Occassional blog

FRIDAY, JULY 11—SATURN BOOKS AND LIMO RIDE
Last night I had a wonderful event at my favorite bookstore ever—Saturn Books in Gaylord, Michigan—with some of the best booksellers on the planet. Jill Miner, the owner, rocks. She had me for an event there last year and I was thrilled she wanted me to return to celebrate the re-releases of the backlist titles. There were 74 people in attendance. For an event out of your own hometown, that's a dream come true! I had a blast.

Jill gave me a silver bracelet that I have not taken off since she presented it to me upon picking me up at the airport (okay...she actually presented it to me over lunch in a diner where I had a foot long coney dog and we shared a chocolate malt! I love this woman!) The bracelet is engraved with a Buddha quote: "Your work is to find your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it." Words to live by. I've done part one, now I must make sure to do part two.

This morning I was picked up at the hotel by a long black limo. Rich, the driver, was one of those people who makes my job a joy. As I stepped out and saw the limo I could not help grinning. He said, "That right there is why I love this job—the look on your face." I said, "I feel like a little kid," and he responded, "Nah. A movie star. Pull down those sunglasses and be a movie star." We talked the whole way to the airport (over an hour) about Italy (where his family is from), New York (where he grew up), cooking, tiramisu, September 11, and his wife (whom he adores). I love my life!

WEDNESDAY, JULY 9—THURBER HOUSE
I had the most beautiful evening at Thurber House in Columbus, Ohio as part of their Literary Picnic series. After days of rains and storms, the weather cleared as if by magic and it was a cool, sunny, lovely evening. The event was held in the side yard of the historic childhood home of author James Thurber. The picnic was awesome (with thick, rich brownies...I was happy) and I did not end up wearing mustard on my white shirt. The reading went well (I don't think I pulled a Marilyn Monroe in my skirt...I did mention it was breezy, right?) and the crowd (of nearly 100 people! and they had to buy tickets! only 3 of them I brought with me!) asked great questions. I drove over with my mom and my dear friends Ted & Dave. We had a great time and everyone at Thurber House—Anne, Anna, Pat, Meg, Susanne, Nancy & Co.—treated us like royalty. I hear the house is haunted...

THURSDAY JULY 3
Unfortunately Brad Riddell introduced me to Facebook. Well, I mean, I knew about Facebook already, but he started a fan club for me there and his updates on it eventually forced me to drag myself into the twenty-first century and register myself. And I thought Guitar Hero was a distraction???

WEDNESDAY JULY 2
I love it here. I sleep like the dead. The weather has been cool and breezy, they have the loveliest windchime that perfectly underscores the birdsong, their sweet calico Gina pads into my room and mews at me every half hour or so, and maybe two cars drive past on this quiet street all day.
I had perhaps the most productive day of my writing life on this novel today.
My coffee mug of choice here is a brightly striped mug from a set of four that used to be mine. I gave them to Ted & David on the day of the garage sale. There is also a frosted Paul Mitchell mug I use, which is fitting as David is my hair stylist.

MONDAY JUNE 30, 2008 Temporary home #4
Moved into the home of my dear friends Ted & David. I have a cozy bedroom with a computer desk where I set up my desktop computer again. Writing for long hours on the laptop has begun to give me calluses on my wrists! These two guys are incredibly supportive and are doing everything they can to “facilitate” this adventure of mine. They will be my base camp for much of this summer.
Random facts: Ted & David will celebrate their 30th anniversary next year. These two can quote the dialogue from Brokeback Mountain verbatim. That is in no way an exaggeration.

