Leave work at 1 to attend celebratory dinner at Elaine's on 2nd. Dull food, but the booze was fine and ever-flowing. There were great stories told about Norman Mailer and Terry Southern. There were more drinks. Had heard beforehand this was a place where a large group could get righteously smashed and loud and not be bothered. What I heard seemed to be true. The guest of honors' tie was way loose and his drunken fits of storytelling were accompanied by emphatic table pounding. Found myself gazing off & listening into the dim corners of the room where the sounds of stray voices and conversations collected and gathered.