Gradually settling in. A new air conditioner, then a good dinner and potentially exciting Bollywood pride event with Gary and Nada this weekend. Though the ad promised various forms of gender-bending drapery, the unfortunate result was just Indian guys in plaid shirts standing around bobbing their heads to Ton-Loc and angsty new wave British dreck. Some of those shirts were even tucked in. I drew a caricature of Gary on the subway ride back, and then Nada did one of me -- pretty impressive likenesses. One topic covered over dinner at French Roast: how the introduction of this word "mawkishness" into discussions of poetics changed my life, truly, and I have never been the same since. Also, the perverse blurry activity of defining what's a "realistic" style. Earnestness? Though keeping in mind that based on the naturalism you choose, you get the avant-garde you deserve.