The dollar is horrible, the boat where I’m staying is gezellig, the thugish straight guys in straight bars are wearing purses (the new thing?), Rembrandt is still dead, swans abound, the sun is here and there, the nighttime tour of the zoo on Friday was mostly a bust (and entirely in Dutch), the gay bars are raunchier than Seattle but nothing like Berlin, the bike I’ve rented is a beauty, the bell works, the four men behind the counter here in the Mac store on Raadhuisstraat are the four most attractive young men currently living, and I have a copy of Franny and Zooey in my pocket and all afternoon. But I wanted to say hi.