There are still benefits going on in the Hamptons, but here's one you haven't seen covered year after year. WordTheatre, an L.A.-based version of the Moth, celebrating the art of oral storytelling only with more celebrities and less spontaneous material, is coming to Guild Hall tonight (Saturday the 27th) for an evening of readings to benefit the esteemed Pushcart Prize. It all sounds fresh to us, a little more downtown lit culture scene than we typically see on the East End. Who's on deck? Amber Tamblyn, Amy Irving, Sean Young, John Heard, Lynn Whitfield, and several others, reading stories by Ian Frazier, Ellen Wilbur, Marvin Cohen, Pamela Painter, and Naomi Shihab Nye, among others. Premium tickets are $100 and include a pre-party and after-party; general admission is $25 and $45. Details at http://www.wordtheatre.com and https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/659655.

Meanwhile, we're grooving on Martha Stewart's blog, where we learned today she's making a purple basil mojito at the New York Botanical Garden (she's designed a new herb garden there, one of the attractions of the "Edible Garden" exhibit opening today). And Martha is also her own social columnist. Here's a write-up of a gala for the Ross School last weekend, where she was the honoree.

Real estate investor Lawrence Benenson, who spreads his philanthropy around in heart-felt and often off-the-radar ways, hosted a reception last night at Federal Hall to celebrate the exhibit "Abraham Lincoln in New York." Mounted by the Rail Splitter, an organization of historians, collectors, and dealers, the show is a fascinating assembly of Lincoln memorabilia, including three "stove top" letters (letters Lincoln was about to put into the fire, had a cabinetmaker watching not stopped him and asked to keep them); ribbons, buttons, and posters from his 1860 presidential campaign (which, according to curator Jonathan Mann, produced more memorabilia than the campaign of 1960); programs for President Lincoln's inaugural ball; and a ticket for President Lincoln's inaugural train. As for the New York connection, there's also the only known surviving ticket for his speech at Cooper Union.

Among the guests Mr. Benenson hosted last night were the New York staff of the National Parks Conservation Association, a membership organization known as "the people's voice for the parks"; an Abraham Lincoln impersonator, Robert Costello; and an artist who bears a striking resemblance to President Lincoln, Joe Jargos, a Brooklynite originally from Flint, Mich. Mr. Jargos said that of all the presidents, he identified with Abraham Lincoln the most, on the matter of height alone. However, his sideburns were not an intentional device to emulate Lincoln. "They're just my healthy in between of having a beard or not," he said.

Lawrence Benenson and Jeffrey Gannon of the National Parks Conservation Association

Joe Jargos, Robert Costello as President Lincoln, and Peter Wadsworth

If you haven't seen the show yet, better hurry: it closes Tuesday (hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., on weekdays), having received a 2-month extension sponsored by Mr. Benenson, who has a couple of items from his private collection in the show. We recommend making this your first National Park site visit of the summer, to be followed by many more (there are 391 National Park sites in America; one summer destination close to home is Gateways National Recreation Area). And save the date of September 27: that's when WNET begins airing a new six-part documentary by Ken Burns, "The National Parks: America's Best Idea."

If you just can't get away from your desk or city life, we highly recommend this piece on the glories (and threats to) natural silence in our parks, published in National Parks Magazine. We picked up a copy of the issue at the reception, and enjoyed it cover to cover.

The NPCA staff in New York with Lincoln impersonator Robert Costello: Jeffrey Gannon, Morgan Robinson, Courtney Bell, and Darcy Shiber-Knowles

Seeing Bobby Short and Eartha Kitt play at the Carlyle are perhaps our most romantic, magical memories of our first years in New York. More recently we were treated to one of Mary Sharp Cronson's parties upstairs at the hotel (once owned by her brother), to say farewell to dancer Nicolaj Hübbe when he left New York City Ballet to become artistic director at Royal Danish Ballet.

So when we think of how we will lift our spirits come fall, we are happy to think about spending a night at the Cafe Carlyle, which has just released its fall schedule. It may be worth saving for.

Woody Allen will play on Mondays, starting September 14 and through December 7, at 8:45 pm, with a $100 cover ($75 at the bar).

Kelli O'Hara will play Tuesday, September 15 through Saturday, September 26, Tues-Thurs with a $60 cover ($35 at the bar), Fri and Sat, $80 cover ($40 at the bar).

Judy Collins performs Tuesday, September 29 through Thursday, October 8, $125 cover ($65 at the bar).

