It was a sweet little Thanksgiving and a fine farwell to my childhood home, in which I lived between ages 1 and 18 and occasionally thereafter. I spent most of the weekend eating cold turkey sandwiches amply smeared with gravy, playing rummy and going "bup-bup-bup" and the like at my very small, very adorable niece.

I also saw "Stranger than Fiction" which is really very good, and "Casino Royale," which is a rollicking good time and shows you how easy it is to win millions at poker when screenwriters give you perfect hands every time.

Last night I saw the Hold Steady at the Black Cat, and there is nothing quite like seeing a band that genuinely loves what they do playing to a sold-out crowd who also love what the band does. It was a truly thrilling rock 'n' roll show even before the band grabbed audience members and pulled them on stage during their extensive encore. Along with maybe three dozen others, I got wedged in between drums and amps and covered in beer and Craig Finn sweat, which admittedly sounds way grodier than it really is. The opening band, the Big Sleep, is another Brooklyn-based, loud band with a name that goes "the (two-word non-pluralized entity)." They were pretty awesome.

Today, a welcome visit from Michael Rose. We plan on eating Peruvian chicken.