Pre-order this.

Hannah's book doesn't come out until September, but order it now. I finished it a week ago and it's unbearably, unstoppably good. A huge, lush achievement. That's my two cents, at least.

One of my favorite couples, Paul and Katie (she was once person of the week on this site), had a friend create this weird bucket fountain (working with running water and all that shizz) in their front "yard" on Dean Street. They do cool projects like this all the time. The last one they did was a shipwrecked boat built into the side of the building. Pictures of that coming soon. Meanwhile, there's this...

Dan Bernstein

Dan Bern, Happy Ending musician, and Amanda Stern friend, was in town last month. I took this picture at a bar, after the show. When I was flipping through my photos I was trying to remember when I hung out with Bruce Springstein, because unless I'm in a mobile coma, I don't recall ever meeting him. Then I realized that it was Dan Bern.

Don't you think?

They Only Love Me for My Crutches

The way in to the hearts of your nieces and nephews? Break something.

The View from my Roof Includes a Carriage House.

Cafe Jumper

I write in a cafe near my apartment sometimes and this little girl came in with her mom. The cafe was playing the Talking Heads and she started dancing. I asked her if she liked the music and she said, "Burning Down the House is my favorite."

That's the kind of kid I want. Alas, her mother was not putting her up for adoption.

A story in pictures

That Country Feeling

Instead of saying, "what the fuck?" let's start saying, "what the douche?"

Example: "What the douche is with Twitter?"

Isn't that facebook status crap enough?

I'm away now, working on my book. Except for this moment where I am not working on my book at all.

It is 5:15pm and I have not spoken out loud today.

I brought two books with me. One, The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti is fucking amazing. I'm halfway through. So far, it's my favorite book of the year. The second book, The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent is standing by.

When I was a kid we used to go to my grandfather's old house in Rye, NY. I had all these books there: Tuck Everlasting, Mandy, The Secret Garden. Even when I knew I was too old to be reading them, I'd spend my time there re-reading the books I didn't want to grow out of. They made me feel safe and protected somehow, even if the fictional world I was brought into was dangerous. The experience I had reading books I loved brought me great comfort and Hannah Tinti's book -- while not a Young Adult book by any stretch -- has brought to me the exact same intangible sense. I'd forgotten about that feeling (the "country feeling" I called it). Now it's back. And I likey.

You Are Like A Guru To Me

For those of you who have not yet seen this...I met Dennis about a year ago at a book festival and he became, essentially, the best part of the entire weekend. He alone made being where I was worth the humiliation of signing books for a line of 2 people.

Have You Watched Her?

My friend, the veteran Happy Ending reader and guest host, Janice Erlbaum made a video for her memoir, Have Your Found Her. She did it Danny Hoch style -- playing all the characters. Who's Danny Hoch? Coming next...


Have You Found Her from Milk Products on Vimeo.


Making of Have You Found Her from Milk Products on Vimeo.