Well, it's Friday. A lot has happened in our neighborhood. Yesterday, there was the funeral for one of the firemen killed at the Deutsche Bank building. Today, when i got home, the police were right outside, taking statements from a bunch of kids (young people in their 20s); i didn't recognize any of them, they don't live in the houses on this block or across the street. But evidently the police have been called on earlier occasions, because these kids have been "disturbing the peace". Larry and i went to the Chinese takeout place, and when we got back, they were sitting on our stoop, and i barked at them to move. And they started screaming at me... and Larry freaked out. He was so frightened. But what can they do? And if they try something, we'll just call the police and add to their rap sheets. Why should i be polite to a bunch of hooligans?

Anyway, this was a great week. I saw: "Hannah Takes the Stairs", Rajnesh Domalpalli's "Vanaja", Elie Chouraqui's "O Jerusalem", John Turturro's "Romance & Cigarettes", Pernille Rose Gronkjaer's documentary "The Monastery: Mr. Vig & The Nun", two programs of short documentaries by the Cuban Santiago Alvarez: "Now", "L.B.J.", "Hanoi, Tuesday the 13th", "79 Springtimes of Ho Chi Minh", "El Tigre Salto y Mato... Morira... Morira", "Hasta la Victoria Siempre", "Cerro Pelado", Michael Gordon's "I Can Get It For You Wholesale" (with its script by Abraham Polonsky), and three silent films starring Sessue Hayakawa: "The Tong Wars", "The Dragon Painter" (an exquisite print; both directed by William Worthington), and Cecil B. DeMille's "The Cheat". These films provided amazing contrasts (for example: the very traditional filmmaking of "O Jerusalem" as opposed to the Marxist agit-prop of Santiago Alvarez; Rajnesh Domalpalli's approach to the use of music and dance in "Vanaja" as opposed to John Turturro's attempt at a working-class-musical in "Romance & Cigarettes"). I also watched some movies on TV, including the 1942 "My Sister Eileen", and that was an interesting contrast to "Hannah Takes the Stairs".

On Tuesday, Larry and i went to Carey Lovelace's birthday celebration; it was at the Firebird Restaurant, which was an amazing place on Restaurant Row West 46th Street. Actually, we had intended to stop by, have a drink (there was supposed to be a cocktail hour, starting at 6:30, with a dinner at 8), and then leave. We brought flowers... and then people started arriving. And it was one of those moments when my life flashed before my eyes, because every other person that came was someone Larry and i knew from the past. Carolee Schneemann, Judith Bernstein, Nancy Grossman, Tracy Moffat, Jane Dixon, Michelle Stuart (of course, she would be there, since she's Carey's partner). And some people from AICA, like Eleanor Heartney and Phyllis Braff. And Martha Wilson. And Ruby Lerner from Creative Capital. It was the kind of thing where we got there, and ran into Carolee and Judy outside the restaurant, we all went to the second floor (it's amazing: there's a little bar, and then a little cabaret anteroom, and then a room with banquettes, and then the large banquet room, which had mirrored walls and large reproductions of the drawings for the costumes for "Firebird"), and there were three people seated in the banquettes: one was a tarot card reader, another was a palm reader, and the other was a clairvoyant. Oh, yes, and Margo Jefferson was there!

So of course Larry and i have to talk to Margo and tell her about Gary.

I did have my palm read, and i did go to the clairvoyant (i skipped the tarot cards)... it was so depressing! I was told that i was a loving person, a very giving and kind person, that love was the most important thing in my life....

Hey, i don't want love! I want to be a cold-hearted son-of-a-bitch... like Christine Vachon or James Schamus. I want to be a success! I don't want to be loving!

(I was telling Gary, maybe i should drown the kittens - that'll prove i'm a real bitch! Well... Carmen actually took one of those kittens up to Yonkers! Now there are only two left. Obviously, Larry and i can't take those kittens, because we're both allergic to cats... and dogs. For the last week, i've had to take antihistamines, because i've had hives.)