Jackiek, thanks for the kind words, especially since you've just read the first nine chapters in one stretch. As far as the "scary words," as you term them, we've got four more chapters to go. We'll see if they get closer to or or farther from them some time before the end.
Daneel, I've wanted to do that Billie Jean routine ever since I first heard the song. Even after reading the lyrics while listening to the tune, I still hear the word "chair" in the chorus. There's a brief mention of Superman's activities coming up soon, he said mysteriously, but I'll tease you by not telling you when it's going to happen.
Millefeuilles, I have "flair and panache?" Wow. I hope there's a treatment for that. And don't worry about not grasping the baseball references - I'd be the same way reading a story about what us Yanks call "soccer" (because we already have a game called "football") and we didn't want to call our game "rounders" (it's what the British call their simplified version of baseball. And to give credit where credit is due, rounders came first). We'll learn more about the Things and Mister Smith very soon.
Next chapter up tonight!
