I have been awfully remiss in the journal-keeping department and now I am just TOO BEHIND. Since I last wrote here I have been to Bavaria, where I visited my old friend Lisa and her husband and crazy children and saw medieval cities and consumed magical schnitzels, and to gloomy, glamorous Dresden, where I stayed with Lisa's friend Jen in a glamorous old 19th century villa and spoke to Jen's book group in another glamorous old 19th century villa and did things like tour opera houses and have high tea in fancy hotels, and I went with my friend Rob on a whirlwind little trip to Prague, where we wandered about castles and cathedrals and hung out in cool little country bars where bearded folk gathered around long tables and sang Johnny Cash songs in Czech, and to Vienna, where we met up with Tink and Aoife and Tink's old friend Evelyne and her beau and their new baby and went to wondrous, twinkling Christmas markets in front of palaces and gorgeous, elegant lamp-filled dark-wooded restaurants and cool old writerly cafes, and I had many, many more adventures in Berlin, with Eric and with Rob and with lots of new friends, and these adventures included seeing the best show ever in this world by MAX RAABE & PALAST ORCHESTER, which I will describe later, and a gorgeous Pina Bausch performance at which Wim Wenders sat right in front of us, and then in December I came back to New York for Christmas with my family and Marlene Dietrich film festivals and to see Joi and Kryzstof for dinners in fancy Brooklyn hideaways, and then in January I went back to Pennsylvania, where I am now ensconced with MERMAID once more, making last last edits and changes -- the book is now coming out in March 2011, please do not cry -- and working out like a MOFO in an admirable effort to become more SVELTE. Tho right now, at this moment, I am in New York again, as Mr ANTON STROUT has just turned 40 and his wondrous wife Orly threw him a surprise ZOMBIE PARTY last night, some photos from which are herein: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=142155&id=812268886&l=0774493e43. Please do not be too scared. We did all die, but we did, in true zombie fashion, came back to life shortly thereafter. The end.