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Yes, I know I’ve been a bad blogger as of late. I’m starting to get emails along the lines of: WHERE ARE YOU? ARE YOU OKAY?

I am here. And I am fine.

Actually, I’m not fine. I’ve had some sort of disgusting bronchial infection going on four weeks now. All day, every day, it’s cough-cough-cough, hack-hack-hack.

But other than that, I’m fine. Just on deadline, and busy finishing up a book.

I’ve also taken up tennis again after a ten year hiatus from the sport. Once upon a time, I was a pretty good player. But the time off hasn’t done my game any good, for I now seriously suck. I played in a Ladies Round Robin last week, where I was the youngest person out there by about thirty years . . . and those grandmas kicked my ass up and down the court.

When I told George about how I lost every single set, he was encouraging. “But they didn’t criticize you, did they?”

“Yes, they did so criticize me!”

“Really?”

“Yes, really!” I said.

“What did they say?” he asked.

“It was along the lines of: ‘move forward,’ ‘stand back,’ ‘stop hitting the ball out, ‘you play like shit.’”

“They told you you played like shit?”

“Not in so many words,” I said darkly. “But their meaning was clear.”

Now I’m trying to decide if I dare show my face at the Ladies Round Robin again . . . or if maybe I wouldn’t be better off finding a class of seven-year-olds to play against. True, the seven-year-olds will probably be more likely to laugh when I fall down hitting a volley (which happened to me not once, but twice during my match last week). But maybe I can at least smash a few winners past the little kids. It might do my ego some good.

Posted 16 October 2007 at 08:49 AM