Lazy Friday with nothing to do

I miss my baby. But I am enjoying not having to be "on."

I even lingered in bed this morning. I'm currently reading Perdido Street Station, by China Miéville, and loving it. By page 9 I'd decided to read it with pencil in hand to mark all the words I don't know: termagant, harridan, susurrus, judder, grot, syncresis, sortilege, oneiric, abseil. So many words!

How does one come to write a world so intricately imagined? I picture the author hovering over a topographical map, moving action figures along trains and rivers, stopping to examine the shadows of detailed models of buildings and market stalls. Admiring the landscape.

Harry Potter fans should brace themselves for the character's death. Who would have better insight into the character than the kid actor who plays him? "The only way Voldemort could die is if Harry dies as well."

Oprah on Monday is to announce her choice for summer reading. My guess: Anna Karenina. You heard it here first. Can she do that? Put her stamp on a new edition of this classic?

Which translation? The accessible Pevear and Volokhonsky? Has she commissioned a new translation? Does she realize how important translation is?

I don't know why people are so intimidated by it. Sure, it's big, but it's just life and love — one long gut-wrenching, tear-jerking soap opera.

I'm surprised not to be hearing more on yesterday's statement from Michael Moore regarding the 20 minutes of footage of Nicholas Berg he filmed for Fahrenheit 9/11.