SUNDAY JUNE 29, 2008 Temporary Home #3
I am now living in one of my favorite homes. It belongs to Lauren & Mike, their two fabulous kids, and their two great dogs (and one shy cat). I went to high school with Lauren. This house has one of the warmest, friendliest vibes. I spend a lot of time here eating great meals and watching movies and playing Guitar Hero (when they first introduced me to Guitar Hero I worried that I would never write again! It may as well be crack!)
So, I’m happily ensconsed in a place that already feels like home. Max, the older dog, wakes me early with one polite but insistent bark. I stumble out of the guest room to feed them. Evie, the younger dog, black and sleek like an otter, whirls in circles like a dervish when she’s about to be fed. It’s such an act of unabashed joy and anticipation it makes me laugh aloud each time I see it!
I have found a new ritual in each home I stay in—a ritual I had not anticipated. I find it fun, my first morning in a new house, to select my coffee mug. Here at Mike & Lauren’s I alternate between two mugs. I make a pot of coffee early in the morning and drink most of it hot out of an “I Love New York” mug. Then, later in the afternoon, after I’ve done my run through Lincoln Park, I make iced coffee with the rest and put it in a one-eyed monster mug.
Evie and Max are good companions. Occasionally Evie will come and put her head on my thigh and look up at me as if to say, “You’re still writing? Don’t you want to play?” When I’m stuck or my eyes are tired, I play tug of war with her (until Max intervenes and takes over) or walk through Lauren’s gorgeous, lush garden full of statues, lilies, bee balm, lavender, mint, yellow daisies, and all kinds of plants I can’t identify. We’re still having storms galore nearly every day, but there’s usually some small window of opportunity to wander around without getting soaked.
Max is afraid of thunder and will go into the bathroom and tremble. I go sit with him and talk to him during the worst of it.
Lauren & Mike also have some kind of brightly colored toads in a terrarium. The toads make noises that are a cross between a bed spring squeaking and the sound you get when you wipe glass with Windex. At first, this sometimes woke me at night...
...but the one thing that really jolted me out of bed one night was when a discarded electric toothbrush went off in the bathroom trash can. I had no idea what the heck it was! It sounded like someone trying to drill into the house. Of course it was on the bottom of the trashcan, buried under dirty tissue and the other sorts of unpleasantries one typically finds in a bathroom trashcan, but I eventually saw it and fished it out. Hmmph. Who knows why it turned itself on. Hard to fall asleep after that!
The writing is really flowing and it feels like a real gift to spend long hours with these characters.
I got rid of more stuff and consolidated two boxes into one. Slowly but surely...

FRIDAY JUNE 20, 2008
I have written more these five days than I have in the last five months!

MONDAY, JUNE 16, 2008
Okay, today it really began. I’m doing this. I wrote from 7:30 until noon, took a lunch break, then continued until 3:30. It is heaven to write without having to keep an eye on the clock.

SUNDAY JUNE 15, 2008—IN TEMPORARY HOME #2
This place is fabulous. Close to everything, but tucked away back behind a residential neighborhood, so that you feel like you’re very isolated, as if you’re way out in the country. Gorgeous, tall old trees surround the house and yard and pool (yes, pool!). My companions for the next ten days shall be Annie, the coolest little Cocker Spaniel I’ve ever met, and Sammy, a flat-faced, sweet-natured diabetic Persian cat almost as tall as the dog. I give Sammy two insulin shots daily.
I sit at the computer desk and a deer walked right past my window! He actually looked in at me and I felt it was a welcome of some kind. I watched him eat the oak-leaf hydrangea outside.
There are also rabbits everywhere. I can usually find five or six at any glance out into the front yard. They do their silly mating dances on the driveway, hopping straight into the air and doing 180 degree turns like furry miniature ice skaters.
Two male blue jays scream at each from opposite pine trees.
Ah, heaven.
I still have too much stuff that I’m carting around everywhere, but I continue to organize and streamline. I think with each move I’ll get a little better.

