It was 90 degrees here in LA today and I was frying on the beach. I so needed the sun and riding around in my rental PT Cruiser convertible I made up for three months of gray Manhattan weather in a weekend. It's been wonderful seeing old friends and I was invited to a terrific book party at Arianna Huffington's house for her friend Kathy Freston. I don't get out much so to be here on vacation with neither kids nor a curfew and hobnobbing in a mansion on a hot summery day was not bad at all.

Tomorrow I have an NPR interview and then a half-hour later Dr. Drew. Later that evening I'm meeting up with old friends at Versailles, my favorite Cuban restaurant in LA and then I catch the redeye. My plan is to get home, take a nap and then rush to school for office hours and then I teach from 2-5 and pick up the kiddies.

I miss them of course but this little break was long overdo.

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So my three-month-long self-imposed imprisonment on the island of Manhattan came to an end last week when I flew down to Richmond, VA, to lecture at the University of Richmond. What a wonderful campus and the undergraduates I spoke with were so bright and perceptive. I spoke about Platitudes with Professor Bertram Ashe, to whom I'm eternally grateful for rescuing Platitudes from the remainder bin. He wrote the introduction to the new edition and it is only thanks to him that it's now taught in dozens of classes across the country.

It was also wonderful to speak about Bedtime Stories as literature as well. I put so much into this new book and it was unbelievably gratifying to see that close readers understood what it was I was trying to do. Beyond telling the story of my kids, my dating and myself, I wanted to create a modern, experimental narrative that nevertheless was readable with an elegant seamlessness. I love all the tropes I have used in Platitudes and in my other two books but this time I wanted to bring them to bear in a work of non-fiction.

And next week I'm off to LA for Spring Break and to be on the Dr. Drew Show and NPR's News & Notes. It will be odd. My first time back since I no longer have a home there.

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I just finished a very fun interview with "This Week in America with Ric Bratton. I'm still in Virgina getting sun for perhaps the first time in four months. I'd almost forgotten how much I missed it. I have a lot more radio interviews coming up including NPR's News & Notes's blogger's roundtable next week.

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I will be reading again in New York City Tuesday, April 22nd at 7pm at

The Studio Museum in Harlem
144 West 125th Street, New York, New York 10027
tel 212.864.4500 fax 212.864.4800

It should be a lot of fun. I'm lecturing at the University of Richmond (VA) this week. Yes, I finally got off of Manhattan. Spring is in full bloom here. It's wonderful. And I just posted another parenting blog on Babble.

I hope you're all having a great week.

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Well the reading last night went very well. It's funny, in front of some crowds I read the sweet stuff about my amazing kids. I just blogged about them again on Babble.com. But last night I read some of the naughty bits. People seemed to like it and the place was full even though I'd sent out an email to about twenty friends and maybe four of them showed up. Still, the crowds keep building.

I will be lecturing for three days at the University of Richmond coming up next week. It will be my first time out of the city in the longest. I can't wait.

Also, I will be on the Brian Lehrer radio show on WNYC on Friday at 11am.

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My good friend and brilliant photographer Kwaku Alston made a short film that I urge you to check out. It's called "Motosaigon" and it's a visual poem to the schools of scooters that flow through the streets of Saigon. It's one of the finalists in Conde Nast's Cinevegas film festival. Check it out and vote here:

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I've been doing a lot of radio interviews around the country. It's been fun. Friday April 11th I will be on the very popular Brian Lehrer show here on WNYC at 11:00.

And next week I am reading at KGB again here in Manhattan at 7pm.

KGB Bar
85 East 4th Street
NY, NY

With the big new Barnes Noble order the book should be available everywhere. If you're still having a hard time finding it please let me know.

And don't forget that if you'd like updates on my life with the kids check out my blog on Babble.com.

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