I’m going to be in and out or really over and out for most of the week, so the blog won’t be updated. Don’t worry, BMHusband will be checking for spammers!

If you get bored, head over to his site for commentary on the stock market, bailouts, investments and any other topics of interest that happen along. These days the market has been doing a lot of sideways movement after running up big, but it’s getting a little top-heavy at the moment. Be interesting to see what the week brings. May is just around the corner too–will there be a lot of the “sell in May” for the summer? Maybe people will stay home and trade stocks rather than go on vacation. I doubt it, but ya never know!

Junior missed the vet. Apparently. He’s been having a bit of trouble with sores on his feet. Nothing serious. The first one healed up. We also noticed he had a fat lip now and then, but again, nothing serious. It healed and it didn’t impede his eating. (Thank God that throughout all of his various ailments, the guy is a hoover when it comes to food!) Anyway, the one foot got infected last week; no biggee. We just gave him antibiotics and figured he’d be on his way. Of course, you, like us, must be wondering what all this could be.

Enter the ever helpful internet. We researched it way back when he had the first mouth sore–think fever blister. And sure enough, there is a cat version of fever blisters called rodent ulcers. I forget where the rodent name comes in–it’s a misnomer because it has nothing to do with rodents. Anyway, there isn’t a lot that is done for these things. But with this last one getting infected…and it was healing, but there was this one spot that we weren’t quite sure about.

Sigh. Or in his case, Howl. Whine. Even a hiss or two. But the vet confirmed it. Most likely it was rodent ulcers. He might grow out of them, he might get them on occasion. When they are on the pads of his feet (which apparently isn’t that common, but then, Junior excels in uncommon, at least where diseases are concerned.) we have to watch for infection. Which we were doing, but admittedly, this last episode took us too long to figure out. The vet gave Junior a steroid, which may or may not help them heal faster and may or may not keep him from getting more. Junior will continue to get more antibiotics to completely clear the infection.

If he’d stop chewing on it all the time…

Remember the cat door??? Junior LOVES it. So much so that he tends to be gone all day long, exploring here and…somewhere. We thought surely he was hanging out with Mom Scamp, but since he isn’t in the yard, guess who is? Yup. Scamp. She’s been stopping by, saying hello and wandering ever closer to our outstretched hands. She stays very carefully just out of reach, but we now see her quite often perched on one of our lawn chairs.

You know, this whole cat thing can make you a little nuts.

Ever wonder what an author makes that is on the NY Times Bestseller list? Of course you have! Everyone wants to know this kind of thing. They must make millions, right?

Not exactly.

I think the article is a pretty good summation of how things work. The number I hate most is the “reserve against returns” which is just funny money that the publishers can use to…enhance their balance sheet for a while. It’s sort of like banks these days when you do an electronic money transfer. Both banks tell you the money isn’t there for some number of days (3 to 5 business days usually.) When in actuality, the money is transferred instantly. But both banks want to “hold” that money for as long as possible without crediting your account. This results in things like one bank telling you to post a payment on a bill 3 days before it is due. They don’t SEND the money until the actual due date (or the date they show as an estimate of arrival), but they “keep” the money until the last possible moment. On the other end, when you are depositing money to say, a savings account or money market, they will tell you that the money will take 3 to 5 days to arrive after the other bank sends it. When in reality the “send” happens and they “hold” it before applying it to your account. Funny money for their balance sheets.

Bit right through the entire beanstalk (the worm is obviously not a reader of Jack and the Beanstalk.) It’s bad enough when they eat six leaves in one night, but when they just go through the stalk, that’s it, game over. I couldn’t find the worm either. I did find the worm that ate half the Sprite melon plant. Yes, that was its last meal. The worms, slugs and snails have been particularly bad this year. It seems that with last year’s drought, my garden was the only place with water so they all planted themselves in my dirt. Bad idea. I will hunt them down…

In Non-wormy News Aberrant Dreams has new stories out! I saw that Melissa Mead has a story in this April issue–I tend to like her stuff so I’m looking forward to reading that story.