FRIDAY JUNE 13, 2008 AT TEMPORARY HOME #1: I have done it. I have begun my journey. I am officially homeless and I love it! Here I sit in the kitchen of my dear friends Sharon & Stefan, sipping coffee and trying to absorb it all.
Yesterday, at the apartment, things were a mess. Packing is horrible and even though I started so early, at the end it’s always this nightmare of throwing crap into boxes, finding more stuff in a closet or a drawer. The movers were great. Just two guys, but I really didn’t have that much stuff, all things considered. One guy, after he asked if I was moving and I told him the story, was so genuine and earnest and said, “You must have worked really hard to get to this place. You should pat yourself on the back.” He wished me all the best. Everyone, really, has been amazing. I get well wishes from so many. I should use that to inspire me.
After the movers left, I worked and worked and worked, alone, in silence and no AC, taking things to the dumpster, taking things to Good Will, taking my i-Mac and printer to Mike and Lauren’s, cleaning the fridge, cleaning the oven, vacuuming. I was a sweaty, stanky girl at the end. Just as I shoved the last haphazard box in the car, thunder broke and we got one of those crazy deluges this spring has cursed us with. I stood in the empty, vacuumed kitchen looking out at the rain falling so straight and heavy. The rain was a blessing because it forced me to stop and consider the moment and reflect: here I go. I’m really doing this. Wow. I thought about how much I’d changed and grown in that Georgetown apartment. Moving in with my It’s a Wonderful Life day of generous friends—Ted, Michael, Mikey C., Mike B., Beth, Mike & Lauren, Stefan, Arundi, “Hot Robbie,” Mom, Nancy J., Michelle & Kevin, Rachel. It was at Georgetown that I become okay with being in solitude again, and where I began to write again. It was at Georgetown that I recognized that I still believed in love and in romance and in possibility. It was from Georgetown that I traveled to Portugal..and then to Portugal again and to Italy. Where I learned to say yes. And rediscovered dreams. Where I created a haven of a garden in my courtyard—a beautiful place full of color and lights and toads and birds. It was at Georgetown that an azalea bloomed in March. Where I snuggled in on snow days. Where I made mulligatawny stew and seafood pesto. It was a rich, wonderful two years, even with all its skankiness—the redheaded tattooed neighbor having her screaming matches with her parade of boyfriends, the stray cats in heat wailing away in the middle of hot summer nights, the chill that lingered in the walls all winter, the spiders, the squishy tiles, the peeling ceiling, the “Georgetown funk.” I loved it all.
So I stood there watching it pour rain and caught my breath and rested my aching back and loved it one last time. That place held me while I found my dream, while I rediscovered my authentic self, and where I gathered the courage to live my best life.
And then…the rain stopped. I turned in my key and even the Georgetown girls wished me well! They hugged me and told me to “keep in touch.” And I drove past the guy doing his job as human signage, dressed as Mr. Potato (replacing the traditional lobster. What? A lobster is supposed to make you want to rent an apartment???), and drove to the First Stop on the Year of Godzilla: Sharon & Stefan’s.
Sharon was here, but I was so embarrassed by the crappy packing (my car made me look like a Beverly Hillbilly!) that I wouldn’t let her help me—she went upstairs and once I’d dragged everything inside I said, “I’m here!” I showered and when I re-emerged, clean and in dry clothes, she presented me with a lemonade and hugged me. What a good, good friend.
Had an amazing massage with Laurie and I didn’t fall asleep, which was divine. I stayed awake and savored it all. It’s a must for any moving day! Then, Sharon and I walked with Sofie to Corleone’s and brought back an artichoke pizza. One glass of wine and I was done. So spent. Slept like the dead.
And woke up today, realizing that for years I’ve had this magnet on my fridge that say, “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you’ve imagined,” and I have. I am. I can’t stop grinning!

MAY 21, 2008
I just left a lovely book club (at El Meson, of course), made up of fabulous women from Cincinnati. A really intelligent, interesting group. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening. One amazing woman, with a wicked smile and sparkle in her eye pulled me aside at the end. I had told them of my plan to be a gypsy for a year and she said, "I lived in Italy for several years. When I first moved there, I got lost all the time and I'd fret about it. I'd pull over and have to ask for directions and the Italians always laughed and said, 'If you take the wrong turn, so what? Just savor and enjoy the beauty in each road you take. You'll find your way. They're all good ways.'" and she looked at me solemnly and said, "Make sure you savor even the wrong turns on this adventure, young lady."

Amen to that. That’s what life is all about.

MONDAY MAY 19, 2008
We had the garage sale and it was a huge success. That made it feel so real--watching people take my belongings! Oh well, there it goes. At the end of the day, I had a measly three boxes to take to Good Will. Ted & David’s garage was empty again...wow. I did it. The mirror is gone, the tables are gone, my three green chairs from Pier One I bought way back when I was married and lived in that tacky little apartment in Beavercreek and we had a truck! I used to own a pickup truck. And a horse. Life changes. I feel very free now.
Here at home I have one chair--it belongs to my sister now, but she’s letting me keep it until I’m out of the apartment. I carry it upstairs to use that computer (set up on top of my one remaining file cabinet); I carry it downstairs to eat at the table. It’s hysterical. But I’m realizing what I need and what I don’t. I can get by with so much less than I have been.
I’ve always been a fan of the expression, “Leap and the net will appear,” but this time it is truer than ever. I’ve truly leapt—I have one chair that I take up and downstairs! One cereal bowl I wash and put back in the cupboard. I have movers coming on the 12th. I have leapt. I better get busy weaving that net!

