I don't know if any of you reading this will think I'm crazy or not, but the guy at the border crossing sure did.

Tomorrow is my birthday, and I had a little birthday dinner at my parents' house in New Jersey last night. My mother wasn't too excited about my new haircut. "Oh. It's— different ." But my fourteen-year-old niece says it's cool, so that's enough for me.

Yesterday was a perfect day. The afternoon was all about skulls and pillows and headless dolls at the flea market.

I went to Brian's art opening last night. I spent most of the time hanging around with his friend Chris. Chris was telling me that he'd been fishing in the East River lately and how he caught a foot-long flounder. In the middle of his story, we overheard two girls talking about the art. The taller or the two was explaining the meaning of the paintings to the shorter one.

Last night I went over to my friend Tim's for the usual Wednesday night hootenanny. Tim has a three-ring binder full of obscure hillbilly songs, and we sit down with a couple of guitars, a couple of beers, and work our way through it. "You know this one?" "Nope."

The bartender last night had a quirky accent. I couldn’t quite place it as she spoke to the drunk girl who’d been at the bar all day interviewing prospective roommates.

When we were kids, she'd punch my shoulder, straight and strong, like a guy.

Another weird New Jersey day, only this time I had a partner. The beautiful and ever-popular Ali said yes to a Sunday drive, so I swung by her place to pick her up, and we drove down to Asbury Park.

Well, I suppose it's pretty big news. I mean, the blackout and all. I was at work in Manhattan when it all went down. My co-workers all live in Brooklyn, so they were all set for a group hike over the bridge home. But me? I live in Brooklyn, sure, but I had no food at home and saw no pressing need to get back there. I just figured I'd stay the night at work. I mean, what difference did it make? But by the time the residual air conditioning wore off and I was sweltering alone there in the darkening office, the idea of a shower sounded like a pretty good reason "why not." Screw this," I said, "I'm walking."

Fireworks and barbecues, mosquitoes and mojitos that never got made. Sunny day poolside and skinny dipping at night. Simone's parents have a house out in Jersey where they raise horses. 40-some odd horses on 50-some odd acres. She had a barbecue there on Saturday, and Jaime-girl invited me to come along.

I used to go to nerve.com once in a while. Look at the personal ads, write to girls here and there, and go out with a few now and then. Who am I kidding? I actually responded to a million ads and went out with a thousand girls -- give or take. You see, it was all free. It didn't cost me a cent. And here's why:

It's sunny. It's hot. I'm underwater

My friend Serenity is back from Dublin. I was never quite sure why she moved there in the first place. It was very sudden. She was here one day and there the next. While I was in Amsterdam last Summer, I bought a cheap Easyjet ticket to Ireland and visited her for a few days. She had been there about a year by that time, and already knew everyone. Every bar, every restaurant, every sidewalk, everywhere we went, a person or two or three would come over, talk, and say, "Hi". No surprise, really, she's that kind of girl.

Finally, a nice, sunny, warm, and beautiful day. A crystal clear picnic kind of day. A day for rag tops and tube tops. Pony tails and painted toes.

A friend of mine said she likes my new building because it's a real building. In my previous neighborhood, all the houses were hardly more than vinyl-sided cardboard shacks.

I'd sit on the edge of her filthy bed, waiting while she looked for something to wear. She'd try on these shoes, then those. The sheets were gray, the pillows nearly black.

Raymi is a satellite with a wide orbit.

I met up with John, who is "the coffee shop gossip," and Bree, who is "The Coffee Shop Girl," at the bar down the street. If you read my last post about The Coffee Shop Girl, you might be wondering what happened between then and now. Nothing. I'm still as confused as I ever was, only now I've given up trying to figure anything out.