It seems like I did a lot of stuff this weekend. Probably because I did. My friend Martha Gies’ book is being published. From editing each of the 23 chapters over a period of two years to proofing a galley of the final version of the manuscript from the publisher before the book went to print I’ve seen the entire process of publishing a book from conception to holding a copy in my hand, and it’s been both exhilarating and exhausting. And I didn’t even write the thing.

It’s probably a good sign that after all this time, I still really love the book. Called Up All Night, the book profiles 23 workers who’ve taken the graveyard shift for one reason or another. Among those profiled are a cab driver, a cop, a stripper, a janitor, a breadmaker, a longshoreman, and an astronomer; all of their stories are unique, and many are both funny and touching. So now the next wave of work on the book begins: I’ve created a PR plan and Martha has assembled a team to help implement it. So far things are going along swimmingly with stories and interviews already lined up. It’s nice to be able to do the thing I do professionally for a friend.

In addition to working on media materials for the book, this weekend I:

• Finished reading The Cheese Monkeys, a crazy novel about a kid who goes to art school in the 1950s and encounters an insane genius of a professor and an avant garde chick who both change his life in their own ways. If you get interested in this book, look carefully at the cover, including the edges of the book, and the page edges for hidden messages.

• Watched the movie Amadeus for the first time. It was one of those movies that I started to feel weird about not having seen. It did not disappoint. It also prompted me to do a bit of research about the staging of 18th-century operas: Ben thinks that the productions in the movie may not have been true to the period. I’m wondering why the filmmakers wouldn’t have tried to be as authentic with the staging as possible. If you know anything about this, get in touch.

• Watched Robert Altman’s "A Wedding, " which featured, among others, Lillian Gish, Desi Arnez Jr. and Carol Burnett. I’m loving Altman movies more and more; even the not-as-great ones are still good. See The Long Goodbye and tell me you don’t love it.