SUNDAY MAY 4, 2008
Traveling light. I am putting the plan into action. I gave notice at school that I was resigning way back in January. Since then, I have been gearing up for the Year of Godzilla (that name will be explained in another post). The plan (as much as there is one): to give up my apartment, stay in the Dayton area most of the summer housesitting, and finish this fourth novel!!! In September I will leave town to travel. The goal: to live in places different from the Midwest to experience new things.
Step One: Getting rid of stuff. Craig’s List. Garage Sale. It feels so liberating to part with things. It’s become a kind of game that whether I get money for it or not, if it stays out of a landfill and finds a new home I have “won.”
I’m really liking several rooms in my apartment without so much stuff—it feels more airy and complete. How do we accumulate so much STUFF? It’s insane. I’m beginning to get ruthless. For something to go into storage, I have to cherish it. I have to feel as though I couldn’t replace it. I’ve learned that there’s not much I feel that way about.
The leather couch goes because it feels like bad karma. It’s the only thing I kept out of spite from the divorce. Truly. It wasn’t “my” thing at all, but I needed a couch, dammit, and I was sick of shopping. But I hardly ever sit on it.
It literally makes me happy to move through the less crowded rooms. There is more room to notice what is there. There is more freedom. “The more you own, the more it owns you.” I’m finally realizing that as a writer, as an artist, I need freedom. I need to shed all this extra stuff that burdens me down and takes time from writing. I am learning.
The bed is going. My ex and I picked out that bed. There is nothing wrong with the bed...but it doesn’t make the cut. There is too much history there. It’s not part of my new life. So...one more skin to shed. I love it.
I am really doing this. It feels at times very reckless and childish. Aren’t grown ups supposed to have stuff? Ah, well. I don’t think the conventional life has ever fit me very well. To be honest, being married didn’t. Owning a house didn’t. This new life is what will allow me to write. It’s not conventional, but it works for me. It fits a lot better. It’s comfy like old jeans, almost like flannel.

The hardest part of this whole adventure is that the getting it off the ground actually interferes with the writing! I’m so bad at split focus! I’ll sit down to write and all the packing and selling feels like it’s tugging on my sleeve. There’s a lot going on right now with the last weeks of school, my new semester at Spalding starting, the garage sale, packing...but I must keep my finger on the pulse of the novel. Too many days away from it and the characters and themes slide far away and feel like dreams I’m trying to remember. I need to check in with them daily, even if it’s brief, until I am free of this apartment.

AUGUST 2007: ITALY: This summer I traveled to Italy with my friend and fabulous traveling companion, Beth Common, who now lives in Portugal. She used to live in Rome, so she was a great guide. She and I put together the following report to e-mail our friends:

KATRINA'S VERSION OF THE TRIP: We had the most glorious time and are STILL FRIENDS. That's amazing, after our close-quartered living (she even tried to wear my underwear one day!) for so many days. Our journey began in a lovely apartment off the Campo dei Fiori, the center of Rome. It was fabulous, but clearly not made for Amazonian American women like ourselves. On the top floor (no elevator, so we didn't have to feel too guilty about all those pastries every morning) built into the eaves, you practically had to lie down to get into the bathtub and crouch in many corners of the rooms. We would catch ourselves walking like Neandarthals even in rooms where it wasn't necessary! One day Beth cracked her head on a beam in the bedroom. CRACKED. I heard the thump from the other room. She was never really quite right ever again...

Things we learned about each other:
Beth has a thing for original floors and original paint in the frescoes.
Katrina has a thing for piles of fresh produce and stray Roman cats.
Beth will always find the slowest, most challenged line in any airport, restaurant, or other function.
Katrina will always be the magnet for the melting down, crying child.

My favorite things were the Carabinieri (more on them later) and the ancient Roman ruins. My absolute favorite day in Rome was the day we walked to the Colosseum and then wandered through Palatine Hill and the Forum and all those ruins. There are ruins EVERYWHERE you look in Rome, old columns left exposed in the exterior wall of a restaurant built around it, fabulous old statues stuck in the corners of parking lots --as Beth says, "You gotta put that stuff somewhere"--and more being excavated and discovered daily.

So...these Carabinieri. This is a police force, the "top" force in the Italian police hierarchy--who are actually part of the army. On our second day I asked Beth, "What's the deal with the police in blue?" She asked, "What do you mean?" I said, "Why are they all so beautiful?" I'm not kidding--they are stunningly, stupidly beautiful, every last one of them! And their uniforms were designed by Armani, so they're dressed gorgeously, too. I think the first thing on their applications must be, "Send in a photo." Fortunately for me, they were out in droves in Rome. I tried, in vain, to think of a reason I might need their assistance...

