Thank you very much for the kind words. If you haven're read Tufte, you will likely enjoy reading him. I also recommend the lesser known _The Theory and Aesthetic of Design_ and _The Theory and Art of Workmanship_, both by David Pye. David Pye was an architect and a professor of furniture design, as well as a wood worker. So his books are for anybody who has ever designed _anything_ and who has built anything. While Chris Alexander's Pattern Language for architects has had an effect on software development, directly influencing Design Patterns, David Pye is still virtually unknown. I think that this is very sad, because the book on workmanship in particular I think is vital to understanding what it is that we are doing. I think that these days it is fashionable to believe that the 'good things' we see in the created world are good because they were _designed_ well. And they may well have been. But what was crucial, often, was not the design but the workmanship. I see things like the XP and agile movement as significant attempts to improve the quality of the workmanship in our profession. If you get the chance, read David Pye, and see what you think. By the way, I am most heartily impressed with the amount of work you have accomplished on the python-advocacy front. Those of us who have fought the monsters of 'we like things just the way they are' in the Python community have accumulated an impressive list of burn-outs. But looks like you fought the fight -- and won. Some day I would like it if you taught me _how_ you managed it. Like all good magicians, you make it look effortless, when I know it is anything but. You take care, Laura Creighton