So Close. Sooooooooooooooo Close.

August? Did I say August? I meant late September. 

Okay, so yes, I did think I'd be finished now. The bad news is that I'm not. The GOOD news is that I'm so close I can touch, taste, and feel "the end." I have one chapter left to write, then the introduction and the conclusion. The chapter will take about a month. The intro and conclusion three or four days.

So --- really, it's almost there. I'm feeling a bit frantic about it: I want to get into the publisher's Fall 2012 catalog and in order to do that, I gotta finish this sucker NOW, or at least in the next five weeks. 

Which is why, aside from two major interruptions, I will be keeping my head down for the near future. The two interruptions are: I'm giving three talks in the New York City area the first week of September. The talks are in conjunction with the German-American Stteuben Parade and the festivities that surround that. The second interruption is my high school reunion in mid-September. A year ago, I rather stupidly offered to help organize the event, never dreaming that the reunion would coincide with my race to the finish line with this book. (Because, ya know, I figured I'd be FINISHED with the damn thing by now.)

Anyway, that's what's new here. Or, urm, not new: more delays. Longer hiatus for the blog. But fear not. I shall return. The world keeps getting goofier, and Republican politics weirder (I live in Iowa, remember? We're neck-deep in the 2012 prez election here), so I have LOTS to say once I can get back to blogging.

Until there: au revoir. See you soon. VERY soon.