Nope, there hasn't been a lot of writing recently. Too busy playing catch-up to really Blog lke I'd want to. But I do want to get a few things down for my critical analysis...

"These Hands," Keith Brockheimer.
Plot: A nanny recalls the times he spent with his 18 month old charge, Caroline, before being fired due to a misunderstanding.
Three good things:
Descriptions. This story is so rich in description, it paints its picture in vivid colors.
Use of meta-fictional elements: The story is split between the narrator's musings and accounts of his time with Caroline. The parts with Caroline are written in third person, because Lewis is a storyteller, and he is now telling the story of his time with her. It's an appropriate device that allows things to be reported, but the description makes the world come alive in a very fairy tale-esque way. The personal monologues to the reader allow us to get a more accurate feel for Lewis as a person, to understand what is going on inside his head.
Third, the characters. Caroline is presented especially vividly; even though there's not a lot of description of the her parents, the picture presented gives us a fairly good idea of what type of people they are. Lewis remains somewhat mysterious, but interesting nonetheless.
Bad stuff:
The plot. While I realize that Lewis ultimately must be separated from his charge, the way in which this is done in the story seems very contrived. It might have been the only way to do it, but still...

More later, when I actually write the darn thing. Jya ne!