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It's my birthday!

Amy sent me a very funny card, so to see the birthday singers, go here! I got a Powell's gift card which I will spend very soon!

The author tour in Eugene and North Bend was really fun. I think the audiences enjoyed it as well! I'm glad I get a chance to do that; it's good to travel other places in the state with the fine Oregon Book Awards finalists!

It's my birthday and I'm going to go write now.

Now she is 13!

Laura had her 13th birthday on Friday, and Saturday there were several girls here for a slumber party!

Thursday I leave for the Oregon Book Awards Author Tour. I'll be in Eugene and North Bend.

Lee Upton will have poems in the new Caffeine Destiny, which should go online next month!

I have been reading the Best American Essays 2006. It makes me want to write one. But I would settle for writing a-sort-of-good-not-too-bad-essay.

Today in poetry we're going to talk about Richard Hugo and the triggering town!

Laura is trying out for the basketball team this week. Practices start at 6:00 a.m. at the school. I'm glad I have coffee.

Snow Day!

And who doesn't love a snow day! Well city bus drivers, perhaps.

PSU was closed today, as well as the kids' schools. There was at least two inches of snow on the ground here. We had a fun snow day. I made cookies with my hand shaped cookie cutter and then would say "do you need a hand?" or "can I give you a hand?" before I offered one to Max or Laura or Michael. How corny of me - it's the snow, I tell you!

Cole Swensen will be in the next Caffeine Destiny and I am pleased!

So Much Depends

Two posts in one day! Who knew!

But I have completed the first collage of 2007 so I just had to post it!

And class was fun today. We talked a lot about abstract and concrete language and the differences between them. We also read William Carlos Williams Red Wheelbarrow poem.

Then I passed around this small wooden box that my mother gave me at Christmas (it had a cup inside when she gave it to me, but it was empty today). And I wrote the title "Wooden Box" on the board and the lines "So much depends" and had them write a poem about the box, in the style of "Red Wheelbarrow". They came up with some really amazing stuff! And it was fun.

5 Things

Okay, well since the Toed Hen asked, I give you the "five things you might not know about me" list, although I'm not so into this I must admit, and my first response would be, who cares! Which is not a reflection on how I feel about other people's lists, I just don't have that much to say in response, and really, if they're five at all relevant things people don't know about you, isn't there a reason they don't know? Like you don't want them to? However, here gos:

1) I can make bread from scratch without a recipe.

2 I don't like ellipsis in poems although I have really tried to broaden my viewpoint on this. Yes I'm talking about ... in a poem. I just don't get them and sometimes they irritate me.

3) I wish I had a horse that lived in my backyard.

4) I am more superstitious than I would like to be.

5) I have had very vivid dreams about the following people, so vivid that I'm not entirely convinced they didn't actually take place, on some other plane of reality:

Patrick Duffy (this was in 1977 and he was the Man from Atlantis and it was totally cool)
Jesus
Alan Ginsberg

Alrighty then!

I did it for you, Z.

Moon, Get Busy!

I"m still mining last year's collages, but I hope to make more soon!

However, winter term begins next week and I'm not ready! I'll be busy with that this weekend.

However, I think I will see Amy on Sunday.

I wrote poetry today, good for me.

I like this poem by Macgregor Card from the latest issue of Fence- ordering the moon around is a good idea! I wonder if Macgregor Card is a pen name.

Maybe I will change my name to Macgregor Denning.

But first I will think about teaching next week.

I'm listening to the Weepies.

The Year is New

But this is a collage from last January.

We had fun last night. Michael and I went to the Saphhire Hotel for drinks and dinner, and then to Jake's for more drinks. We were home long before midnight, and we didn't drink our expensive bottle of champagne that we bought earlier in the day. There will be time for that!

I am cleaning my office, but as promised, here's some forthcoming titles of poetry books that I'm looking forward to:

The Glass Age by Cole Swensen

A Thief of Strings by Donald Revell

Embryos and Idiots by Larissa Szporluk

Heaven of the Moment by John Morrison, to be published in 2007 by Bedbug Press

Okay back to the sorting and tossing and dusting! Wish me luck.

Happy New Year to all of you!

2006 Starts Saying Goodbye

Christmas was good at our house! And now, as Max said, everyone in this house has an ipod.

I'm listening to Beyonce right now. Laura and I saw Dreamgirls a few nights ago. It was fun, and Eddie Murphy played a singer that was very James Brown inspired.

Last night Max and I went to see We are Marshall. That was good too, but sad.

I can't believe the year is almost over. There are some poetry books coming out in the new year that I'm looking forward to. I'll list them in a future post - very soon. I've been reading The Book of Questions by Neruda. It's amazing.