And also, Andromeda Spaceways has a new issue out (issue 38) in PDF $4.95 and hardcopy (price depends on where you live). Here’s the TOC:

Fiction
Machine . . . Dr Philip Edward Kaldon
Untangling the Future . . . Ingrid Banwell
Chasing Jormungand . . . Shane Jiraiya Cummings
Moochi’s Legacy . . . EM Sky
Red and Road . . . Katherine Sparrow
The Six Solvers and the Mystery of the Sad Boy . . . Gitte Christensen
The Storyteller . . . KV Johansen

Special Features
An Interview with Pamela Freeman . . . Edwina Harvey
Reviews . . . Simon Petrie, Ian Nichols, Sue Bursztynski

Weird looking cover, isn’t it?

Another column out at BSC. As always, I post a copy of it here as well. I know not everyone makes it to BSC and they do require registration to comment.

Short Story of the Month:

Nancy Fulda, one of my favorite short story authors, has a story or two out at Darwin’s Evolutions, very enjoyable; worth a read as always.

After reading her stories, I read the latest story posting and wow, I was very pleased. It’s a longer story than your typical short, but the world building and action make it worth it. I even made it through two viewpoints because it was just that good. I haven’t read too many stories where the “talent” is the making of dice. Okay, I don’t think I’ve read any.

Check it out. FateCraft by Lindsey Duncan. The artwork isn’t my favorite of the art out on the site, but there are some nice works shown with most of the stories. I’m finding that I am drawn more to online zines that have artwork, at least on occasion.

Other Zines

Blackgate has a new issue out, issue 13. And lo! They decided to continue offering the online PDF. No, it’s not free this time. But it’s a very reasonable $4.95. I think that’s a good price point considering all the art and stories. It’s basically almost as large as a book and the quality of stories is as good as it gets. The cover work for issue 13 is very nice–done by Malcolm McClinton.

Fantasy Magazine has a new submission form–and is it ever fast. Cat Rambo, the editor, is trying to keep response times down to less than 3 days. That’s a really nice feature for writers, almost unheard of in the industry, but very admired by me at least. There’s even a way to check where your story is in the queue. Very professional, very easy to use. As for the stories, well, as they say in the guidelines, I too, would like to see more of the “light” stories.

Artwork

Dark Wolf has been doing a thread at BSC called Fantasy Artwork and Artists for a while now. Check it out in general, but this week’s post led me to Marc Simonetti’s website where I clicked on the 3D art and…was blown away by the atmospheric collection as I paged through. Really great stuff out there.

Speaking of art, I’d like to start finding out more about…this is going to make some of you cry…cozy cover artists. Yes, really. They get less daylight than fantasy artists (who don’t get much.) Anyone know of any sites at all that highlight this type of art?

Over on BSC, Dark Wolf does a post now and then about art and artists. He includes a review and samples. This week he highlighted Marc Simonetti I thought the artwork was very nice, but I specifically went out to Simonetti’s site to see an enlarged sample of the last picture that Dark Wolf posted. Instead, I got sidetracked looking at the 3D link. Wow. It’s well worth the trip. Click on the Marc Simonetti and then the 3D off on the sidebar and page through–it’s quite a tour of an old abandoned castle. I quite enjoyed it on a rainy, gloomy morning with my cup of tea!!! If I spoke French, I’d get permission to post a sample or two of Simonetti’s art here, but since I don’t, we’ll have to stick with touring his work on his page!!!

I LOVE THIS STORM DOOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It’s RAINING. And little gato feels the need to *check* to see if it has stopped. About 3 times a minute. He sits by the door. He looks out. He sniffs. He goes out and sits on the stoop. If it rains too hard, back in he comes. He’ll wander off as though he’s going to do something (like what is a cat going to do besides settle in for a nap???) Seconds later, back at the door. Looking. Poking through. Checking.

Me???? I’m sitting on my butt in my favorite chair (while BMHusband is making me French Toast. Am I THE luckiest woman on the face of the earth right now, or what????).

I don’t have to get up. Junior is not meowing at the door. He doesn’t even look particularly mad about the rain. So long as he has his freedom to watch from inside or out, he’s not too annoyed–or annoying!!!

Woot!!!

