Important Morning Update

Last night I got into bed just after midnight. As always, Laura was already there slumbering. I got in quietly and started doing the crossword which, despite the screen time, has been proven for me to be an effective final conscious activity. Searching for obscure associations and pondering clues sends my brain into, “no thank you, I’d rather shut down than do this,” mode.

A relatively new development in the nighttime routine is Batty (our cat) pouncing on me for one last round of booty smacks. The booty smacking is also relatively new, and has completely and delightfully changed her association with my physical touch.

I was lying there half on my belly with one eye open on the crossword when I caught a whiff of her breath. It was faint but my olfactory sense is keen. “Here she comes!” And sure enough, seconds later, she pounced on my phone.

I smacked her a few times, she settled next to me, then left, and I drifted to sleep. The dishwasher and laundry machine both hummed from the kitchen.

My dear friend Liam Fennecken sang a cappella on Cape Cod with me and now he’s a Broadway star. Google him! I think he’s the most naturally gifted performer I’ve ever sung with. Back in our Cape Cod days, we used to run errands together and scream along to the Broadway version of Green Day’s American Idiot. Later that summer, Liam booked a role in the American Idiot tour. I got to see him in this role in LA a year or so later. Peak joy.

Yesterday he asked if I wanted to run some errands with him (I live in Manhattan and he in Astoria) and I said yes, I would like that. So I’m on my way to do that now.

I am riding a high of sufficiently executing my side of a Big Exciting Writing Project that seems to be moving forward with enough momentum that I have no concerns about jinxing it by mentioning it here.

More on that soon! But more importantly, cat breath and buddy errands.