tonight, on the way to a work function, a man flashed me his penis. this has happened twice this week and it’s only wednesday. confused on the A train, I wondered if I had missed the memo. Is it now penis-flashing season? Is the flacid penis in vogue? Is it simply too hot that briefs […]

between the looming piles of books in the living room and the boxes upon boxes upon boxes (it’s true) of books at work, i very well might wake up, face a head on collision with a hardcover and poke out my eye. death by book is very possible.
it’s scary when you dream of […]

i’m mad for black current tea. it’s been a year and a half since my last cup of coffee and although i sometimes long for a rich cup of italian roast, i’m head over heels for tea. over the past year i’ve become a fiend for it. loose teas, tea pouches - flavors from […]

there’s nothing i loathe more than when someone says: MY GOD! YOU HAVEN’T READ FILL-IN-THE-BLANK-FAMOUS-AUTHOR?!!??!! And the scream is accompanied by a look of horror, which dovetails to one of pity, and all the while I just want to staple things to their head. But I once fell victim to this pretentious line when […]

simple words to describe my life over the past two weeks: maelstrom, hurricane, whirlwind, typhoon. my weekly trips to whole foods, the park slope green market and Williamsburg veggie co-op have ceased and I find myself staring at an empty fridge. there is a bag of organic carrots, stoneyfield yoghurt, and a tub of […]

Where do your songs come from? Do you hear them and then go find them on the piano? Or, do you have some clear regimen where you just work until they arrive?
There can be a place anywhere and it doesn’t matter where it is. There could be an instrument there and you’re just…there. Another […]

apparently everyone in the free world is going to this. summer, susan and i are making the trek tomorrow. not sure what to expect, but am throwing myself in, head first. more info here…
Update: summer and i went buck-wild, to say the least. there was squealing, pointing, gasping and much touchy-feeling of felt bags […]

first word to click: RUSH. there is an office, here, this is yours for the keeping, a windowed space overlooking a cathedral. i think of spires, acanthus leaves, and cloaked monks. here is the computer, your new laptop and don’t worry, the flatscreen is on order, as well as the cushioned chair, the feng-shui […]

send me a work of your own creation. a collage made my your own two hands, sorting through a motley lot of materials, papers, words, printed poems, to make something so unique, so beautiful, so truly yours…
a few months ago, i sent gift packs to strangers, envelopes chockful of colored and patterned paper, pens, […]

last night was one of those quiet evenings you want to photograph. we made our way to bubby’s in dumbo to feast on mac and cheese, talk up art, trade pop culture stories (why angelina??!!) and dissect the latest anti-smoking ads. at one point, before the cake is cut and the proclamations are made, […]

it’s always (at least for me) oddly wonderful to hear your work read aloud by someone other that yourself, so i was initially a bit hesitant when perry norton contacted me about recording samples of my work. i was incredibly honored and thrilled to have someone approach me who was that interested in my memoir, […]

for the past few days i’ve been fact-checking like mad. making sure i’ve got all the streets right, how many floors certain buildings had, where key bodegas were located. and every time i revisit borough park - the two areas where I lived for the great deal of my childhood: 42nd and ninth avenue, […]

taking a five minute break from editing, i’m offering up a few of my books for giveaway…The first reader to write in with their mailing address will win a copy fo Sara Gruen’s magnificent third novel, Water for Elephants.
About the novel: When Jacob Jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing […]