Quote of the Day: "We have couple's scratch paper."
What I'm reading: more Michael Malone. After attending a children's author talk, I now wish I'd asked Michael Malone, at any of his talks I've attended, where he came up with names, or whether he knew anyone like his characters.

Does it strike you, like it did me, suddenly last weekend, that fancy ringtones are kind of like cute answering machine messages were back in the 80s?

In theory, individualized ring tones prevent pandephonium, that momentary widespread uncertainty of whose phone is ringing. But in practice, isn't it just a little weird when Usher starts calling out from the handbag of a middle-aged woman? or Dancing Queen, from a politician's phone?

We need some kind of modest solution, some individualized but fairly bland cellphone ring. Like a butler clearing his throat, or my children saying, "Mom? Mom. Mom?" Ha! You know how parents supposedly can distinguish their own child's cry from other babies'? Maybe it could be something like that. I think it was Ray Bradbury who wrote about a creature in a home that the people ignore, for hours, until it cries, and then they run to pick it up, cradle it next to their faces, and croon softly to it. So, maybe your phone isn't like your child, but aren't you extra pleased when it's a Smart phone?

In any case, no one likes a show-off, a precocious, precious phone. I'll just set mine to chime.