John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey perform Tuesday, October 13 through Saturday, November 7, Tues-Thurs with a $75 cover ($40 at the bar), Fri and Sat, $95 cover ($50 at the bar).

And closing out the season and ringing in the New Year is Steve Tyrell, Tuesday, November 10 through Thursday, December 31. November cover is Tues-Thurs $95 cover ($75 at the bar), Fri and Sat $105 cover ($85 at the bar). December cover is Tues-Thurs $105 cover ($80 at the bar) and Fri and Sat $130 cover ($95 at the bar).

Reserations:

212-744-1600.

Address: The Carlyle Hotel, 35 E. 76^th St. at Madison Avenue

The culture vultures of the Berkshires enjoy Berkshire Living's monthly series, "The Rest of the Story," at which the editor of the magazine, Seth Rogovoy interviews a subject of an article. Today Mr. Rogovoy interviewed the director of the Norman Rockwell Museum, Laurie Norton Moffatt, joined by Lesley Ann Beck, who wrote about the museum in the June issue.

The article and talk highlighted two initiatives of the museum in Stockbridge designed by Robert A.M. Stern, marking its 40th anniversary this year: ProjectNORMAN, the effort to digitize Rockwell's archives (40,000 items have been digitized; 160,000 items remain); and the Rockwell Center for American Visual Studies, which will support research fellows doing work on American illustrators.

The center is a fitting next chapter: By exhibiting illustrators other than Rockwell, and by conducting interpretive work studying the cultural value of Rockwell, the Norman Rockwell Museum has led the way to broaden academic approaches to illustration, beyond art history.

Here's what Ms. Norton Moffatt -- who has had the post of director for 23 years, and before that wrote the catalogue raisonné of his work -- said on the subject this morning:

Norman Rockwell was just one of thousands of other illustrators creating amazing work, illustrating the popular culture of the day, from the Civil War on.... What's been recognized recently is the importance of this visual culture: This material is the documentation of what our culture has been about for 150 years. Art history looks at the aesthetic of the work; now there's a whole field of academics that looking at the cultural impact. You can think about the Sistine Chapel, and stained glass windows: these were telling stories to illiterate populations, to people who were very visually literate. Illustration comes out of this long tradition. When Norman Rockwell worked, movements like abstract expressionism were developing, so we are fortunate to have a record of Norman Rockwell from the 20th century, because if we were trying to interpret the physical world from Jackson Pollock and Pablo Picasso we might have a confusing time as to what the world actually looked like.

And what about the Illustrators of today, who work on computer screens to create elaborate virtual worlds for video games and movies?

These artists won't be remembered by name; they won't have the same public forum that Rockwell had on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post. They tend to be more anonymous.

Some things to look forward to: Ms. Norton Moffatt mentioned that an exhibit about Rockwell's influence on film is in the works; that Deborah Solomon (the "Question for" interviewer for The New York Times Magazine) is writing a biography of Norman Rockwell which "promises to have some really interesting perspectives," and that this fall the museum will be exhibiting photographs from the archive, illuminating how Rockwell worked.

The talk took place at the movie house the Triplex in Great Barrington, so we snapped the speaker by the candy stand.

We are up in the Berkshires for the weekend, about to listen to a Berkshire Living talk on the Norman Rockwell Museum, but before we go, here are three especially sunny photos from last night's Jacob's Pillow gala. You could say the rain glistened, rather than soaked guests.

Syd Blatt and Marge Champion, who celebrated her 90th birthday at the Pillow last weekend.

A Jacob's PIllow staffer wears her galoshes with a vintage dress.

Katherine Morris and Annie Selke (founder of Pine Cone Hill)

We'll have more tonight, including serendipity for Andrea Miller's Gallim Dance, which performed, and thoughts on the preservation of dance, prompted by Merce Cunningham receiving Jacob's Pillow annual dance award, presented last evening.

UPDATE 4:11 PM: For more photos, go here.

