The snow is blowing wildly across the gray, depressed skyline as I'm looking north - I think! - from my office on the 25th floor. Mind you, I'm in a cubicle but our section sits next to a huge ceiling-to-floor window.

I've started bringing in some things to personalize my space. Not the playroom again but it feels comfy and that's what counts. Have a nice picture frame with 5 pictures of the kids, Salomé and me. Jungle Attack He-Man's here; Shea Stadium, my Jets flask, my "I'm Not Bossy, I just have better ideas" sign. Brought in only a few books this time, mostly poetry, plus the collected WATCHMEN Graphic Novel and a couple of marketing books. I'll hold off on Stupid White Men, The Great 401(k) Hoax, Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together, etc.

My boss is in Italy for 10 days so I've gone from the frying pan to the fryer workwise. It's been great that I've been able to jump right in and tackle a bunch of projects but it's been dizzying, too. Haven't had time for much else since.

Missed synonymUS last night to catch up on some things and ended up not getting much done other than chilling out for a few hours. Eric came through to pick up his truck - just back from his trip to Amsterdam looking scruffy but refreshed - and ended up hanging out to watch American Idol. The wild card round was disappointing as they found a way to force that Kimberly Caldwell clown into the finals at the expense of a couple of girls that were much better. And let's not even talk about Simon's pick. I think that was a purposeful flipping of the bird to the idiotic Americans that put Justin in 2nd place last year! After, we caught some of the finale of that Celebrity Survivor crap and I found myself really liking Chris Judd. Seems like a genuinely cool guy. Glad he won it. And the money goes to charity which makes the whole affair a bit less lame.

Anyway, I'm starting to sweat my feature next week at Acentos. I feel like I really need to bring it like I rarely do, what with it being my first gig in the Bronx AND the premiere of the series. It's cool that Oscar asked me to be the inaugural feature but damn, talk about pressure. Haven't stressed about a reading like this since the '99 NPS semi-finals against the Nuyorican. And we know how THAT went! Wish I had more new stuff to read that night but, at the same time, I feel like I've been off the scene long enough to get away with a set of oldies but goodies. Figuring out what that set should include is the hard part. Sucky thing is the bar doesn't allow kids so we either need to find a babysitter or Salomé won't be able to make the show. Hopefully my cousin can hook us up.

Some good news: Maya Azucena is confirmed for April 28th, opening for the last semi-final slam! That should be a ridiculous night! Want to get two more musical acts for the other two semis. Eric suggested Karen Rockower which was a total "duh!" moment for me. Speaking of the slam, it's starting to shape up nicely. I was a little worried when I first got back but, with a couple of surprises in the next two slams, we could have a solid shot at a relatively "newbie" team. Love Roger, Lynne, Marty, et al to death but if I had my way, there'd be some stunned faces in the audience at the end of our Finals. My ideal team would be....

Ha ha! Not telling you. Yet. Maybe I'll post something right before I leave work that night with my picks for the team.