Page 134

Here's one of the videos I mentioned yesterday. Towards the end of the party I thanked everyone for coming and made a toast to my grandparents, and Paul asked if I could do a short reading. I said it had to be rated G (because my grandparents and two three-year-olds were in attendance), which is a bit tricky because the book is, y'know, kind of bawdy in a lot of places, and Kelly suggested a passage from the holiday covention chapter.  I was fumbling around trying to find the right part when John said 'Read a random page! Page 134!' So that's what I did, and Kate (wonderful little sis that she is) filmed me on Elliot's iPhone.  I'm reading WAY too fast--really have to work on that.This passage takes place at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  Eve (who is 149 but has made herself a girl again) and her much-MUCH-younger boyfriend, Justin, are being followed (and messed with) by Eve's (also elderly) sister Morven and her friend Elsie.  The video starts mid-passage, so here's the beginning:

We pause for a spell in the Greek Sculpture Court, the benches around the marble monuments crowded with harried young parents and old folks watching the world go by. A man in a tweed jacket sketches a family grave stele, and passersby gaze over his shoulder with murmurs of admiration.Justin gasps.  "It's those little old ladies again!"  I glance round and he says, "Over there.  No, don't look.  You'll encourage them."I can't help laughing out loud.  Morven's gaze snaps to me in an instant, and she grins like the Cheshire cat.Meanwhile Elsie is gazing up at a statue of Apollo. "What's this, then?" she says loudly, jabbing a gnarled finger at a strategically placed fig leaf...