004 — Charmed Circle: Gertrude Stein and Company by James R. Mellow at bed time. This is going slowly. Can't say why. Maybe because they are quoting Ms. Stein too much and she is so obtuse with her gerunds and all. Read all the papers.

AUSTIN, Texas, August 23, 2004 — Charmed Circle: Gertrude Stein and Company by James R. Mellow at bed time. Read all the papers.

AUSTIN, Texas, August 22, 2004 — Charmed Circle: Gertrude Stein and Company by James R. Mellow on the bike. Yeah, I know I've been reading it forever. It's long and the print isn't that large and the (many) quotes even smaller. I like it, though. Also read the Sunday paper.

AUSTIN, Texas, August 21, 2004 — Charmed Circle: Gertrude Stein and Company by James R. Mellow on the bike. The daily newspapers.

AUSTIN, Texas, August 20, 2004 — Charmed Circle: Gertrude Stein and Company by James R. Mellow on the bike. Newspapers. Bobby Fischer and the Japanese woman and his status for playing a match when Yugoslavia when the U.S. had sanctions against it. Shouldn't we just let this guy be? I think so. However, his anti-Semitic and anti-American rants are interesting, apparently making him a poster child for some fanatics. Hmmm.

AUSTIN, Texas, August 19, 2004 — Newspapers. So...Google is going public at a lot less than they wanted. I'm not seeing that price even.

AUSTIN, Texas, August 18, 2004 — Newspapers. A bit of a book by an Irish writer and a few pages of the Gertrude Stein book.

AUSTIN, Texas, August 17, 2004 — Newspapers. You are more likely to die in an SUV or pickup than an ordinary car. Just so you know.

AUSTIN, Texas, August 16, 2004 —Charmed Circle: Gertrude Stein. Book is almost too exhaustive. It gives everyone's version of the same events. (Given that it's Hemingway, Ms. Stein, etc. of course they are all different.) I envy these people who, even the ones who claim poverty, finding the time to pursue their creativity.

AUSTIN, Texas, August 15, 2004 —Charmed Circle: Gertrude Stein. I admire Gertrude's egotism, her insistence on her weird art.

I read all the newspapers. You know, I didn't even know who the governor of New Jersey was until McGreevey came forward with his tale.

I finished American Splendor. Harvey Pekar is the master of the mundane. The various artists he uses to execute his vision are also brilliant. Harvey could be an online journaler, he is so good at the mundane.

AUSTIN, Texas, August 14, 2004 —Charmed Circle: Gertrude Stein. WWI is finally on. Gertrude and Alice go off to Majorca. Georges Braques went to war and got hurt. Picasso is quoted as saying he took him to the train station and never saw him again. But he didn't die. No. But he was injured from what I see.

I read all the newspapers. (Well we only get two on Saturday.) Julia Child dead, al Queda operatives turning to selling pirated CDs for money for terror. (Hmmm...isn't that embracing the very things they supposedly hate? Are they peddling decadent music to some gal in a burka?) Hurricane Charley and the Olympics.

I read part of the 'graphic novel' (AKA comics) American Splendor. Almost finished it, in fact. I'm not a comics person but I do like this and Too Much Coffee Man.

AUSTIN, Texas, August 13, 2004 —Charmed Circle: Gertrude Stein and Company by James R. Mellow--can you imagine just meeting people like Picasso and Juan Gris and deciding to collect their paintings? Read all the papers. The New Jersey governor story. The gay marriages nullified in California.

AUSTIN, Texas, August 12, 2004 —Charmed Circle: Gertrude Stein and Company by James R. Mellow--still haven't made it past the first World War! Read all the day's papers. (Of course not every word! Who would do that? And, of course, the Statesman reprints The New York Times stuff so....)

AUSTIN, Texas, August 11, 2004 —Charmed Circle: Gertrude Stein and Company by James R. Mellow--it's still before the first World War. Amazing. Both that this book is so detailed and that the salon survived two wars.

AUSTIN, Texas, August 10, 2004 —Charmed Circle: Gertrude Stein and Company by James R. Mellow is so exhaustive that it tells and reiterates what the principals are wearing and eating.

AUSTIN, Texas, August 9, 2004 —Charmed Circle: Gertrude Stein and Company by James R. Mellow is a really scholarly piece and it goes on and on about every painting the Steins buy and every person they meet. But it's interesting.

AUSTIN, Texas, August 8, 2004 —Charmed Circle: Gertrude Stein and Company by James R. Mellow. I saw this painting by Alfred Maurer at the McNay and thought "yeah, I read about him being in Gertrude's salon.

AUSTIN, Texas, August 7, 2004 —Charmed Circle: Gertrude Stein and Company by James R. Mellow on bicycle read. Read all the day's newspapers.

AUSTIN, Texas, August 6, 2004 — Finished the Odyssey translated by T.E. Lawrence. Picked up Charmed Circle: Gertrude Stein and Company by James R. Mellow for my bicycle read. Read all the day's newspapers. Looked through another translation of The Odyssey I found lying around. Read some of the Harvey Pekar book of his comics American Splendor from which the fantastic quasi-documentary was made.

AUSTIN, Texas, August 5, 2004 — Almost finished the Odyssey translated by T.E. Lawrence. Odysseus was mopping up the suitors when I fell asleep. Only the denouement left. Read some of the papers. Tried and failed to work the crossword in The New York Times.

AUSTIN, Texas, August 4, 2004 — Still reading Odyssey by T.E. Lawrence. Read some of the papers. Tried and failed to work the crossword in The New York Times.

AUSTIN, Texas, August 3, 2004 — Still reading Odyssey by T.E. Lawrence. Read the papers.

AUSTIN, Texas, August 2, 2004 — Odysseus made it home but he hasn't revealed himself to anyone except his son so far. Man these old Greeks had many trials, huh?

AUSTIN, Texas, August 1, 2004 — A translation of Homer's Odyssey by T.E. Lawrence in the car (while FFP drove around) and at the movies before it started and while we ate and later in bed. Odysseus is home to Ithaca but has not yet revealed himself. Sunday papers.