I'm Supposed to be Working, but...

This is where I've been sitting when I write longhand lately. It was hard for me to tear myself away from my notebook this morning, and particularly difficult to not spend the entire day curled up in bed reading Richard Powers' "Plowing the Dark," given to me by my friend Todd Gailun last night, complete with a beautiful inscription. Nevertheless, I finally made it to the train, where I saw the below poster.



At brunch at Coffee Shop in Union Square, I encountered Joe and his parrot, Watson. (And Justin Long chatting with Jason Sudeikis).

Joe wasn't looking for a pet twelve years ago when he wandered into a pet shop in the Bronx, lured by the intelligence of the exotic birds in the window, but a baby parrot latched on and that was that.

"There's Alexander Graham Bell's partner," Joe said of famous Watsons, "and Watson and Crick, you know, of DNA fame, and then Sherlock Holmes with his Watson. I figured it was a great name for a sidekick."

His little green Watson loves the bread at Coffee Shop. They've been eating there for years together.

Washington Square Park, full of love and music.

I bought three paintings on book covers by artist Teofilo Olivieri.

Artist Ray Lamb creates fabulous tee-shirts and hoodies. My favorite, below left, contains binary code that Lamb translates as...

"I'm supposed to be working, but I'd rather be cutting out paper dolls."