Hello Philadelphia and Western Massachusetts!

Good golly, I can't wait to write about the travelling. The people! The sights! The exploration of local beers! There were highlights, like shooting a TV segment for KOMO's "Northwest Afternoon" in Seattle and getting to experience a Green Room. ("It's actually green!" I exclaimed, in a fit of originality and cleverness.) There were lowlights, like walking with Brandon down a highway in Pasadena past a razor-wired long-term hotel and having recently purchased two six packs at the nearby liquor store. Soon, I'll be posting all the name-dropping and pictures of myself to which you've become accustomed.

But, given that I arrived home last night wearing a tee-shirt with a tiny bit of another day's dinner on it and pants that I'd worn as pajamas for the past three nights, there are some matters I have to attend to first.

Like a huge thank-you to everyone who attended the readings. Next time, this thing should be a party.

And like invitations. This week, I'll be in Philadelphia and North Adams, Massachusetts. The fabulous Lauren Whose Last Name I Don't Think I'm Supposed to Reveal has set up an event through the Delaware County Mothers & More chapter. It's on June 20, 7:30 p.m. at Makin' Music in Media, Pennsylvania.

Can't get a sitter? The next night, June 21, I'll be at the Borders in Springfield, PA, at 7 p.m. I had a wonderful time at the Border's in Rockville, and you know what they say about history repeating...

Then on Saturday, June 23, I'm reading with Jennifer Mattern and Catherine Newman at 7 p.m. at the North Adams Public Library; it's an Inkberry event, which sounds like the coolest writing center ever. Also, Jenn's and Catherine's work is so terrific, I'd come to this even if I weren't in the lineup.

I met Jenn through Brain, Child. She sent us one essay and we accepted it; she sent us another and we accepted it for the very same issue. (That has never happened in the history of Brain, Child, and to my mind, this is a Very Big Deal.) Jenn is also a playwright; I believe you call people of her vast talent "double threats," except her writing isn't threatening, but the sort that makes me laugh and think and get all inspired.

Catherine, I'm not sure how I met, but I love her work, including her book Waiting for Birdy. More recently, I read this column and laughed the giddy laugh of the deeply stoned or the extraordinarily appreciative. Oh, how I wait for her to put new things on her blog.

Clearly, these are the sort of things I must wear dinner-free shirts to, so I'm off to tackle some laundry.