Joaquín's operation is scheduled for 3 p.m. today, Tucson time -- about 2 hours from now. Meanwhile, I've added a couple new notes to my Fiction Readings page. One is a beautifully narrated novel of sibling rivalry by Canadian writer Elizabeth Hay, A Student of Weather (2001). The other is an utterly silly, enjoyable murder mystery by Kinky Friedman, A Case of Lone Star (1987).

Here's a charming interview of Liz Hay, whom I was lucky enough to get to know when she was living in New York and before she was famous.