True Confessions

Hello. My name is Kirby and I listen to NPR . . .and I haven't pledged.

I am so ashamed.

As soon as Mr. Random House sends the armored truck over with my October royalties, I promise to make myself an honest woman and write my local station -- KUOW-- a check.

Because where else can I hear Roy Blount, Jr. not only talk about his new book with its impossibly long title, but also manage to warm the cockles of my heart with such statements as, "Forget about that advice to 'kill your darlings.' If you do that, you'll never end up in Roget's Thesaurus of Quotations."