You haven’t heard from me lately because I’m racing to finish the index to A Terry Teachout Reader (I’m doing it myself to save money). So far, I’ve finished 295 pages out of 407. The deadline is Thursday. I think I’ll make it. I’d better make it. If I hadn’t fallen behind by a week and a half because of my hard-drive crash, I think it might actually be kind of fun, in part because indexes (indices?) often contain stretches of something like found poetry. Here’s a sample:
Chasing Amy (Smith), 279
Cheers (TV series), 57, 277
Cheever, John, 292
“Chelsea Bridge” (Strayhorn), 258
The Children’s Hour (Hellman), 219
Chinatown (Polanski), 172
Chopin, Frederic, 126, 129-30
Chuck Jones: A Flurry of Drawings (Kenner), 55-57
“Chuckles Bites the Dust” (episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show), 175
The Cider House Rules (Irving), 89
Citizen Kane (Welles, score by Herrmann), 177, 279
So yes, it’s kind of fun, and yes, I’ll be glad to be done. Once I’ve got it wrapped up, you’ll hear about my trip to Raleigh to see Carolina Ballet, the plays I saw off Broadway this week, and whatever else comes to mind. Until then, Our Girl in Chicago will do her best to keep you satisfied. Judging by the numbers on the site meter, I’d say she’s doing fine.
In the meantime, I’m calling the doctor the second I start dreaming about page numbers….