Yes, this started out as an experiment, but it’s grown into a cream that I now make all the time and use. It’s richer than most creams you buy over the counter — and a lot less expensive. I make two: one for my eyes and one for the rest of my face. I’ve tried numerous ingredients and essential oils to get to this recipe. For each person, there are probably other oils they might like better, but here are my favorites:

I start with an unscented base (I don’t make the lotion from scratch.) I tried a few different bases and learned that you can’t use one that is too rich or contains wax or too much petrolatum or mineral oil. Some ingredients–or too many of them–mean the oils you add won’t incorporate into the lotion. I settled on Suave Oatmeal as a base lotion that I like. This lotion is a good base for making liquid makeup or enhanced lotions. Camden and Grey also sells a base lotion that you can work with. Lotions such as Curel didn’t work well at all for mixing (although I like the lotion by itself).

Here’s the basic oils that I add and why:

Walnut oil - very soothing, rich in vitamins and not greasy. This is one of my favorites for my eyes when my allergies are acting up. It is a good moisturizing, anti-aging, regenerative, emollient and toning oil.

Wheat germ – another very nice oil that goes on smoothly and really helps keep the skin soft. I recommend this all by itself in a base lotion that you use as an all-over body lotion. This oil is thick, sticky and antioxidant. It’s also very rich in vitamin E, a natural antioxidant. This is perhaps my favorite additive in my “night” cream or when my skin is feeling particularly dry or irritated.

Macadamia Nut – antioxidant properties that prevents deterioration of cell membranes. For mature skin it is hydrating and gentle. It is a skin lubricant and is easily absorbed by the skin or Kukui Nut oil – high in linoleic and linolenic essential fatty acids. Excellent for skin conditioning after sun exposure, as well as for acne, eczema, dry/wrinkled skin and offers good protection for outdoor sports.

Aloe Vera Oil – This oil is known for its healing properties, which is why I include it. It’s very soothing for irritated, dry flaky skin.

Rosehip oil – I can’t use any of the over-the-counter lotions for skin regeneration or Retin-A without skin irritation. But the rosehip oil is a very nice addition to my face cream that helps cell turnover and keeps the skin from darkening (those annoying age-spots.) It is a wonderful, quick-absorbing addition to my face cream. Since the skin around my eyes is supposedly more delicate, I don’t use this oil or any of the essential oils in my eye cream (I’ve put all of this stuff on my eyes though and had no problems). Rosehip is high in essential fatty acids, GLA, and vitamin C.

I use the following essential oils in my face cream:

German Chamomile – this is a beautiful blue color with the classic chamomile scent. I don’t use it for the smell, however. It’s an anti-inflammatory and a vasoconstrictor, which can help reduce the redness of the cheeks due to enlarged capillaries. In my case, it helps with rosacea and acne.

Mandarin Red – this is a beautiful orange/red. I use it to cut the smell of the chamomile a bit. It’s an antiseptic though and too much can have a drying effect. It has a nice citrus scent. I use it in soaps as well. Used in a lotion, it does not have a lasting scent so you don’t have to worry about smelling like an orange! You might consider Clary Sage to meld with the chamomile also/instead.

Oils to Try
I’d still like to try grapeseed oil (high in vitamin E and is 76% essential fatty acid, linoleic acid, also known as Omega 6) and Calendula oil (used on slow-healing wounds and is an anti-inflammatory; supposed to be very helpful for rosacea).

I’ve tried a rather large number of other essential oils and basic oils. The ones listed above are my favorites. I buy all of them from Camden Grey–wonderful customer service and information on their site. There are many other places that carry the essential oils and both grapeseed and walnut oil can be found in many grocery stories.

My creams often need re-mixing. Over about two weeks, some of the oils float to the top. I just stir them back in. I’m sure if I used less oil, I wouldn’t have this problem, but for the most part, I really like the recipe I’m using (I put in about 1/8th tsp of the base oils per 3.5 ounce base lotion.)

He did it!  Yesterday morning we used the pet door to play Junior’s favorite game:  Door.  I made noise on one side, and he poked his foot through to “get” me.   He had to get his face pretty close to the door–and it forced him to discover that his paw could swing the door open!

After that, the next time he was outside, he just popped his foot through and then his head and lo!  He was in.  After that, it was as if he had used a door his whole life.  In and out like nobody’s business.

Whew.  We’re pretty happy and from the looks of the way Junior heads out to play in the flowers, so is he!

