children have a passion for gambling too.

I'm in Maine for real. The connection is slow, but I'll do my best to keep human contact maintained.

Federal financial aid does not consider me to be a dependent any longer.

Mars wasn't as big as the moon.

One of my hometowns is underwater. Wes Anderson includes an underwater shot in each of his films, but I don't think this is what my story is trying to say.

Pirate-looters. Washing away past sins and a few saints. Sharks on the motorway.

And Matt's brother is playing Noah with his girlfriend and a menagerie of pets in Mandeville [north shore of the Lake].

We want them to come to Maine, and it's hard to think of any other alternatives. Matt's parents' home will swell from two to six, and winter will be filled with Beatles tunes and course culture-babble. A family.

I cross my fingers for that region of my childhood tapestry and every soul struggling to keep it from unraveling in their hands.