Potpourri: works of a longer nature.

I’m not sure why, but madness seems to be an overriding theme for March.

For political junkies, there is Super Tuesday on March 1, where presidential candidates can mathematically rack up enough delegate votes to their respective conventions to claim their parties’ nomination.

For sports enthusiasts, there is the World Track Cycling Championship and the NCAA Basketball Tournament which is aptly named “March Madness.” There is also the Iditarod, that Alaskan long-distance dog race. And the 2016 NASCAR Weekend in Las Vegas for those who prefer racecars to sleds.

For scientists, there is a total solar eclipse on March 8. The only problem is that the best chance to see it is in a boat five hundred miles north of New Guinea. There are also the arrivals of Spring and, everybody’s favorite, Daylight Savings Time. True to form, the swallows will return to Capistrano, although scientists aren’t sure why.

For those who love award shows, the rehash of the eighty-eighth Academy Awards will still be going on. But not much else. So take a moment to remember William Shakespeare on the Ides of March for giving us a lot of wonderful theater over the centuries. For the religious, Buddhists, Baha’i followers, Christians, Hindus, Jews, and Sikhs all have celebrations. And in some places St. Patrick’s Day qualifies as a religious experience too.

So how does one cope if all this madness is maddening?

For me, reading a book is a wonderful way to withdraw from all the competing events and focus on what a storyteller has to contribute. If you need a recommendation, consider To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, who died last month. Or if you want something more contemporary, there’s Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. Both women won the Pulitzer Prize for their works.

And in the spirit of full disclosure . . .

Last month I announced the launch of three projects: a serialized version on my website of a book I wrote called F Seeks M; information about a children’s book available mid-summer; and the formation of a publishing company. If you’re wondering what’s happened to those projects, they are all alive and well and clamoring to go public. But each still needs a little tweaking. I’ll keep you posted . . .