Happy Easter!

Edward Hirsch will be reading here in Portland on Monday, March 24th. Please leave me a comment if you'd like to see him!

The kids are on spring break. I'll be on spring break after Tuesday.

I read last night in Salem. That was really fun, and Dad and Jane came and that made it even more fun.

It was great to hear Cecelia read.

Always very reassuring to look out in the audience and see Michael. To know that even if I totally make a complete fool of myself, he will still like me.

Mom coming up tomorrow. Happy Easter!

Holy Week

It's hard to believe Easter is a week away.

I started reading A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers last night. I like it. The narrator is learning English, so at the beginning the English is halting.

Stephen Sondheim was here last week, with Frank Rich. It was exciting to meet him. I have been listening to Sondheim tunes ever since.

Tomorrow is poetry group, and then I'm at the Multnomah Library, for the writer's resource fair. Giving out information about the fellowships and the book awards.

It's raining and I need to take a shower.

Michael is done with school!

Seven Notebooks

I am reading Seven Notebooks by Campbell McGrath. It's poems and prose and I'm really enjoying it. I'm also still reading The Theory of Clouds. Clouds and notebooks!

Laura and I saw the movie The Other Boleyn Girl today. That was fun. We shopped a little too.

Debbie sent me a scarf she made and a shawl. They are both lovely and I like to think of Debbie in her studio apartment in Manhattan knitting her niece a scarf. How sweet. I have been wearing the shawl tonight while I look at student papers. It's a nice deep burgundy.

How I Love a Three Day Weekend

What I've Done So Far This Weekend:

Went to the Spotlight dance competition in Oregon City, where Laura danced with Carlea. We left the house very early and it was very foggy on our way to Oregon City. Laura and Carlea were good, one of the few hip hop dance numbers at Spotlight. The rest was tap and jazz and other stuff. I thought Laura and Carlea were the best.

Picked up Girl Scout cookies that people ordered so I can give them to them!

Saw Pinback with Michael at the Wonder Ballroom. We enjoyed it. But after hearing them play for a while the idea of sitting down really appealed to me, and I was glad that Michael felt the same way. We left before the encore. But what we saw was great.

Ran 5 and a half miles.

Thought of titles for unwritten poems on my run but haven't written them down yet.

Met Daneen to talk about our new writing group. Poetry! It was just Daneen and I today at the Bipartisan Cafe, but in two weeks we will be at Daneen's house and there will be more of us!

Dyed my hair.

Watched the first Battlestar Gallatica miniseries, that we own on DVD. Now I want to watch the entire series. I love Laura Roslin.

Read some of the Theory of Clouds. I read some of the 2004 Best American Poetry because Lynn Hejinian edited it and I saw her last weekend so I wanted to remember who she picked for that edition.

Read some more of a friend's book so I can write a blurb for it.

Here's your Gertrude Stein excerpt for today: A light in the moon the only light is on Sunday.

Tomorrow I have another day off! Thank you Presidents!

Happy Valentine's Day

I am supposed to be grading student papers. Here I go.

Flowers for valentine's day! Lovely lovely flowers.

I am making creme brulee.

A poet I like asked me to write a blurb for her upcoming book.

Another poet friend has a new book out and it's sparkly and fresh.

I admit it, I have book envy.

Laura has a dance competition this weekend. Max has Little League tryouts.

I am writing a poem this week. I will finish it soon.

Li-Young Lee is coming next week. To the Newmark. I will be there too.

I have papers to grade. Here I go.

Your Gertrude Stein quote for the day: A vegetable garden in the beginning looks so promising and then after all little by little it grows nothing but vegetables, nothing, nothing but vegetables.

Sigh.

Dead Fish Museum

Wow it's been quite a week for books and me (I can say that because this is MY blog).