Well, the lettuce has bolted.  I knew when the temps hit 90 the other day that it was going to happen.  I shouldn’t complain.  With the cooler weather we’ve had, this is the best lettuce season I’ve ever had.   Last week the cabbage bolted, so I had to pick it–one giant head of Chinese cabbage.  The starter cost me 3 dollars–but I’ve picked the outer leaves three times already, so I can’t complain.  I’ll chop the cabbage and mix it with sausage and make meat buns.  Those store in the freezer for those days when I don’t want to cook.  As for the lettuce, I guess we’ll be eating a lot of salad this week.  I have about 4 heads out there…no make that five.   By the end of the week I’ll look like a rabbit!

As for Junior and his door training–sigh. The little kit isn’t so thrilled with this door thing.  He is going through faster, but he still waits for us to hold it open, at least partway!  When it is propped open with a close -pin, he hops in and out at will.  When it is closed, he acts like it is an imovable object.  But we’re working on it.  A few more days and I think he’ll have it.  No, really, I think he will!

Junior doesn’t like new things in particular, including the new screen door.  He waited patiently for us to open the door.  When we opened the little cat door, he stared through it with complete fascination–and no actual movement towards the outside.   After coaxing from the outside, he finally relented and went through.  Slowly.  Cautiously.  And a bit on the clumsy side.

When he wanted to come back in?  Yes, we had to hold it WAAAAAY open.  When I let it go and he feels it on his back, he scoots out backwards to see what the problem is!

Today, the cat door is propped open.  He likes it that way.

This may take a while…

I’ve been doing melt and pour soap for a while.  For those of you that don’t know what that is, it’s taking a basic soap such as glycerin and adding oils, color and/or scent.  You can start with any soap that isn’t a deodorant or detergent (Ivory for example.)  Unscented is best because then you can add your own scent or not.  I used Ivory in a few test batches and found the scent of that soap overwhelming–adding oils doesn’t take away the good old Ivory smell of it.  I do like using Olay’s Sensitive Skin soap now that it is available again (it is not quite as soft as glycerin soap so I do cut it into small pieces when using with the recipe below).

Most people take the soap and shave it (grate it) and then add a little water and melt everything over a double boiler.  I use a crockpot.

Here’s my latest recipe:

2 lbs unscented, no color pure glycerin soap

1/4 cup milk (you can use water.  I like to add milk as it is very good for your skin.  Many people like goat’s milk in their soap.)

Using a crockpot on the lowest setting, add the milk and the soap.  I don’t bother to shave the glycerin into small pieces.  If you’re in a hurry, grate it or cut the block into small chunks.   I leave the crockpot covered for the first half hour as it warms, and then I will often leave it uncovered so that the melted portion of soap doesn’t get too hot.   Stir every so often (15 minutes at first and then more frequently as it melts).    When the glycerin is melted, you can add your scents and oils.  Do NOT let it boil or continue to warm after it is melted.  If it gets too hot, it will develop air bubbles that will stay in the soap.  This doesn’t harm the soap at all, but the bars won’t be as pretty.  They’ll have air gaps.  Nothing serious, but easy to avoid.

At this stage I add:

1 – 2 tablespoons aloe oil (this will give the bars a light greenish/yellow color)

2 tsp mandarin red  essential oil (this will add an orange/red color)

1 to 2 tsp lime essential oil (this adds a bit more green/yellow)

Stir after each addition.   The lime and manderin red give soap a wonderful, light citris smell.  The aloe is for skin conditioning.  You don’t want to add too many oils because your soap will lose lather, but you could add another oil at this stage if you want.  Cocoa butter, honey, or olive oil are popular additions.  I have used honey in soap and like adding it (it has great anti-fungal, antibiotic properties.)  Sesame oil gives soap a nice feel and scent, although I think of it as a guy scent more than a girl scent.  A little goes a long way.

Using a dipping spoon (like a soup ladle) pour the soap into individual soap molds.  Let dry overnight and then slip the soap out of the molds.  The more water or milk you used to help dissolve the soap, the longer the drying time.  After you take the soap out of the molds, place on waxed paper for a few days to let them cure (meaning, make sure all the excess moisture has dried off.)

Supplies – Molds,  Essential oils and Glycerin Soap

My favorite molds are silicon baking molds (buy online or at craft shops).  They are extremely easy to work with because they peel right off the soap when it is time to remove them.  They are easy to wash, store and they last a long time.  Plastic molds can crack and become deformed after a several uses, although there are more of them available in soap-shapes.

You can use smaller molds (1/4 cup) for gift soap or travel.  I recommend at least 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup molds for regular bar soap.

