Seems like lots of people have wild weekends planned: leather, travel, naughtiness, picnics. Andy and I are having a party tonight.

We spent a sedate evening watching “The Fugitive Kind” last night … that is, if an overheated, melodramatic Tennessee Williams concoction involving racism, bisexuality, and violence starring Marlon Brando, Anna Magnani and Joanne Woodward can be considered sedate. Despite the non-stop histronics and rampant unsubtle symbolism I actually liked it better than I would have thought. Definitely the most scathing treatment of racism I’ve ever seen in a Williams piece. Anna Magnani is the raison d’etre for this film; her scenes with Brando are electrifying and she puts over every line with shocking believablity, no matter how over-the-top the words are. Brando was awfully good too, every bit as good as in “A Streetcar Named Desire” (even though the material itself is not). Sidney Lumet’s direction is restrained and thank god for that; the last thing the script needed was acrobatic camera moves or whiplash cutting. I mean, can you imagine Baz Luhrmann doing a remake of “Streetcar”? Best not to. Boris Kaufman’s razor-sharp cinematography is 100% southern baroque, adding to the pungency.

So this morning I’ll head to the gym, do some last-minute errands (Binny’s, Osco) and umm then relax.

Party starts at 8. I’m so excited to try this new punch recipe. Because it has Galliano and creme de banane in it it’ll probably be bright yellow. Thus, its name: West Indies Yellow Bird Punch. Andy has the party’s music playlist all programmed and ready to go. Nostalgia Mix (basically). Many Chinese appetizers and desserts will be brought forth.

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend so far! The weather here in Chicago today is gorgeous. Lovely party atmosphere.