Mary Oliver on Tuesday! She read and talked about writing. Tonight, just around the corner at the Heathman, Charles D'Ambrosio read from The Dead Fish Museum and talked about writing. He is working on a novel, and I thought he said some interesting things about writing essays and writing stories. If I was a loquacious blogger I'd talk for several paragraphs about what he said but you know by now that's not my style. I saw him. He was good.

I have signed books by Mary and Charlie now and I like getting books signed by authors. I like what Mary said about showing up to write every day. Charles is pro writing programs! Go writing programs! Meet other writers! Connect! Teach each other stuff!

I have been playing this stupid stupid game on Facebook where you put things in your pack and then you also steal them from other people and you get points if you make sets. I allow myself 10 minutes or so doing this every few days, although Saturday, when I first started playing it, I think I spent like 20 minutes. It's kind of like an aggressive GO FISH card game. I think it also can be seen as a kind of metaphor for something having to do with consumerism.

If you're not too tired to think in those ways, which I kind of am right now. Plus it's kind of trite to say something is a metaphor for consumerism because that's like so easy. Except Ratpack (I think that's the name or something) is about GETTING STUFF, so I don't think it's entirely off base. But maybe too obvious.

My office is a mess. I ran three miles today and I have been working on a poem this week that I'd like to finish a draft of soon.

My dogs want their walk.

Persepolis!

I saw Persepolis this afternoon and I loved it. I'm going to read Persepolis I and II.

I finished Pillars of the Earth! It is the longest book I think I've ever read.

You are not supposed to feed puppies cupcakes but sometimes you just can't help yourself.

I have been messing around with Facebook, but I'm not sure what it's for. If you take away the hugs and the pokes and putting stuff on people's walls, what's left? A poet sent me a virtual strawberry and encouraged me to send one back and then the message said, "together, we can fight global warming!" So I sent a few others to "friends" and it seemed funny and also, kind of sad. Because it really won't fight global warming. But maybe it was meant ironically. Or maybe it's just a Facebook fun thing to do, when you need time off from fighting global warming.

Tomorrow I have the day off (from work I mean, not from fighting global warming, as I spend very little time actually fighting global warming, although I do recycle and sometimes take public transportation).

Max has a chess tournament this weekend.

When I turned 5 I celebrated my birthday at a Farrell's in Eugene. I also celebrated my 21st birthday in Eugene. I remember when I turned 35 I thought I was SO OLD. Ha!

When I was three, I think, my mom made me a cake from a magazine recipe. It was like a bear or some kind of animal and our Siamese cat ate the ears off it. The ears were like gingersnaps or something.

Michele said something very useful today about my poetry manuscript. Because the idea of putting this year's poems, and all the poems to come, back in that first manuscript, making room for them somehow in a manuscript that I feel very DONE with, doesn't appeal to me at all. And she asked me if it was done and I said, yes. She said, then it's done! And I should just believe that it was going to get published eventually and the new poems go in the 2nd book.

So! It's done. It'll get published and then I'll already have a 2nd book well on its way when that happens. Funny how I couldn't just tell myself that and still needed my thesis advisor from 4 years ago to tell me that and somehow give me permission! Well! Thesis advisor, it's just a never-ending job.

It also reminded me of a conversation I had once with Michele when I was in school and she asked me how I decided if a poem was "done", and I said, uh, well if someone publishes it, I guess. Lame answer I know. She said at the time, oh so then you let someone ELSE decide?

Reb Livingston's rant on her blog made me smile.

Debbie your book is on its way to you!

I received this book today!The web page that displays this book has been permanently bookmarked in my web browser for almost two years, as I've been thinking about buying it for a long time. And then I opened a present today and there it was!

Wherever you go, there you are!

New Issue is Up!

The new Caffeine Destiny is up! Check it out.

I have been having fun on Facebook.

Laura's hair is now a very pretty red.

I want it to snow.

I'm almost done with The Pillars of the Earth. It's been a long read, but it's good!

Some Things I Did Today

I ran three miles, over to Hendricks Park and back to the hotel room.