I have kale and shallots in my refrigerator! The new Joy of Cooking I got for Christmas inspired me. My old one was falling apart.

Next week I go back to work at Literary Arts, and then winter term begins. I'm teaching online for Marylhurst and "live and in person!" at PSU.

Listening to Beyonce now, yes, but for the past few days I've been listening to a lot of Neko Case.

Today I jumped rope and bought a latte. I'm on vacation!

Little Kiddles

Soon it will be Christmas! My mom is here; we drove around and looked at Christmas lights tonight. Max thinks this is a very novel thing to do and thinks we are the only people that do this. I assured him there are others.

I will not return to work until January 2nd. The new term at Marylhurst and PSU doesn't start until the week after that. I am going to read and write and make collages and clean my office and have fun and do yoga and Tae-bo and watch All My Children and lots of movies and do whatever else I decide to do.

And then it will be 2007.

In 1967 or 1968 my sisters and I all got Kiddles for Christmas. These were little dolls. The ones we got that Christmas fit inside lockets that you could wear.

Merry Christmas!

A Week Until Christmas Eve!

Max is keeping me informed of how many days it is until Christmas, with at least daily updates - sometimes several times a day.

I'm keeping a close watch on the Mt. Hood rescue efforts, and I'm hoping for a good outcome.

I wrote some Friday and did some Christmas shopping. It started snowing on the way home from Gresham, which was exciting. Pink Floyd was playing on the radio, and it made for a very atmospheric ride home. Then Christmas music came on and that was good too!

Laura and I are going to a Craft Fair at the Doug Fir today. I made shortbread yesterday. I'm going to try to take a long walk today.

Joan Houlihan's poem on Poetry Daily is good today. The last few days of poems I've enjoyed; sometimes there can be a few weeks when I don't like any of the poems; then there's a rush of good ones. Like Kathyrn Maris's poem from a few days ago. I bought her book after I read that one.

Coffee with Zanni on Tuesday. I'm looking forward to that. There is an exhibit in the Special Collections Room at the Central Library of handprinted cards. I'm going to try to see that this week too.

What Do You Think?

Is it too dark? I kind of like it. I keep messing around with my blog layout. Must be a December thing!

I'm almost done with the Marylhurst grading.

I"m reading the restored version of Ariel. The weather seems to call for it. I like her poems with bees in them.

Christmas Christmas!

I think I shouldn't have jumped on the beta blogger bandwagon. I am having problems! And now I can't go back to my other one.

However, I will press on. We got our tree today! It looks very festive in the living room now.

I am grading Marylhurst papers today and trying to put those classes to bed.

Drinks with Scott and Taya at the Cellar and then the Vault last night. That was fun. Anytime you get to drink champagne is fun. I believe that's true!

Wednesday is the Shins! Laura had her band concert Wednesday; she played percussion. She was barefoot because her shoes were too loud.

Max had his practice chess tournament today.

I am going to stop sitting at this computer now. I should plan my 213, but I will have the whole week of Christmas off. So I should plan it before that so I can truly have the week off! Well we'll see about that.

Oh look at this new Dean Young poem on American Poetry Review that begins:

Poetry is an art of beginnings and ends. You want middles, read novels.

Oregon

Wow what an evening the Book Awards were! I think there were nearly 500 people there. I was very proud to be an Oregonian.

I was pretty happy with the way my Powerpoint came out - and Michael's brillaint font change! Michael also served as the best Powerpoint operator ever.

I could be more articulate, but I'm kind of spent.

I'm taking the dogs out for a walk. It's very cold but it will be good. I have been grading Marylhurst papers today and I need some fresh air!

I decided on textbooks for 213, so the write-in campaign can stop. Ha! I heard from Zanni and that was IT! I have a new scheme to help solve the paper chase in 213 - maybe. We'll see. I love the cyclical nature of the school year.

I have tomorrow off. I'm going to try to write and maybe put up some Christmas decorations.

Today I was pushing my cart around Fred Meyer thinking why do they have all this stuff that everyone's supposed to buy this is so commercial why do they make everyone run around like crazy what an insane holiday.

Then I get to Starbuck's and see Starbuck's Christmas Blend and think, oh good it's time for the Starbuck's Christmas Blend - I must have it! And shortly after I see a Snoopy Christmas ornament at the Hallmark store and think oh I must buy that, I LOVE this time of year!

This is my conflicted relationship with Christmas.

Deck the halls!

Harvard Review

The Harvard Review returned my poems yesterday. I'm just not Ivy League material, I guess. But I did receive a nifty blank Harvard Review postcard and if you're lucky I just may send it to you!

Tomorrow is the Book Awards. Yes indeed.