Soap and pour glycerin is available in many craft stores (locally, Michael’s has some.  Michael’s is also a good place to check for silicon shapes, especially during the holidays.  You can also use a silicon loaf pan.  When the soap has hardened, slice it into bars).

You can order large blocks of glycerin soap online.  My favorite place to get the glycerin soap, oils and scents is Camden-Grey.   They have very nice glycerin soap, excellent customer service, useful information about the various oils and fragrances (fragrances are different than essential oils–I always use the oils myself).

I told you Junior wasn’t really fat!  Look at that fine specimen!  He’s been outside a lot, getting plenty of exercise.  I’ve been getting a lot also–up/down, up/down, let the cat in, let the cat out…

We bought a storm door today and a small pet door to install in it.   That way at least the cat will still get his exercise!!!  He does love playing in the flowers.  Lots of bees and bugs to chase.

Scamp has been showing an interest in coming inside also.  This is great progress in her deciding we might be trustworthy, but it does mean leaving the door open.  Being the bright engineers that we are, we decided that a cat door would solve a lot of problems…

No, they haven’t seen one before and no, they don’t know how to use the cat door.  Yet.   Not to worry.  These are feral cats.  You have to be smart to live long in the wild.  I think.

We got one that has those cool windows that slide down to reveal a screen.  We’ve always wanted one of those on the backdoor to let the breeze in.  It will be an added bonus when the cats learn to come and go without sitting at the door waiting!

Soon.  We’ll keep you updated on progress…

A couple of years ago, my sister-in-law sent us a subscription to Cook’s Illustrated for Christmas.  I was happy to have another cooking book to inform my cooking aspirations.  Another friend gave me a subscription to another cooking magazine so I had two magazines on the subject of food.   You’d think they knew I liked to cook or something.  Anyway, as with anything around the house, I browsed through a couple of issues.  I have to tell you that Cook’s Illustrated blows away any cooking magazine (or cookbook) that I’ve used before.

The issues aren’t large, but they are detailed.  Instead of just a bunch of recipes, it describes about four or five different ways the cook tried to make the dish.  This includes the failures, which as any cook knows, is just as critical as the one that works.  I tweak recipes all the time.  It’s a boon to hear what another cook tried and how the recipe turned out.   Did a different flour make it sticky?  Why tapioca starch instead of corn starch?   Is cold brew tea better than hot brewed tea that is then iced?

There’s also a section that compares products.   This month’s issue, for example, compares chocolate chips from various makers.  Now, you can’t write an article that interest me much more than that!!!  I bought a bunch of chocolate chips years ago and compared them for myself–but this article informs me that I am sadly behind the times.  There are NEW very accessible brands out in the stores now.  I had kind of noticed, but when I did the comparison last time, I found the more expensive ones tended to be hard (didn’t melt well) had a funny flavor I didn’t like or were just overpriced for the same thing I was already buying.

Woo-hoo, guess what I’ll be doing in the near future???  Yup, I’ll be embarking on another taste test of a few of their recommendations!  Move aside diet, here I come!

Sometimes the section that compares products is on cooking utensils, which is also interesting.  They always have a section called “Equipment Corner” that teaches how to use certain tools, where to get them, why one might want one brand over another and things like that.  I like the brand comparison stuff because a lot of the times, they list the prices–and very often, the high priced equipment doesn’t win out over the mid-range or cheaper stuff.

I keep all my copies.  One of the most used is the one that finally explained to me how to make a good pizza dough.  The secret was that they made the dough with various ratios of water until they got it where they liked it.  I’ve made it about three times (once unsuccessfully) and I love the recipe.

This issue has a beef teriyaki recipe.  I’ve made teriyaki before and it turns out okay–but generally too sweet.  Well!  Good news.  They explored no-sugar, marinated versus not marinated, how to cut the meat so it stayed tender, how big to have the chunks of meat before grilling…we will be trying this recipe very soon.

If you’re looking for a good cooking magazine, Cooks Illustrated has a 14-day free trial online membership.  You might check it out.  I haven’t tried the online membership, but I think the cooking magazine is fabulous.

I’m going to do a couple of writing posts on what I like about book agents and what I don’t. No, this won’t be a personal post about any agent, just an overall list of things I’ve noticed about agents and their websites.