I ordered a nice meal but didn't have time to eat it. Cecelia brought it to me later and I ate it even later in my hotel room. But I didn't have silverware in my hotel room so I ate it with my hands.

I went into Track Town Pizza just to be nostalgic. Didn't get any pizza.

Cecelia, Track Town Pizza, Hendricks park - I'm in Eugene!

With the Oregon Book Awards author tour.

More soon, from Portland.

Reading Tonight at the Press Club

Which was a nice location for a reading! Rebecca Loudon didn't make it but was there in spirit. I gave one of my poems to someone who said he liked it.

If you respond before Tuesday I can sell you a copy of the anthology for $12 which is a bargain. After that I'm sending them back to Reb.

Going to bed now.

Saying Goodbye to 2007

This is from a Keats altered book I'm working on.

Soon it will be 2008. I'm ready!

Christmas Vacation

I am having a good vacation so far!

I got a cool new blue ipod from Michael for Xmas. And one of those Nike plus things that attaches to your ipod and tracks how far you run. Amy and I are doing challenges - I ran 3.5 miles today and Lance Armstrong congratulated me at the end!

I watched MANY episodes of Project Runway and a few less many of Biggest Loser this week.

I"m reading Then We Came to The End by Joshua Ferris, working on the new Caffeine Destiny, and enjoying life in general.

Sending out my manuscript to a few places tomorrow or the next day. I was first runner up in the Kore Press manuscript competition so I decided that was a good sign.

Max got a cell phone for Christmas. We gave him the complete Chronicles of Narnia on audio CD, which I think he will listen to eventually.

I am listening to the Challengers by the New Pornographers. I am a huge Neko Case fan so I hope she comes back to Portland in 2008.

We're going to Pinback in February.

Christmas Vacation

I am on vacation! I want to clean my office and get my manuscript submitted to a few place and make some collages over the break. And begin getting the new Caffeine Destiny done, but I'm not going to push myself to get it done super fast. By the end of January is fine.

Also, over vacation I'm going to sit and stare at my Christmas tree. I enjoy that a lot.

I am listening to WNYC, broadcast from New York City. I haven't done that in a long time.

I am reading Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. I want to finish it over vacation.

Interesting article in the New Yorker this week about how much Gordon Lish edited Raymond Carver and how Carver didn't like it so much, after the first book.

I made fudge but it didn't set. So free super soft fudge to the first ten people who respond!

I am so kidding.

It's December!

Our tree is up.

Here's an interesting interview with Kristy Bowen.

Last night's party for the Oregon Book Awards finalists was fun! A great turn out and excellent readings.

This weekend it's raining, I have papers to grade and we're going to Mcminnville.

I haven't made any collages in a really long time, but over the holidays I hope to.

I know

I never post anymore! But I'm not ready to surrender the blog. No! I can do it!

Ah well.

I read at Wordstock this weekend and that was pretty fun. It was good to see Zanni! I have been getting up early to write - I aim for three mornings a week.

The book awards are very soon and this Friday is the party for the Oregon Book Awards finalists at the Ace Hotel. It's free so please come!

Maybe in December I will post more often. Yes!

Well, I haven't written much in this lately, it's true.

I am reading Istanbul this weekend.

Max's time won their football game yesterday.

There will be poems by Katie Ford and Brenda Hillman in the winter Caffeine Destiny.

Later this week I will write more. I swear.

Happy Birthday Amy!

Still September!

Yes it's true, I haven't blogged in a while. But I've been thinking of you!

And reading The World In Place of Itself and Mary Ruefle's new book too!

Today is picture day for Max and Laura. Laura is going to Bonneville dam on a field trip.

Yours truly is reading at Wordstock. I hope Zanni can make it out from Fishtrap to read too.

More soon, I promise!

New Burnside

Went to a party for Burnside Review yesterday.

It's TBA time! Check it out. We're going to see dance Sunday night.

I miss you already Barbara.

Max has a game tomorrow, and then the Ducks play Michigan!