A big old party is brewing down Florida-way. The Miami Book Fair has been growing by leaps and bounds every year, but this year there's something new: Comix Galaxy, a whole street devoted just to comics, manga, and graphic novels. And along with it, special programming and panels involving such luminaries as Art Spiegelman, Brad Meltzer, and Scott McCloud.

And, of course, we'll be there, in our last conference appearance of the year. Gene and I will be signing books, and we'll have a selection of merchandise from our store, at great conference-only prices. We hope you'll come join the party!

Gene and I are partway through our last roadtrip of the year. This morning we're working at the new Indianapolis airport, with unlimited access to power, wifi, and Starbucks. So I thought I'd check in.

• Madision's State St. reminded me of Northampton, MA. Are all college towns essentially the same?
• We went to Second City in Chicago and saw their new show, still under construction. Amazing how similar their process is to that Gene and I have been going through with our new talk: improv around a funny idea until you've got it right or let it die.
• Indianapolis' new library is spectacular, an entirely successful fusion of old and new, both beautiful and functional.
• Their new airport isn't bad either.