Ah, the splendid palaces those large bookstores have become! Don't we all love the comfortable chairs... the pay phone back by the restrooms is a big hit with some. Today while I was hanging around the Palo Alto Border's, meticulously copying a lengthy passage from the book I mentioned yesterday, I was once again mindful of the extra I'd really like to see here - a small, "courtesy" copying machine over in one of the corners. Alas, my merger dream-store of "Barnes & Kinkos" isn't likely.

The Navy recently launched its thirteenth and largest-ever nuclear aircraft carrier: the Harry S. Truman. (In addition to all of its high-tech weaponry and wizardry it has an on-board water desalination plant! <1>). What I want to know is, what happened to the Savannah, the first nuclear-powered merchant freighter? After its early-60's debut, I never heard of another non-national atomic vessel. Seems like refueling every few years is such a desirable situation...

This week at the comic shop, a new edition of Chris Ware's Acme Comic Library (#10). Marvelous, bleak, intricate, impossible to describe - I bought it. I think the other two issues I have are #1 and #3, but it's kind of hard to tell.