It's been a quiet week in . . .

Anyone who reads the comments after my posts will notice that some of them devolve into conversations between me and my friend, fellow-blogger, and fellow-mystery writer Kathleen Taylor. (She's inspired me to write a perfectly embarrassing paean to ABBA under the ". . . and Effie" post on February 26.)

I am indebted to Kathi for her good advice in getting me started in blogdom and for her plug on her own blog. So I reluctantly return the compliment -- reluctantly, because if you go there, you'll see how much better hers is than mine: http://kathleen-dakotadreams.blogspot.com

Although I've met Kathi and her husband Terry, most of our contact is electronic, since she insists on living in South Dakota out there on the edge of the Prairie, where she also set her six (six!) mystery novels, in the mythical town of Delphi. But if you check these out on Amazon -- and I couldn't recommend them more -- you'll also find her name on a growing series of books about knitting and other crafts, which she also covers in her blog.

And now it can be revealed -- Kathi and I began corresponding by email after an exchange on a mystery bulletin board led us to discover our shared passion for a seminal record album of the late 1970s. It was, of course, the first album released from the TV series "The Muppet Show."

Just don't ask her about Rocky Mountain oysters. Look at the reaction of one young reader who picked up Kathi's Sex and Salmonella and found out what they were. Nine years later, and he still hasn't quite recovered.