Thanksgiving Weekend

I went shopping with my sisters last night. Bring on the lemondrops! I bought sparkly eye shadow at Macy's and smelled a bunch of perfume at Nordstrom's.

Thanksgiving was fun. I watched White Christmas at Amy's.

I made my own turkey today! So we can have leftovers.

Five days until the Book Awards - the countdown has begun.

The Ducks lost the Civil War game.

It is very cold but not cold enough to snow down here in the "lower elevations" as they refer to us. Max and Laura are still hoping for snow but I think it's doubtful.

I have been grading Marylhurst papers all day and I'm going to take the dogs for a walk now.

I'm Still Here!

Well someone hasn't blogged in a while. I'm getting ready for the book awards!

The second Japanese Garden reading was fun. Marc Acito was great.

I walked three miles today with the dogs and they were so happy.

Has anyone out there read Helen Vendler's Poems, Poets, Poetry and/or used it in a class? I need a textbook for my poetry class next term and I am always searching for a good one. Haven't been satisfied yet with anything I've used.

This is all for now but I'm thinking of each and every one of you.

Or something.

Pilot Poetry Is In The House!

I'd like to extend a warm cyberspace welcome to Pilot Poetry and their new online magazine. Dean Gorman and Betsy Wheeler have got it going on!

It's my day off. My house is a mess but I wanted to make a collage and post here before trying to create a little order in the house. What girl wouldn't?

Last night's readings in the Japanese Garden were fabulous. The garden looks really beautiful at night, and the Japanese Pavillon was lit by candelight and really cool. George Aguilar, Sr., Brian Doyle and Kristin Kaye read. Chelsea Cain was our host. It was really great and next Wednesday it all happens again! Marc Acito will host a fiction reading with Laila Lalami, Scott Nadelson and Justin Tussing. Don't miss this!

I get to see Tori this weekend, hooray! Michael and I are taking the kids to the Dixie Chicks tonight!

And the Democrats are back in action! We'll see what they make of things.

Okay, I must vacuum. Wish me luck!

Bipartisan Cafe

Daneen and I met this morning at the Bipartisan Cafe - a fitting meeting location for this election week! - to talk about our poems. The second time we've done this. We're set to meet again December 10th. I'm glad we're doing this. It's an extra incentive to get poems finished!

Stephen King was fun; tonight we are going to hear Frank Rich. Again I feel compelled to tell you, there will be readings by some Oregon Book Awards finalists in November in the Japanese Garden. The first one is this Wednesday, hosted by Chelsea Cain, with readings by George Aguilar, Brian Doyle and Kristin Kaye. If you live in Portland, come to this lovely reading - in the candlelit Japanese Garden pavillon - this Wednesday at 6:30, and be sure to introduce yourself to me!

It's been raining hard all weekend but I must venture out into it today with the dogs; they want their walks! Laura has been volunteering at the Humane Society and some of those dogs stay for months. She walks them and takes photos of them to show us at home.

Marvin Bell has a new poem in the Fall issue of Caffeine Destiny. I didn't want to wait until the next issue to add it.

Halloween

We carved our pumpkins this weekend. Well the kids carved them! I took them to Rossi's Haunted House last night. It's suddenly colder outside. Laura's costume has black feathered wings. Max has a very scary mask.

I didn't go see Richard Ford. I didn't go hear anybody! But I'm reading Ford's new book and I'm liking it.

Football season is over, and Laura has one more soccer game.

I'm working on a poem but it's slow. I will be on the radio tonight, briefly, talking about the Oregon Book Awards. And then listening to the finalists read from their books, which I'm really looking forward to!

There will be readings by some Oregon Book Awards finalists in November in the Japanese Garden. These are going to be great; Chelsea Cain and Marc Acito will host. I think it's great people will have a chance to hear some of the finalists read before the Book Awards on December 1st. Tickets for the Book Awards are available at the Literary Arts web site.

There! My blog world and my work world have just collided!

Now back to me - I watched some of the Omen on Saturday night, and a lot of Boris Karloff in Frankenstein on Sunday morning. So I'm in the spirit!

Richard Ford

Well I've thought more about it, and I'm going to go see Richard Ford, I decided. Yes. I didn't know he was going to write a sequel to Independence Day, which was a sequel to the Sportswriter. I think he would be good to see again.

I got an email from Janine, hooray.

We played poker tonight, the kids and Michael and I. Michael won.

I"m going to try to go running BEFORE work this week. Wish me luck. And get some poems written so that Daneen and I will have poems to talk about next weekend.

I want to see the new movie, THE QUEEN. And Laura and I want to see FLICKA.

Max has his costume. He's not Elvis, he's scary mask person with a black robe. I will take pictures.