"I WOULD GO OUT TONIGHT, BUT I HAVEN'T GOT A STITCH TO WEAR"

I've been busy. The work, though, as per my policy, matters to me and feels good to be doing, so I don't mind being busy one bit. Idle hands, etc.

This is the first year in a while that I won't be heading to Omaha for the (Downtown) Omaha Lit Fest. Between Rosh HaShanah and the good stuff going on at work, I'm sitting this lit fest out.

I was just reading some old posts I'd written about being in Omaha, such as my recap of the 2007 (Downtown) Omaha Lit Fest post, this post I wrote before running off to speak in 2007, which I composed via Blackberry in an attic art studio, snug under thick blankets on a chilly fall morning. It's a great town, with not one but two of my favorite restaurants there in addition to the list fest, so I do enjoy my annual visit.

It was, afterall, in Omaha, where I addressed some challenges with schmoozing (hello, which I barely even think about anymore), where I first publicly read from my unintentionally funny grade school diary, where I rode out a tornado on a high floor of the Doubletree Hotel (which was totally cool, I have to admit), and it was just outside of town on a lovely and welcoming nearby farm where I chased about a pygmy donkey and realized I am not great at dealing with angry roosters. Oh, and where Jami Attenberg and I sort of got into a sort of barfight. But that mannerless salesman had it coming.

And, I was just looking at some related photographs such as this one of me and Aaron Raz Link speaking in 2007, this one of me and Lauren Cerand at brunch the same year, this one of me in the "O" in the Old Market District (my favorite), and, of course, the notorious MediaBistro photograph where I appear to be doing a package-check on Will Clarke. (Which I was not, this I swear to you.)

Anyway, Omaha is a fine place and the (Downtown) Omaha Lit Fest is a fine event. I'll find a way to be there next year, but do check it out this year should you find yourself nearby.