Work as rewrite/copy editor for second-rate semi-weekly newspaper. Live in 20-foot wide row house near Fort McHenry with mynah bird Minerva. Can't sell short stories. Trouble getting laid. Mildly depressed. Fond of H. L. Mencken, B & O Railroad, Curtis Bay shipyard, hassenpfeffer at Haussner's. Attracted to cheerful clever diminuitive littoral writer/models who undress on occasion for those they care to please.