Proofs

I had a nice big box awaiting me on the front porch yesterday afternoon. It contained the first pass page proofs for the book I’ve been working on this year. A hefty package, since the proofs are printed on 11 x 17 sheets and even then there was a notice that the print had been reduced to fit on the pages, which is an indication of how large this book is going to be.

I’m biased, of course, but it’s a thing of beauty, which is what I’ve been expecting all along, but to see a grotty old Word document with changes tracked turned into this elegant volume is an amazing transformation. I have to proofread the text, of course, but my primary task is to add captions to the many, many images and to suggest “pull quotes” for the chapter headings and for some of the pages. I have to get the quotes ready by Friday, but I have the weekend to finish up the captions.

24 is proceeding from the ridiculous to the ridiculouser. Every time one bad guy is neutralized, we find out that he wasn’t the real bad guy after all, that there’s one even worse waiting in the wings to take his turn. We got rid of the African terrorist, and then the American terrorist, only to find out that there’s someone else scheming and plotting against the nation, all in one day. And the last few minutes of last night’s episode were beyond the pale. If, as it seems, two agents were killed by this guy, there’s no explaining it. If it’s all a ploy to protect his cover, even that’s going to take some fairly tall tale telling.

Castle was a breath of fresh air by comparison. Sure, it had three stereotyped female characters (the overly smart and responsible teenager, the invasive ex-wife and the deluded mother, who is only a few degrees away from Charlie Harper’s mother on Two-and-a-Half Men). That’s just the comic relief. It’s all about Castle and Beckett, and that part is great. However, after Castle saved Beckett’s life, I thought the favor he was going to ask was going to have something to do with getting rid of his ex-wife rather than what he actually did request, nay, demand. It was fun seeing Beckett revel in Castle’s discomfort.

The Amazing Race was brutal this week. I don’t think anyone has ever been assessed a four-hour penalty before. You’d think the teams would learn the implications of the statement “you’re the fourth team to arrive” versus “you’re team number four.” The latter is your finishing position, whereas the former means you screwed up somewhere along the way. The stuntmen have amasses more penalties than anyone in history, I reckon. They’re going to start the next leg of the race in a different time zone from the others. I’m still rooting for Luke and his mother.