living without the electronic fire

No cable + no converter box + old television = NO TV. It's been 5 nights (never watched during the day). Kind of miss that narcotic flickering, but maybe I'll get some reading done. Anyone forgoing the TV set?

hello long lost

We made it from winter into spring and are now inhaling muffleheads, mayflies, and/or midges that are living out their paltry lives right where our houses are...but it's a symptom of a healthy lake, so go ahead and high whine around, you damn insects...

The art museum opens its new Raphael Vinoly wing with modern and contemporary art, finally, this month. Seems an age since we've seen some of the old faves. And there is new work, too. Ben got a sneak peak the other day and said, "Who needs LeBron James? We have this!"

Does anyone have a cure for an addiction to coffee ice cream?
Does anyone have a cure for writer's block?

Barn Owl

Barn Owl 2 is out--and looking beautiful. Avail yourself of one. Also, I have a review published on their website: here.

The Poem and The Poet

Okay, so. I really thought the poet had been canceled since no one should ever have to speak after Obama (except, maybe Rev. Lowery). But there she was, with a too-folksy poem (for me), and a cadence that sounded like stomping in new boots compared to Obama's speech. But I hope poets keep getting included in such rip-roarin' events. (And it was far better than Maya Angelou's fluttery fritterings....)

What did you think?

leap into prose

Been reading only poetry for awhile (and my favorites happen to be in the area--Susan Grimm and Mary Biddinger), but broke my fiction fast with the much-hyped, in-need-of-editing The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. I liked much of it for reasons that don't really matter to anyone else, but it got me rolling on more fiction (which rhymes with addiction for a reason). Next up was The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud and described as a comedy of manners set in New York right before 9/11. Very ambivalent about this one. Then I gravitated to Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris, which contains a bit of viciousness that I liked. Last night I plucked from my massive, unorganized piles The Catherine Wheel by Jean Stafford, which I've tried to read before.

Anybody read these books? Although interesting, they are not helping me with writer's block.

Helluva Nella Cucina 2008

Until you've eaten at Chez Guy's house with a curled braciole resting on its little cradle, a lamb roast studded with garlic and redolent of rosemary, a perfectly cured pig jowl resting on the counter, Miry's lovely mache and shiitake salad, Tony's famous spicy scampi, and Mike's pasta fagiole (spelling?), accompanied by many tiny glasses of wine and surrounded by friends bonded by the simple joy of one thing or another or many and many other things, well, you don't know how rich and warm one can feel in a poor and chilly place as this.

Thank you, thank you.