I’ve been woefully remiss here, but juggling the tour and the tot is about as busy as I’ve ever been. Here are pictures of some highlights from the rest of the New York trip. I read at Sex Worker Literati, where the still-absolutely-adorable Candida Royale regaled us with a hilarious story of her foray into adult filmmaking.

Then we went upstate and stayed in Woodstock with my closest friend from high school. I think that the reading in Hudson is going to be hard to beat, for me. A whole mess of other folks from high school drove up for the reading at the charming Spotty Dog Books and Ale. The reading had an impromptu, guerilla kind of feel, probably because the store is also a bar. There were a bunch of people who were there for the beer and the book was a surprise. I love that kind of wildcard.

Everyone brought their kids and the resulting crew of marauders would have made Captain Jack Sparrow quiver in his fey little boots. Tariku picked up a a light saber and it was love at first sight. He couldn’t believe I had been holding out on him about this weapon thing for so long.

And the last boundary falls. It was kind of a relief, actually.

I remember the days when I vowed that he would only ever play with wooden toys handmade by elves living on a communal farm in Vermont. But that night in Woodstock, I realized that it mattered less to me that my two year old was watching Star Wars, than it did that he was surrounded with so much love. The sight of him happily snuggled on the bed with a smiling pile of little boys (weapons or no) seemed to instantly eradicate any concern.

It was a special weekend for all of us. As per usual, the plane ride to the West Coast was a whole different kind of battle. It left me swearing that I’m not going to travel with T again until he’s like sixteen. But of course I will.