June 10, 2002
1:32 p.m.

A few weeks ago one of the men of my church bought his daughter to service with him. After a solemn communion ceremony we ate the dry bread and sipped juice from tiny plastic cups, just as we always do. After it was over the girl looked at her father and said, "Is that the only snack you guys get?"

I couldn't help but laugh. I don't know why I remembered that story, but I felt the need to share it.

Yesterday I had a rather amorous dream involving an anonymous guy who morphed into a good friend of mine. It's always quite unnerving to me when loved ones pop up unexpectedly in my dreams. I remember thinking things like, "Well this guy has no business being here," and, "How do I get out of this crazy dream?" or, "Oh dear, I know I shouldn't be doing that." I felt very disturbed after finally willing myself to wake. Of course, there's nothing I could have done about it but the creepiness lingers.

Today I bought and read A Series of Unfortunate Events: A Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket. It's the first book in a series about the miserable adventures of the Baudelaire children, who were orphaned by a house fire. They suffer through one depressing event after another. However, the readers are warned about the book's melancholy nature on the very first page, so it's to be expected.

I read a few reviews that berate the series for being so depressing because they're books for children. I think they blow it way out of proportion, though. They are entertaining reads, and there are much more depressing events on the evening news. I liked it.

I've been addicted to a lot of children's books lately. Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl, and the Baudelaire children have provided many fascinating worlds to escape to. I haven't been this excited about children's books since the days I indulged in Shel Silverstein and Roal Dahl. They seem to be much more interesting than many of the adult books being released now. Even Neil Gaiman, one of my favorite authors who usually writes for adults, has another children's book on the way. I can't wait to read it.