So I�m printing out my novel as we speak � er, as I type. I�m also handling a ton of communication for the magazine at the same time, plus researching. The ability to multi-task is a good thing to have in my life. As for the printing, well, most people would hit the Print button and then ignore their machine for a while. I, however, have to print in twenty page increments. I know what happens when you hit the Print button and walk away. I wrote a thesis and printed it at two different times � namely for first submission, then after my defence with three words changed, for the printers to bind. The potential for disaster is unreal.

I picked up a new package of paper, and a binder, and a whole slew of plastic protector sheets, and I have a sneaky suspicion that the binder is already too small, looking at the stack of paper growing steadily beside it.

I notice that my printer is pausing for longer periods of time between pages. I wonder if it�s getting tired. I miss my old printer, the trusty workhorse that transformed my thesis into a physical, tangible entity. I thought it ate ink, and the cartridges were increasing in price so I got a new one. Ha. The new one consumes ink at an alarming rate, and the cartridges are even more expensive. Well, live and learn. I keep being told by people that small laser printers are more than affordable now; well, that�s something to think about in the future. Far, far in the future.

While I�m researching museums on-line (someone thought up a Soci�t� des mus�es qu�b�cois, and created a fantastic web site, much to my delight � isn�t that wonderful?), I�m also catching bits of my novel as it comes out of the printer, and I stack each batch on top of the last set of pages. It�s good. Know how people say, �If you�re passionate about something and you truly love it, you�ll communicate that love and that passion to others�? If I can pick it up at any point and become interested, and enjoy it, then I�ve done my job.

I�m seeing mistakes and left-out words that I hadn�t picked up before, though, while I edited the novel on-screen. I�m also seeing my ink levels plummet, so I�m keeping a watchful eye on my printer utility. Hold on, little printer, hold on� just another forty-seven pages