As is usually the case, Sunday in Chestertown was quiet and unremarkable. We shuffled around sluggishly for most of the morning, rewarding ourselves prior to what we knew would be a long afternoon of making books. Volume 28 is just a few weeks shy of being sent out to the subscribership. Of course, as soon as we were ready to start printing, we realized that we lacked paper. Although we spent the first three years of this enterprise making every book by hand, the last six volumes have all been professionally printed. It seems like bookmaking fundamentals like making sure you have sufficient paper on hand have faded in the interim.

So Alden, Kato, and I piled ourselves into the car and drove to Newark, Delaware while Robbi finished designing the cover and attended to other miscellany.

We returned and started printing. Printing 250 copies of a 44-page book takes a while, even on our relatively speedy duplexing Xerox 8660 Phaser.

While the printer was doing its work, we decided to go to a swanky cocktail party. There was a koi pond for Alden.

And lamb shanks for Kato and me.

There was absolutely nothing for Robbi, but she posed by the koi pond to make herself feel relevant.

While we were pushing the limits of the Chestertown party scene, Iggy stayed at home guarding against the approaching thunderstorm.

The rest of us got home just before the rain started falling. I spent the next few hours trimming books and punching holes along the spine of each. We’re binding Volume 28 with wire.

Monday is here and the printing continues. If you are itching to be among the first to own one of these fresh-made copies of Babies Ruin Everything, you know what to do.