another long weird day after a batch of those this month. Things I've done since last I posted: climbed to the Crown of the Statue of Liberty (talk about confronting my vertigo), visited the "Dutch village" (a/k/a place for Dutch people to hawk their wares) at Bowling Green & got hit on by some guy dressed up as Rembrandt, went to an engagement party in Brighton Beach - 1 hr on the subway each way/no food to eat/no beer/but a friend I've known forever was hosting so...saw some highly motivated Russians dancing, went to a party in Elmhurst & had really odd food/watched you tube on a big screen tv & tried to figure out why people like hookahs & how they live with no a.c., then somewhere in there? went to see Jude Law in Hamlet. stunning. went to see "9" which was much less than stunning. somewhere in there I also read at the Whitman "song of myself" marathon reading on the foredeck of the Peking at South Street Seaport. had a fabulous dinner with the always good company MES @ the Usq Rosa Mexicano - why get anything there other than the guacamole? I successfully missed the brooklyn book festival and managed to see Nick Cave's reading at B&N Usq (thanks to JH for the prime seat). also dutifully attended the launch party for the new issue of NYU's journal Anamesa. A launch party with no readings...hmmm...and then, to cap off the glorious weirdness of the past few weeks: went to Ren Faire at Sterling Forest near Tuxedo, NY.  Went last year & it was fun but this year, the weather was glorious, the entertainment was just the right tone, the jousting was FABULOUS and I really didn't want it to ever end. tonight I went to the lamest reading ever perhaps - Craig Ferguson at (again) B&N Usq. He spoke for about 5 mins and then proceeded to answer questions. ridiculous sychophantic questions. He's a comic genius, of course. But what a terrible way to run a reading.  coming up: Aida @ the Met. Medieval Fest @ Fort Tryon. All's Well that End's Well "live" in HD from the NT, London. LOTR @ Radio City with live orchestral accompaniment. not to mention all those movies & other things.  must get some sleep at some point too.