We went to the Vatican on the hottest day ever. The Sistine Chapel was unbelievable and far more awe-inspiring than I'd even imagined. Even with the shoulder to shoulder sweaty crowd, even with the guards calling out "Silencio!" and even with the Japanese tourists taking forbidden flash photos, I could have stared up at the ceiling until my neck cramped.

We'd advenure in the morning, find a lovely place to rehydrate and eat lunch and read and people watch for hours during the hottest part of the day, return to the apartment for showers and naps, then venture out again in the evening.

KATRINA'S HIGHLIGHTS:
-Standing on the bridge to Trastevere with the full moon shining and St. Peter's Basilica reflected in the Tiber River.
-Visiting the cat sanctuary at Largo Argentina over and over again, watching interesting cats of every size, shape, color, and disability (I had a favorite one who was three-legged, and another I loved that had only one eye) climb all over the ruins where Julius Ceasar was stabbed.
-Gazing up at the giant columns of the Pantheon and knowning I shouldn't even bother to photograph it because there's no way any photo will capture its magnificance
-Meeting up with my highschool pal Dan Florio!!! He met us in Campo dei Fiori in Rome after training in from Florence. He made Beth and I laugh with tales of ants in his hotel room (because of Dan, I know that Italian for ant is "formica."), then he and I headed off for perhaps the best meal I had on the whole trip, complete with the World's Best tiramisu (you know what I mean, the kind that makes you close your eyes, it's so good) and these little, tiny sweet strawberries in cream for dessert. Then Dan and I walked around Campo and I tried grappe. Not a fan (of grappe, but Beth and I are both fans of Dan).
-Suppli! My favorite, favorite Italian food: little balls of risotto wrapped around fresh mozarella, then rolled in bread crumbs and deep fat fried. Yummm. First you get the crunchy outer shell, then this burst of the tomato-ey, juicy risotto, then the cheese. (They are named for the telephone lines--that's what it looks like when you pull the strings of cheese inside). There was a place that sold divine suppli right below our apartment. When we returned to Rome from Positano and found out our hotel room wouldn't be ready for another half hour, I looked at Beth and said, "Suppli" and she said, "I like the way you think."
-Watching Beth navigate the Roman streets in our rental car. I was totally in awe. That's some nutty traffic. "Breathe and trust, breathe and trust," became my mantra.
-Being able to see the Mediterranean Sea from our Positano hotel room balcony (heck, you could see it from the bed! Listening to the ocean at night, with the breeze blowing these loooong white curtains into the room).
-Driving with Beth and making up a song about Positano to the tune of "Spanish Harlem"
-Falling in love with Positano. This city built almost vertically into the cliffs above the Mediterranean, all the buildings pale yellow and pink and cream. Being treated like celebrities (because of Beth) at Chez Black, where we were whisked into primo tables practically on the beach and fed TUREENS of seafood stew.
-Floating on my back in the Mediterranean, looking up at our beautiful yellow hotel, Albergo California (yes indeed, the Hotel California, and it's true...we checked out, but we can never leave...) and thinking, "Screw Pompeii. I don't want to give up any time in this beautiful place." So we didn't go to Pompeii and just took a lovely vacation from our vacation.
-Maria, the owner of Albergo California, saying to me, "You are not married? You come back, we find you a nice Italian boy!" I'm like, "Okay!"
-Drinking cappucino and eating cornetto everyone morning on the square in Campo, with the cute little coffee guy who always wanted to kiss me. Hee hee. Wandering around the Campo markets buying peaches and bananas.

QUOTES FROM THE JOURNEY

"Ooh, I like this. It's like the George Clooney International Airport."
-Katrina on landing in Lisbon, admiring the MANY floor to ceiling ads featuring her beloved George.

"George, we gotta talk about your airport."
-Katrina on returning to Lisbon after the Italy trip, after waiting for AN HOUR for their luggage with all queries being met with the ubiquitous European shrug and "Beh?"

"Smell those bitches!"
-Beth, mishearing Katrina on a street near Piazza Navonne. Katrina was actually commenting on the peaches.

It must be a peach thing because...

"Please, I would like one cones of fish gelato."
-a literal translation of Katrina attempting to order peach gelato (pesca vs. peche, c'mon, give me a break!)

