Last night's reading went wonderfully! I was *incredibly* nervous beforehand, and the long, cold trip to North Beach on the trolley did not help to soothe my nerves. But, once I was up there, after I'd stumbled through my introduction (I'm not nearly as good at extemporanious speaking as I am reading/ reciting written lines), it went splendidly! My voice started to go, but my piece is very emotional and I made it work.

I got lots of lovely lovely compliments afterwards, which made me glow and skip and tra la la. Tim and I stopped at Vesuvio afterwards for a beer, just to complete the Beat experience.

"Do you think Kerouac read in that room?" I asked Tim.

"Probably. Along with Burroughs, Ginsberg and Cassady."

"Squee!" I said. "When I went to the bathroom earlier, the toilet was really old. Do you think they used that toilet?!"

"Um, I'm not sure that'd be a good thing, Heather."

Right.

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So! If you missed last night and want to see the Homewrecker West Coast crew read (and the other readers were fabulous and moving and very entertaining as well), we're doing it all again tonight at the Modern Times Bookstore in the Mission District at 888 Valencia Street. This one is WAY more public transit accessible (walk from 16th St BART) and starts at 7:30 PM.