Birthday Present

Yesterday was Lord Zim's biggest media exposure yet. Tomorrow will be Lord Zim's first anniversary. Today I'm hoping some irate megablogger, someone who has not just skin but guts and teeth in the game, will link to me with a “what the hell is THIS blog doing on TV?”

But why should I care? What good does increased traffic do for a blog that could well be described as "the private thoughts of one person"; i.e., the ravings of a deranged loner? Bigger audience? Who cares? I don't run ads. In fact, the bigger and more interested my audience, the likelier it seems to me that someone will put together all the pieces and figure out the mystery -- a mystery I have yet to identify or piece together myself. Vanity. All is vanity.

Speaking of surveillance, here's one of the more impressive, obsessive items on display at the Armory Show.

Each 3x4-inch b&w screen is fed by a tiny camera pointed out from the exact opposite point. It's called "The Invisible Sphere" or "215 Points of View." All the screens and cameras are mounted in a welded frame, the outermost points of which are radial spokes capped with rubber tips like those on canes or crutches, so it rolls. Though it's on a short cord. Read all about it here.

Greatest Hits

Today I'm meeting a cousin for lunch at Pam Real Thai, which you may have read about at some length below. We were supposed to go to Negril, a Jamaican place on 23rd, but he read Lord Zim and changed his mind. He's not the first person to read about Pam here and suggest we go there. First mom, then J (as you can see in his comment), and now C.

This prompts a cursory assessment of my most memorable and/or affecting posts.

1. The 2,000-word report on Les Sans Culottes, back when they were splitting up (April)
2. All three donkey photo essays plus the wrap-up, "How I Became an Ass Man"(November)
3. "Night and Blog," about my nighttime romp in the celebrated/reviled gardens of the Getty Museum (March)
4. "Dead Sea Scrolling" about my extraordinary adventure at the Dead Sea and beyond, when I found the stolen luggage (August)
5. "How I Spent My Summer, by the Dog" (April)

There are others, but this is a good start for the casual reader. I'll post links to each of those tonight (done, as promised -- LZ), but now I have to go. Does blogging get in the way of life or vice-versa?