"It's a Swedish delicacy!"
-Beth, when the Italian gelato girl burst out laughing at Katrina's order

BETH's VERSION OF LA TRIP~
Well, um, er...right off the bat I feel like a bad version of that W.C. Field's quote about his early days in burlesque, where you should "never follow a children or an animal act..." and here I am penning my travelogue... following a writer...

Rome was (as always...) a blast. Hotter than all get out and that made it necessary to take frequent beverage breaks. Katrina, kindly (I assume it was kindness and not her desire to have a semi-sober tour guide...)tried to point out to me that beer wasn't really a good way to rehydrate, but I refuse to believe this since on the label the first prominent ingredient is water. But we did cover alot of ground and saw some wonderful things (including the caribinieri.) And yes, every fruit strand and stray cat was a Katrina magnet. But we had a marvelous time!!!

And Positano...is and always will be my favorite place on the planet. And the obligatory "fish soup" at Blackies (restaurant on the shore) which is really this enormous trough of fresh fish and seafood...amazing!

My favorite moments:
The two of us, people watching from the cafes (I was rehydrating!) -- including scary clown woman, hearing Sinatra's "I Did It My Way" on every conceivable instrument known to man (my personal favorite the accordian and clarinet combo version), and watching Italian women traversing the same cobblestones that I can barely navigate in sandals, in 3 inch stiletto heels......

Floating on my back in the Mediterranean looking at the Positano cliffs

Yes, mosaic and marble floors.....love 'em.....something very humbling that gives you a great sense of perspective when you are standing on a floor that someone (Cato, Cicero, Augustus?) trod 2,000 years ago....

Meeting Dan, Katrina's friend, in Rome...Door's always open in Portugal, Dan!

And most importantly, traveling and sharing it all with Katrina....couldn't have asked for a better travelling companion. Fun, easy going and always ready
to laugh...even at the frustrating times (i.e. whatever line i chose for us to stand inhat of course was 5million times slower than any other line...) A great traveling companion- so much so...that on Day 7, when we had pretty much stunk up and sweated up every piece of clothing we had...I did actually have on Katrina's underwear (by accident...truly) and upon finding out that on top of that they were "used" underwear...instead of running around the room screaming "ick, cooties!"....I just shrugged and said "Beh?"... That my friends is a true measure of good travelling companions...

AUGUST 2006: Portugal: "What I Did on My Summer Vacation" Part II—I had the absolute pleasure of visiting great friends (and wonderful hosts) Beth & Marv who recently moved to Carcavelos, Portugal. Just the right mix of adventuring and hanging out on the beach (which was just a 7 minute stroll from their house—and, yes, we did clock it, on our daily trek for cold beers, tosta mistas, and refreshing swims in the bracing ocean water). I fell in love with a great milky coffee drink called galao (rhymes with allow) and had at least two of them a day (my record one day was six!). The pastries there were pretty divine,too, as was the grilled octopus and some butter-drenched roasted chicken from Franga's. My first night there we ate Franga's chicken in a beautiful outdoor cafe cut into a cliff overlooking the ocean in Caiscais. Ahh...how life is meant to be lived. Explored Lisbon and the astonishingly beautiful Jeronimos Monastery; saw two amazing castles and a Moorish ruin in the medieval, mountain city of Sintra; had a three hour horseback ride in the hills of Sintra—lovely horses, lovely view, lovely guide named Pedro...sigh... Truly a wonderful adventure. Huge love and thanks to Beth, Marv, and Bear. Ciao, cao!

JULY 2006: New York City: "What I Did on My Summer Vacation"— I spent five days in NY in a perfect mix of business and pleasure. Met with my wonderful agent, editor, publicist, and all the fabulous people at HarperCollins. Saw the groovy new cover for the softcover of Kindness (coming in late January '07) and even talked about the fourth book. Also saw my friend and former Ohioan, the amazingly talented Susan Blackwell, in a wonderful new musical, [title of show], (really, that's the title), which I highly recommend to everyone! Had my first "good" cup of espresso, ate myself sick at Angelo's on Mulberry Street (food so good I wanted to loll on the floor and moan), went to Brooklyn for the first time in my life, had amazing pizza at 2 AM, and experienced fabulous music: the incredible Ledisi at The Blue Note and Plena Libre at Joe's Pub. (Thank you, Mikey C. and family...even Romeo).