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This time last year, I was catching up on my reading. In that article I expressed a desire to make my books more portable. I've since discontinued my own little book of the month club and learned to read all over again.

It's hard to believe that it was only six months ago that I returned to school. While, at times, it seems as though I am moving too slowly and I should be getting more accomplished, I have been progressing as well as can be expected. My class is going well -- I hope to be caught up to the rest of the students by the end of this week -- and I have become quite comfortable, in general, with Windows 95.

I've still been keeping up with my reading list; TIME Magazine, The New York Times, etc. I read electronically via the internet but, except for the likes of The Starr Report, I now look to braille for my books. I completed the braille course last June, and I was nearing the end of my second braille volume by the end of July. And now, almost two months later, I am nearing the end of the third volume of that six-part serial novel, "The Green Mile," by Stephen King. I am still reading at a painfully slow rate which can only be increased through practice.

After finishing the second volume, I waited a week . . . then two weeks . . . still waiting for part three of this story about life on death row, "E Block," I called the library and ordered "Carrie" (another Stephen King classic) just to get something to read while waiting for that third volume, which someone else was undoubtedly savoring. I was about thirty pages into that substitute when, at the beginning of this month I finally received part three and resumed my walk on "The Mile."

I've got nothing stopping me now. I have, stacked by my desk, parts four, five, and six. Plus, I still have "Carrie" (in two braille volumes) at the ready. All I have to do now is just keep reading -- and Stephen King makes this easy for me -- and I will gain speed. With any luck, by this time next year, I'll be back to reading a book per month.

With that in mind, I cut this installment short. Enough writing for now -- it's time to get my hands back into a book.