I’ve been living an almost spartan life lately. By my standards at least. Nocturnally speaking. The no-hard-stuff rule (in force since the mid ’90s) plus mostly abstaining from wine, but when I’m so inclined I’ll have no more than two glasses. But it feels better the next morning when I don’t go there at all. Plus I’m riding my bike again and feeling better. But last night that all went south.

I was feeling sharp and attuned and really excited about having seen Jose Padilha‘s Elite Squad 2: The Enemy Within. So I went to the Ace Hotel party and had three vodka and grapefruits over the span of two hours.

What was I thinking? I’ll tell you what I was thinking. I was thinking “I am the Lizard King…I can do anything.”

I slept badly and woke up at 4:30 am and crashed again at 6:30 am, and now the morning is shot and I’m supposed to be out of the hotel to make way for the maid. And I haven’t written anything yet. Well, I’m writing this. I’ve no choice but to blow off the Parker Hotel Variety brunch (11 am to 1 pm). And all because of Padilha and his excellent political action-thriller, which I forgot to see last November when it opened in Los Angeles. I’ve no rational excuse for having dropped the ball on that, let alone for last night’s lack of discipline. I feel badly, embarassed. I need to just file and not be social.

At least I wasn’t driving last night. The Ace is only a few hundred yards from the Travelodge.