So today I went and met this most gorgeous peregrine falcon named Isis. Isis has some missing feathers and can't fly properly, so she is kept by a local wildlife rehabilitator named Robyn, whose house and rehab center I visited today. I also met a very pretty little skunk who likes to hide in cabinets and who bears a shocking facial resemblance to my parents' pet poodles, as well as a sumptuous pair of turtles named Fred and Wilma, plus a bunny and a kestrel and a snake and a blind squirrel. Oh and a teeny owl named Sam who looked like a toy and who I'm quite sure secretly wanted to come home with me. And an almost-albino robin who was a quite elegant show-off shade of white, like Meryl Streep's Oscar dress. All of them are injured in some way. Many by cars, some in more horrifying ways. And the skunk was rescued from the pet trade! The skunk pet trade! Who knew.

I felt like SNOW WHITE in the forest hanging out with all her friends.

Almost.

Anyway, look at this glamorous lady:







Ain't she stunning? Now I just need to find some real falconers. If you know one or are one, email me this minute!

In other news, I'm now on the last, last round of MERMAID, just cleaning up some last little things, and in a week or so I'll be done with it forever and ever and ever... or at least until the copyedits come. And I am brainstorming  like crazy all the next things. Just you wait!

Oh, and last week I had the most lovely whirlwind trip to New York, mainly to see Max Raabe at Carnegie Hall with my sister and the fabulous artiste Mr. Michael Kaluta, whom I suspected would be completely swept away by it. Which he was. I also have never sat in a box seat before and I half felt like I was in an old movie and half felt like I was immediately going to pitch to my death. My friend Jill from LJ who is the house manager there even arranged for me to go backstage but I was afraid I would faint dead away if I did. Really, it was a very treacherous evening, but all the best evenings are.

The end.