This week is sort of the final exam of stress tolerance. E-mails wait to be answered. Budgets wait to be done. Authors wait to be cajoled, nagged, or sweetly nudged, depending on who they are. CDs wait to be listened to and weblogs wait to be updated.

And where am I? Sitting in a courtroom serving jury duty. About 2/3 of the time so far has actually been relevant, the rest of the time has been spent sitting around waiting for things to happen. The wheels of justice turn as if they are coated in nougat.

I hope I am a little better behaved than Cameron Diaz, though.