My day in suburbia

I grew up in the suburbs, Teaneck, New Jersey, to be precise. It felt normal, was normal, to me then. I was there from I think age 2 through high school graduation, right until I left for Berkeley. It was a nice place to grow up, but now, I don't know if I could re-live in suburbia. At the same time, the pace of New York has definitely been getting to me lately; some of it is self-chosen, like this coming week - Monday I'm going to trivia, Tuesday to chess, Wednesday to hear my friend Emily Farris gives tips on Cooking for Broke Dummies, and Thursday is In The Flesh. I don't have to attend any of those, nor do I have to host a reading series. But in NYC, I do them; that's pretty much a typical week, in addition to all the work, much of which is busy work in terms of book/event promotion. I wonder a lot lately whether a chance of venue, a change of pace, a change of life would help me with, well, everything.

I am in the suburbs of Philly this weekend, and it's cozy. I spent the day with my friend Elise Miller and her husband and kids, who I hadn't seen in a while.

This is some of the day, in photos:

Bolt Bus has a built in charger and wifi! And left on time. I think I will be taking them again soon.



We made chocolate-covered toffee matzo - delicious and addictive, and also yields some great food porn:











Their super-cool stairs:



The Indonesian version of Elise's novel Star Craving Mad:



Elise insisted on taking this photo even though my hair is like a week overdue for conditioning because she liked the contrast with the fireplace:

HOT Heeb Storytelling: The Seder lineup, April 3rd

So I got switched to April 3rd from the 2nd...and am now with Meital Dohan, aka, the hot Israeli chick who did the brother in law with a strap-on in Weeds. !!!!

We each have to talk for ten minutes, without notes, on the topic of "Freedom." I guess that's what I'll be working on over the weekend! And this will probably be way more religious than my family's seder.