My brother Hemingway called me this morning just to talk--how unusual. He wanted to vent about some stuff that's going on between him and my oldest sister, Quilty. I'm glad we talked about it. For one thing, it's good to keep up with the ol' bro--we used to be really close and now we rarely even speak on the phone. And for another, it makes me realize that I'm not the only one who is befuddled by family dynamics.

My siblings and I (there are six in all, plus spouses) all seem to love each other. In one-on-one situations, there is interest and support. But then there is The Family, this confounding, larger-than-life apparition that haunts us all. "What will the family think?" "I can't stand the family" There is a lot of behind-the-back sniping and very little open communication. It is something I want to change in the coming year: better communication with the Fam.

Despite this mysterious stomach flu I have, AMA and I went up to the Upper West Side to the Greek Orthodox church to see the blessing of CookieBoy. (Cookie's husband, Bruno, is way Greek). Not a christening, mind you--that's a huge deal. This was a little thing. So little, in fact that we missed it by getting there 10 minutes late. Oh well. They're trying to work out the politics of asking a non-Greek to be the baby's godparent. Apparently, the priest isn't fond of the idea.

We stayed home last night and watched Titanic. The story of the disaster is so inherently rich and dramatic, one wonders why they needed to concoct the ridiculous love story at the center. (That said, I did weep when Rose rides the helm of the boat saying, "I can fly!" as I did the first time I saw the movie with Fred.) And of course, the story has a new resonance since the WTC disaster. Big structures falling, people jumping, some people escaping, other not escaping...