While I am working on decluttering the house, I have continued to buy books (because I don't consider these books clutter). The next one for the docent book club is by Bianca Bosker and am enjoying this so much I'm going to see what else she's written. Her style is wonderfully descriptive yet moves the content along, the master of the perfect contextual turn of phrase, reminding me of Shana Alexander and Edward Abbey, lots of nuance. "Gossip for art people is like echolocation for bats: You sent out signals of what you thought was great or derivative or phony, then oriented yourself based on what came back." Get the Picture: A Mind-Bending Journey Among the Inspired Artists and Obsessive Art Fiends Who Taught Me How to See.

A word to the wise: Nothing gets a journalist's undivided attention like hinting something is rotten to its core, then clamming up. It's like seeing your neighbor whistling "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" while he pats down freshly dug earth and incinerates a pile of clothes. Um, yes, I have a few questions. . .

Spring is officially here because I mowed the front yard yesterday and today I'll do the back. Tomorrow is trash day and I have a combination of bagged shredded pages and trimmed woody branches to drop on top of the one small bag of household garbage in the huge bin.