All the stuff I didn't mention last time

The response to my "remember when this was a big deal" posting was tremendous in every sense. The postings here and the emails I got off-loop really got me back in magazine-maker mode. If you’re here, you probably hate mawkishness as much as I do, so let me just quickly say that I’m feeling the love big time, and then move on very quickly as if I’d never mentioned it.

I really had a terrific time hearing the specifics about what people liked, laughed at -- and wished was different. I'll be addressing the question about an electronic version of the magazine, and how exactly one can taste a biscuit without ponying up for a whole package, this week.

Here's what else was happy-making: right after that posting, I got a bunch of love mail (pretty much platonic, although I'm beginning to think that Amy and I could be very happy together if only the passing of Proposition 8 hadn't dashed any hopes of making an honest woman of her in my home state); plus, in my actual physical mailbox, two children's books about Darwin free. And then I noticed how many other books about Darwin were coming out, seeing as how it's the anniversary year of both his birth and his most important writing. So just when I thought that this last issue of SHM had been the readingest one ever (more about that later), I'm now plowing into hundreds of pages of study for a big ol' article about Darwin, evolution, and what books are best for all ages when it comes to learning and teaching about those subjects.

On the email front, I've also been hearing from homeschoolers all over the world, in connection with the upcoming International Homeschooling issue. This correspondence has been amazing, fascinating, gratifying, informative -- all kinds of good words like that.

The two paragraphs above mean that I'm doing a ton of reading and writing right now, and I am way behind in my email. If you've written and haven't heard back yet, I do love you (unless you wrote something really nasty, but it's actually been a very pleasant month in that respect), and I will write. It's just that not only have I received a LOT of letters in the past few weeks, but most of them call for detailed and thoughtful responses. And you know me -- I can't do things by halves. The past couple of late-night sittings, I've been getting to bed way after the witching hour, and counting myself lucky to have answered three emails per evening.

If you don't hear back and are beginning to wonder if I'm alive or if your message actually got through or if I need chocolate and where exactly you should send it, I do love "Okay, just let me hear you breathing" messages. Keep poking at this body -- it'll kick sooner or later.