I’m taking a vacation, here in New York City.  I handed in the Straight Up & Dirty manuscript yesterday, and now, after a noon appointment (more on this later), I will be free, for at least a week.  In that time, I plan on attending comedy shows, seeing an absurd amount of movies, having even more wine with friends I haven’t seen all month.  I will go to Sapa for their $5.00 Martini and $1.00 oysters happy hour!  I will go there often.  Yum.  5:30-7:30, and no, they are not paying me to say it.  That place is damn good.  I’m going to dust off my leather-bound travel journal and hit up a few museums, for the sketching.  In college, I took the Drawing In The Museum class, where we really only ever visited The Museum of Natural History (which is by far the most boring thing going in New York).  However, there’s good drawing to be had there.  Animals, urns, instruments, bones.  Gives a girl a reason to wake up and sharpen her pencils every day, it does. I will finish a drawing I started two years ago.  I will read again.  I will get a manicure and shop for colorful waders to wear when it rains.  By God, I will most certainly get my eyebrows threaded and bikini waxed; I feel like an animal.  I will go to Serendipity and have a frozen peanut butter hot chocolate (it’s much better than the classic, and I don’t even like peanut butter).  I will explore and try a new restaurant for lunch each day.  First stop, somewhere in the east village to get all the e-holes off my back who feel the need to tell me there’s a city beyond W 14th Street.  Yes, yes, and I’ll be walking to Brooklyn with the Lineman, camera in tow.  Okay, Linus isn’t coming because I want Grimaldi’s pizza.  They won’t sell it by the slice; who’s coming with me?  Now I’m hungry, and I don’t even like pizza.  Ah, the crazy things we do while vacationing… you’ll hear about it when I get back.