Surely I can't be the only one who turned -- um, let's say, "misty" -- upon the destruction of the Golden Oak Library.

I'm trying to convince myself that Twi really had all that information memorized and that it's only a physical loss, but so far I am not successful.

Weirdly, The way she used to be presumes a new library in Ponyville, date of establishment unknown.

A lonely princess pores over her studies in a frigid castle, desiring nothing more than the warmth of an old friend.

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I seem to be closing in on 1,000 favourites. This should not surprise me, really -- I've read probably close to 2,000 stories, and since I have a tendency not to read things that look like I won't like them, I would expect a relatively high number of stars -- but it still seems like quite a lot for only two years here. (And no, I don't favourite my own stuff; I can barely persuade myself to thumb it up.)

This time with actual answers, kinda sorta:

1. What's your name?
Sez "Charles" on the birth certificate.

2. How old are you?
Sixty.

3. What country do you live in?
As Borat would say, the U. S. and A.

4. What do you look like?
I used to say I resembled the love child of Roseanne Barr by Rush Limbaugh, but that was 75 pounds ago.

5. Who do you wish you looked like?
Paul Giamatti, except taller.

6. How did you come across MLP?

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I can't imagine anyone wanting to know that much about me, but if there's something resembling demand, I'll be happy to answer, although probably every single answer can be had through judicious -- or injudicious -- search-engine use.

Being incredibly old and therefore more or less in charge of my own destiny, or something like that, I have a tendency to forget that this fandom contains rather a lot of folk a long way from reaching that happy point on the scale.

And then a reminder comes from out of the blue:

Dear readers,

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Well, maybe not a frenzy. Yet. My not-quite-inner-city neighborhood now has a Little Free Library, a wooden box on a pole, just under half full of books. (Which isn't bad, considering it's been there only about 36 hours.) I figure, if it spurs any of the residents to start reading, it was worth the small investment by the neighborhood association. And I also figure that Twilight Sparkle might actually think this was a swell idea, which more than

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By way of introduction, here is a brief exchange from Somepony New, chapter three:

“Is that an abacus?” Rarity asked. “Twilight, dear, have you fallen for an accountant?”

Twilight scowled, but Brush fielded the question anyway. “It sort of fits. This was what I was trained for, many years ago, though I actually haven’t worked in that field lately. And I figure Equestria just has to have a more sensible tax code than I’m used to.”

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Pinkie Pie, we know, has a middle name: in full, she's Pinkamena Diane Pie.

What of big sister Maud? I'm betting on "Lynn," myself.

Last weekend was spent moving gigabytes of data from an obsolete computer to, well, a computer that isn't quite so obsolete. (I learned early on that there's always a better machine coming out next month. Or next week.) The joy of not crashing every hour is somewhere between immeasurable and infinite.

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