I’ll start with things that I really like about agents, and then later this week I’ll post about things that make me sigh big-time.  There may even be a few things that I list that will cause me not to query an agent!  For those of you that already have an agent, feel free to chime in and list what made your agent an attractive candidate!

1. I love agents who blog.  Why? I can get to know the agent, there’s generally an opportunity to ask questions and watch how the agent interacts with clients and potential clients.  You can get an idea if the agent takes the blog seriously, how that agent feels about various genres and various books.  I also like the fact that an agent can use the blog to publicize books.  I don’t care if the agent blogs about non-publishing topics; that often keeps things interesting, but if the blog is not meant to be used for agenting purposes at all, it should be stated somewhere so as not to confuse.  I certainly enjoy “business” posts mixed with movie reviews, links to interesting articles, etc.  The personality of the agent comes through on a blog as does the professionalism.  Even a blog post of once a week is great.

2. I love agents that have a page on their agency website that not only lists their clients, but has pictures of the client’s book covers.  Yes, another opportunity to market the book.  I would have to say that the vast majority of agents let these lists falter–or they post one cover, or the latest covers, rather than all titles available.  (A lot of them miss the latest book cover–so the first in a series shows up, but the next two don’t–missed opportunity–the reader might be interested!)

Do I read books based on what I found on an agent site?  Absolutely.  If I come across an agent, I’d like to know what the rep’d books are about.   A nice cover shot and a back blurb tell me a lot about the book and the efforts of the agent or agency to promote said books.  A link to author websites is nice as well.  I don’t care if there is an author picture, but it doesn’t hurt.

3. I would like more agents to talk about about foreign sales, audio rights and e-book rights.  There’s one agent I can think of that mentions foreign sales frequently.  It’s helpful to know which agencies are successful and active selling foreign rights, audio rights–and it also tells me whether a book is out in audio or e-book (if I want to check out an agent via something that agent reps, I’m much more likely to check out an e-book because I can download it instantly.)

4. Queries accepted via email or form.  Most agents do take queries this way.  There are a few that don’t.  If I know of the agent, I’m still likely to submit there, but I generally won’t submit without having a good reason to do so (the agent reps several books that I love, the agent reps an author I have actually spoken with, I’ve met the agent, etc.)   If the agent simply doesn’t bother with an email because that agent is so well-known and successful that he/she doesn’t need to accept email queries, I likely won’t bother.  Not because I’m lazy, but because that agent isn’t likely to be looking all that hard for new clients.

5. Reply time stated.  I don’t bother to submit to agents that have a policy of “no reply means no.”  (I don’t submit stories to magazines with that policy either.)  I really, really prefer agents that get back to queries in a week to a month.  Two months is okay as well.  Three months?  Not so great.   The other key, of course, is that the agent actually reply close to the stated time.  A week or so off is no big deal.  But in my experience querying agents those that list a 3 month reply time tend to be the ones that don’t actually reply for six.

6. Do what your website says.  If the website says email queries are accepted, don’t get caught at a conference saying you never read them via email or don’t take them seriously.  (Certainly don’t blog to that effect!)   Don’t have one area of the website give the email address for queries and another place on the website mention that you don’t like email queries and that you really only accept them from academics (or lawyers or whatever).  And go ahead and answer the email queries if you accept them.  Form responses are okay and expected.

7. I really prefer agent sites that allow an author to submit to a single agent–rather than a single address that covers the entire agency.

8. It’s fine and helpful to blog about what you like from authors; there’s a fine line crossing over into complaining about the endless work, the horrible queries and worst of all–taking shots or making fun of bad queries/stupid questions/etc.   Very few agents can pull off “funny” without it turning into “making fun of” and most of the time, it turns into a lynch mob in the comments anyway.

Having or not having the above doesn’t necessarily mean it is a show-stopper.  They are merely preferences in the search for an agent.  Anyone else have anything to add?

Update:  Before I could even write the things I don’t like about agents, a couple of very good agents asked!  There is a great discussion going on over at the Bookends Blog.   Check it out–great list of writer pet-peeves!  For the most part, it sounds like authors just want to be treated with respect and dealt with in a timely manner.  I’m really glad that Jessica Faust (the head of the Bookends agency) took out the comments that “named” agents.  It’s not a blacklist; it’s meant to be an exercise to help agents, not lynch them!!!!