[theSeaHawk]

Ok, I located and trashed the preference file but the behavior persisted. I figured out what was going on by noticing that:

XLD lets you rip from File > Open as well as File > Open Audio CD.
For some reason (probably staying up too late) I started ripping via the first option, then locating the tracks in finder. Do it that way and yes, you get a rip, but no log is generated.

thanks, Lynne and direwolf, for weighing in to help!