Rich in ...

Rich comes up for air long enough to tell peepsNet that he has carved out a comfortable freelancer's existence and that Maureen is working on a book that is just about ready to be pitched.

He is shooting up a storm for a wide variety of clients, our man in Portland (Ore.) reports, including Reuters and Bloomberg. Apologies to Rich if this is the first time these competing agencies have learned of his mercenary lack of fealty. You have to say "off the record" right off the bat.

Rich says his description of Maureen's book doesn't do it justice. But his take -- that it is "sort of a yogic philosophical look at nostalgia and how we remember those events from our youth and what they mean" -- sounds plenty fascinating to me, so the truth can only be better.

We remind Maureen that peepsNet employs an ombudsman, who would love to hear from her. Or we can sort this out at the Politics & Prose reading.

Here is the money quote from his despatch:

"our cat is freaking nuts! she's 18 y-o and after she eats, she stands in the bedroom howling at unseen entities. just being a cat..."

Wrong. This is what Samer does every time he drinks.