I'm on day five in the Northeast. Still no luggage (I had a bit of a trial getting up here), and although I had an awesome christmas in Philly and it's lovely to see all my friends, I sort of want to go home. Philly was great, but I don't belong in New York somehow, and it's not just that my clothes have started to smell. Supposedly I'm up to collect $125 and counting for my smelliness. The best things from the past couple of days have been a graphic novel called Unlikely, the ipod my brother gave me for christmas (even though it is not yet in my posession) and how much I love the friends and family that all came over for christmas dinner and aftermath in Philly. It's great to see people. I wish there was some way to reconcile how much I love the city of New York with how bad it is capable of making me feel.

Festivities.

Photos from Rebecca's visit to Arkansas. I admit I'm a little embarassed about my sweatsuit ensemble. We were hiking, OK? Also: Emily Brochin's first big ass article in the Philadelphia Weekly. She's brilliant, although the newspaper could stand to hire a proofreader. What else... I'm going to be in New York and Philadelphia next week kiddos, if anyone still reads this (according to official counts, approximately three people a day do.)

All The King's Men is being re-made with the following cast:
Sean Penn as Willie Stark (or Willie Talos, depending on which edition of the book you read.)
Jude Law as Jack Burden (I have to say I think this is an excellent choice.)
Patricia Clarkson as Sadie Burke (I really hope they make sure her hair is black and crazy.)
Anthony Hopkins as Judge Irwin (who I envisioned as tall and rather craggy, more like the guy that plays the farmer in Babe.)
Kate Winslet as Anne Stanton.

James Carville is listed as Executive Producer, so at least there's one other Southerner in the credits. It's directed by Steven Zaillian, who is not Southern, and who directed Searching for Bobby Fisher. I predict that Sean Penn's Southern accent is going to be horrific. The movie better be good though.

These days I'm sort of against animal spectatorship, particularly of elephants, which I think should not be bred in captivity and used for performative purposes because they are too smart and interesting, and can communicate with one another by sensing vibrations through their feet from up to twenty miles away. I also am tired of people like Karl Lagerfield, and wish he could take his world and move it several miles into space, and I am annoyed that he is dressing this elephant in a Chanel suit, as if she were some botoxed vampire stalking a chintz-filled living room in the Upper 80s.

I turned on to the off-ramp of I-30 today and I think it was only sort of a mistake. I meant to link this days ago, when Emily B. called at 8 a.m. to inform me that Stephen Levin was wearing a blazer in the NY Times. This recent spate of appearances by Brown kids in the Times has left me sort of dumbfounded. Rebecca tried to set me up with Manu once. Good people, these boys.