The wild hecticness of the past two weeks ought to end on Tuesday night: I will have finished the Last of the Big Projects at Harvard Business School, and Mr. Improbable will (ash willing) be home.

I’ve missed him, but Milo and I had gotten into a nice routine of walks and napping (Milo)/working (me), and then in the evenings snuggling and watching movies and TV together. (I did wind up watching “Caprica.”) It’s been okay.

And it gave Milo an excellent opportunity to practice his comic timing.

He has an uncanny knack for sighing, growling, grumbling at the perfect moment when we’re watching a video, and I swear he’s getting better at it. I’m not pretending to be one of those dog owners who insists her dog understands English (even if he did, he still wouldn’t know what’s going on on “Lost” any more than I do). But he likes the attention of being laughed at, and I can’t help but wonder if he’s figured out that growling when he hears the sound of a threatening voice, or sighing when the music swells dramatically, will get him laughs.

He comes from funny people.

… is online here.

As noted earlier, these are some hectic times. I’ve got a huge project that’s just wrapping up at my Harvard job — and a big private appearance scheduled for next Tuesday. All good and exciting stuff, but combined with being a single dog-mommy while Mr. Improbable is out of town (I hope he won’t be a “volcano refugee” past his planned return date of next Monday) … well, there just hasn’t been much time to post, or to respond to your fabulous comments on the “politeness v. being a victim” thread. Or to go to Trader Joe’s or do laundry, for that matter.

I believe this panel from “Apartment 3-G,” hat tip to Comics Curmudgeon, sums things up nicely:

Whoops, almost forgot to put this up. Come if you can, read the transcript if you can’t!

Some exciting news for booksy folk, local and elsewhere:

I will be doing a reading and signing for Mind over Manners this Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Watertown Public Library, 123 Main Street in Watertown (directions here). I hope to meet some of you there!

The Rock Bottom Remainders are doing a four-city tour this week, finishing at Boston’s Club Royale (formerly the Roxy) on April 24! As all good book nerds know, the RBRs is comprised of famous writers who nonetheless harbor dreams of rock stardom. All proceeds from the concert (priced at a reasonable $30) go to relief efforts in Haiti.

Louisiana State University Press is having a great big sale, illustrated by an awesome online flier. (C’mon, you’re cool, you know who that drawing is of.) Enter the code 04ANNIVER when you check out to get the 35% discount. My friend Alisa Plant is an editor there, and you can e-mail her at aplant@lsu.edu to ask about particular areas of interest. They’ve got lots of stuff, and are particularly excellent in Southern culture and history.

is online here.

Regarding the first question, I find the balance between being polite, and refusing to allow one’s self to be a victim, to be a fascinating yin-yang to think about. I plan to do a Wednesday Conversation about it on the boston.com blog sooner or later, but if any of you want to share your thoughts on the subject now, I’d love to hear them.

This just came in, from a rabbi at a greater Boston area synagogue:

Don’t know if you recall, but in one of our previous email conversations you mentioned that you do (like to do?) speaking engagements – and even more, that you are “reasonable”. Since I already know you are reasonable from your column, I take it that you mean reasonable in fee.

The rabbinic mind in action! Love it.

I’ll be doing a reading from Mind over Manners next Wednesday, April 21, at 7 p.m. at the Watertown Public Library. I hope to see some of you there and put some faces to handles. Please introduce yourself, if you come!

Guess what? I received another letter from A.C., the elderly gentleman in last week’s column. He wrote:

Thank you for running my “unwanted charity” letter. Your mention of book and movie should spur DVD sales and bring the “MO” message to the younger crowd. Thus, through you, I’ve paid forward the couple in the restaurant.

Although ageism is rampant in our society, I somehow doubt many people are bold or clueless enough to patronize our A.C. Certainly not more than once, anyway!

Other people’s fat, that is.

It’s the only possible explanation for last night’s episode of “Lost.” Apparently, Hugo Reyes has one consistent character trait, and one only: he is fat. Or so the writers seem to think.

Spoilers below the break: