It's now almost a week since i've been home; was it really 9 and a half months away? I thought i would rush to movies, but have been catching up, spending time with my mother.

I'm glad that i went to the International Federation of Theater Research conference in Munich; for my last week in Germany, it proved to be very exciting. Not that i attended many of the sessions, but it was fascinating to see an organization in transition, really trying to become truly international, with scholars from Asia and Africa and Latin America, in addition to the usual Euro-American suspects. And the general meeting was fantastic: fractious, contentious, argumentative. It was a performance in itself. Who knew that the attempt to democratize the organization would be met with such resistance?

I'm happy to be back in time to see the annual TCM Summer Under the Stars: on Sunday, August 1st, watched "The Hound of the Baskervilles" and "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" with Basil Rathbone. On Monday, August 2nd, watched a bunch of movies with Julie Christie: "The Fast Lady", "Young Cassidy", "Billy Liar", "Darling". I can't believe it: this morning (Thursday, August 5th), i watched one of the Bomba the Jungle Boy movies ("African Treasure"; it's part of Woody Strode day, though his part was really small).

I couldn't watch "Work of Art": i tried, but it was so... aggravating. After a few minutes, i just had to get back to sanity, so i switched to "Psych". I still have to see "Hot in Cleveland".

There's so much to do, so much to see. NY1 just had a report about the waterfront parks in Brooklyn. Of course, today is another scorcher. I'm glad that this past weekend was relatively temperate, because otherwise, i'd be wondering why i came back.

But one thing i learned: i love New York. A lot of people wish they had been in NYC in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and i don't have to wish.

Now that i've said that, i have to say that coming back was a shock because of the sudden changes. Subway service is a shambles. I love the fact that the new notices in the subways (explaining why service is being cut) simply blame it on the budget crisis. But what a way to run a city!