Briefly

--Seems that Prague has turned into Greece. A few nights in Athens, a few nights in Santorini. We're forgoing Mykonos, because we'd like to be in a single place for a bit longer. No, I don't really do beaches, but who knows? A person can change, right? (Not really.) Very excited. Mid-may.

--Yesterday I began reading the new novel, "Cutting for Stone," by Abraham Verghese.

--Every writer should read Lorrie Moore's story "How to Become a Writer." You don't even need to buy the book. Look, it's right here. Brilliant from the first line: "First, try to be something, anything, else." But, perhaps my favorite image: "Later on in life you will learn that writers are merely open, helpless texts with no real understanding of what they have written and therefore must half-believe anything and everything that is said of them."

--I decided to go back and read everything Lorrie Moore has ever written. After the Verghese novel.

--"Golden Girls" is the best show on TV. The writing is insanely good, and quick, and smart. Those four ladies make the rest just look like actors who work. The Golden Girls changed my life, I'm sure of it. My brother and I spent Saturday nites with my grandparents -- or was it Fridays? -- and we watched "Golden Girls," which came on before "Empty Nest." I LOVED it then, and also now. When I die, play episodes at the funeral.

--If you see me, ask me to tell you the joke about the doctor who farts. It's too long to type.