"Now, as everyone knows, leeches are nature's..."

Had another great if tiring weekend, which happily included catching up on all the tv I missed last week, finally seeing "Mystery Men," which has been quoted to me so extensively (and yes, it must be said, "We struck down evil with the Mighty Sword of Teamwork and the Hammer of Not Bickering" is a great line), having a bunch of people over to the apartment on Saturday for games night -- Pass the Bomb, Are You a Werewolf?, Bang!, The Adventure of Baron Munchhausen (from which came one of the night's BEST lines, as begun above), and Junglesomething -- then seeing Charlotte Martin live at the Knitting Factory last night, and having some really great meals, including a brunch at Norma's at Le Parker Meridien that I cannot recommend too highly.

Did a bit of showing off around NYC, too, and went into the New York Public Library's main branch for the very first time, which was beautiful, and I must remember to grab my laptop and head over to the Main Reading Room there sometime for some writing. It's awe-inspiring. Although, if I were running from a flash freeze, I might run for the high rise office building across the street instead. I mean -- countless bins of recyclable paper to burn to stay warm, probably a bunch of snack foods in office drones' desk, or at least coffee, and knowing how office buildings' temperatures are so wacky, probably lots of extra clothes and blankets. But what do I know? The library was pretty.

Today I'm working on my first piece for the new Storyball, which is due today, of course, and though it bears a superficial similarity to one of the already posted pieces in the first round, in my defense, I told it to someone this weekend before I read anybody's else's, so I canna be accused of copying! *grins* Besides, as I said, it's different enough, and the setting being what it is, I think a few common themes are to be expected. Which is all I will say for now because I realize we didn't discuss whether or not this was "top sekrit" (a wonderful spelling I'm totally stealing from others!), and I don't wanna get in trouble with the rest of the Storyballers.