Went out to teach mystery writing to the 2nd grade at Our Lady Star of the Sea on Staten Island this morning. Rode the ferry. Could see both captain and pilot in very conspicuous evidence at the windows of the pilot house.

2nd graders were very cute and asked some good questions. They're starting a mystery writing project; I was there to give them pointers. Mostly I asked leading questions and they gave themselves pointers. We all agreed that in a story, as opposed to real life, a detective doesn't have to be a grownup. Most of them are making themselves the detective heroes of their stories, but one is using her brand-new baby sister, one is using his uncle, and one is using his dog. I wanted to talk to them, find out what was in their heads when they made those choices, but that wasn't my job and I didn't have time.

On the bus on the way back to the ferry, watched a 20-something cool dude working to impress a group of Catholic high school girls with his worldly knowledge. Boy, were they not buying it. He was advising them on the advantages of smoking dope over drinking, and got a big reaction, though I think not quite the one he'd hoped, when he brought out his clincher: "God made pot, but man made beer, and, I mean, who're you going to trust?" The reaction he got was, they all cracked up.