Weekend Open Thread: Neutral Café

j0725

last Week at Portico: Only three new pages this week. I was hard at work on a fourth when Ms NOLA and J— breezed by. Sitting on the balcony with them, enjoying the olives and the baguette that they brought, the Chablis and the cheese that I found in the fridge, and the berceuse of a blue evening was vastly more amusing than writing, so I ditched my responsibilities. No guilt was felt. It’s the end of July, the beginning of August (is that a movie title?), and while I won’t say that I deserve a break, I’ll admit to enjoying the hell out of one.

Last Friday’s movie was Humpday; despite its Jude Apatow title, it’s a serious and sophisticated comedy, written in a key with lots of sharps. In The New Yorker, Kirsten Valdez Quade’s story, “The Five Wounds,” marked a very impressive début. Et enfin, the Book Review review.