#2: Thomas Ligotti's book 'My Work Is Not Yet Done' is quite good. Tasty horror. Very... Ligotti has this touch for horror that's arcane: there's always something going on under the covers that you never want to touch: it's like knowing there are maggots under the sheets in your bed.
#3: people are funny.
Overall, I'm fairly content, despite having a lot of stuff to point at and go 'grrr' about.