People! Please! I know it’s a beautiful warm day, but for dignity’s sake, PUT SOME CLOTHES ON over your bathing-suited bottom before you go shopping. Geez. And one more fashion tip, sweetie — trade in those dirty, unlaced work boots for a sassy pair of flip flops that match the suit, ya think?

I’ve finally gathered my thoughts enough to post, following a busy busy ConQuesT and the busy busy post-holiday work zoo. For those of you who were at ConQuesT — it was good to see you! For those of you who weren’t — you missed a friendly, laid-back literary con. Things seemed to go smoothly. Sold a lot of art. Saw a lot of friends. Enjoyed a few good parties. Signed a few books. Had a…

Counting down to ConQuesT…. my art is smaller, but my display space is bigger this year…. scurry scurry scurry…. Update, 11:45 a.m.: Let it be known henceforth that I will not, repeat not, be on the ConQuesT committee next year AND be a participating guest. I meant to take this year off from committee work, and somehow found myself volunteering. I need a year off. This time, I mean it. I hereby request, with ya’ll…

I had a nice weekend in St. Louis. On Saturday, I had lunch with author Mark Tiedemann at McConnell’s Pub, followed by a bit of wandering through an artsy antique-y district in search of an artist’s studio open house that wasn’t yet open. (We were a few hours too early. Oops.) On Sunday, I shopped, bagging three pairs of dress pants and a jacket. (For me, this is a major find!) On a sentimental note,…