Posted the last chapter of "Dreams Can Come True" this morning.

The next fable, "Ben," should be up in a week or so. Although there are 5 chapters, they'll all be posted at the same time. It's probably the closest I've come to a "children's story," but unfortunately, I had to throw in some sex and the cute children's story becomes something entirely different.

The fourth in this series, which just might be longer than the others, has been completed through Chapter 3. Don't have a working title yet other than "Tax Man". Was thinking of how clever it would be to use "The Taxman Cometh," but that's been done too much. There is a possibility of "Just Because You Have an Education Doesn't Make You Smart," but I don't think that'll be it. Anyway, I'm having a lot of fun with it so far. Let's see, there's a bit of S & M (okay, one of the major characters is a sadistic bastard and another character is a simpering masochist, and they get together now and then), there's a bit of priestly sex (NO! No details, just suppositions, innuendos), a bit of priestly sadism (well, there aren't any nuns to do it), arrogant stupidity (the best kind), a eunuch (yes, a real one, from that place where eunuchs come from), the usual nymphs and fairies, dwarfs, and probably a few other things I haven't thought of, yet. (Though I did write about a suicide, no, no, can't tell, don't want to ruin the surprise.)

I don't know what comes after that. The job situation is still up in the air, but I may have something in the works. Hopefully, it will lead to something involving good money.

On the psychological front, everything is going hunky-dory or as hunky-dory as it can be, though I was a bit suicidal last week. Talked myself out of it until my mood stabilized. Writing the fables seems to help by stuffing a lot of humor into my mind and I have a number of humorous books like "National Lampoon's Truly Tasteless Cartoons." Nothing like looking at a cartoon of by Thomas W. Cheney showing a blind voyeur holding his seeing-eye dog to a window or the Charles Rodrigues cartoon of a man washing his hands in a men's room with a sign on the wall that says, "EMPLOYEES MUST USE TOILET PAPER." They go on and on until I've feeling okie-dokie.

Oh, yes, I also finished reading "American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer." That is one very depressing book (and probably had a major impact on my depressed mood). A brilliant man, but in many ways a total dolt. Most of his problems could be explained by his naivete and grating personality. Unfortunately, he had his enemies, too, the FBI being one of the most virulent. Those people are just plain scary.

I'm now reading "Native Son" by Richard Wright, another depressing story, but not as bad as the other.