We caught up with artist E.V. Day and writer and entrepreneur Ted Lee, who are married, at the Whitney Art Party, where we learned about their fabulous fall plans. Ms. Day has been rummaging through New York City Opera's costume warehouses identifying costumes she will blow up and display, artfully, on the promenade of the David H. Koch Theater throughout City Opera's fall season (and longer, if New York City Ballet digs it too). She's done this before: at the Lever House, with bridal gowns, and the visual power of a garment's destruction is arresting. Given the hurdles facing City Opera, the project may well be a fitting metaphor for what it needs to do to survive: blow things up! turn the old into new. It can only help to turn the promenade, with its lovely balconies and (unclothed) Elie Nadelman sculptures, into a destination of its own. Meanwhile, Mr. Lee and his brother, Matt Lee, have a book coming out: "The Lee Bros. Simple Fresh Southern Knockout Dishes with Down-home Flavor," an exploration of "the way contemporary Southerners cook and eat." Here's to a New York couple working hard to inspire and feed us.

The fabulous head gear comes second nature to milliner Eugenia Kim (above), but it's her combination of the reminiscent-of-a-feather (in all the right ways) topper with white eye makeup and bright yellow dress that impresses us. Yes, it's a zing, zing, zing -- so much for balance -- but for an art and fashion gathering, it's just the thing. She looks fresh and summery in an edgy, sophisticated way.

These two Southern ladies hadn't seen each other in a while -- but their good style must have brought them together at this mobbed party. Lydia Fenet, left, brings a casual vibe to a short, white, one-shoulder dress, by which we mean she looks comfortable and appropriately fancy at the same time. Morgan Harbin is much more fashion-forward, with a puffy sleeves jacket from Carolina Herrera and harem pants: a daring pairing that worked out very well for this very uptown-downtown party.

To promote its new service out of LaGuardia, Southwest Airlines is sponsoring a new area in Bryant Park for the summer, dubbed the Southwest Porch, which opened today at noon. Given the tough economic times, getting a new civic amenity supported by a corporate sponsor feels like a luxury, and in fact, this one most certainly is a luxury.

On the merits of design alone, the place is a win. It feels like a patio bar in a resort, with hanging chairs, swings, rocking chairs, and lounge chairs, all decked out with bright yellow cushions. Add the succulents, hanging plants, and your favorite guy or gal, and you've got romance. Or, just a high-rent feeling place to relax, without the high rent. This is the kind of place you'd typically need to spring for, in the form of bottle service or a flight to Miami, or both. But instead, the lounge, with its corporate sponsorship prominently in place, is free to all New Yorkers.

While that's nice, we're actually more happy to hear about the business development that the Southwest sponsorship of the Porch in Bryant Park is tied to: that new service at LaGuardia is, according to Southwest, creating 40 new jobs. Also, Southwest Airlines is one of the first companies to sign on to the NYC Service Middle School Mentorship initiative. Southwest employees will mentor students at MS 8--New Prep Middle School in Jamaica, Queens. We can toast to that.

And toasting is what the Porch welcomes. With a maitre d' at the entrance, a guard checking ID, and a gaggle of servers in bright yellow shirts, the venue encourages people to partake in food and drink. The menu is by 'wichcraft, and features sandwiches for $9 "inspired by" the cities that Southwest flies to out of New York City: There's a soft shell crab sandwich for Baltimore, a Bratwurst for Chicago, and a meatball parm for New York. Also for $9: a platter of cured meats, and a platter of manchego and membrillo. Marinated olives are $6 (this is what we ordered, and it was plenty satisfying). For dessert, we snagged some free watermelon, but the menu also offers cookies for $6. The liquor menu won't be available until Wednesday, our waitress told us, so for now it's wine, beer, and Southwest water in a soda pop can. And free honey roasted peanuts -- just like they serve on the airplanes.

The lounge is open for food and drinks Monday-Thursday, 5 to 9 pm, and Friday, noon to 4 pm.

Take a close look at the two talents in this video message from the New York Public Library: they're the ones leading staff, board, and passionate citizens to create the libraries for the 21st...even the 22nd centuries. For now, though, we can all be happy that the city budget approved for next year is allowing the libraries to stay open six days a week.

Haute, 2009 by Heather Hart

It's 11 p.m., and Heather Hart is standing about 8 feet away from her artwork, "Haute," on display at the Whitney Contemporaries Art Party. "I've been thinking about iconic forms and spaces that have been inherited through the generations. Cotton is one of those things, and I wanted to play with it viscerally. The image is a film still from Ousmane Sembène's "Black Girl."

Ms. Hart says she made the work while she was in the Whitney's Independent Study Project. "It gave me a context for things and a community of people to discuss things with. It grounded me," she says.

Heather Hart and Coby

Ms. Hart's Web site is http://heather-hart.com.