Well, we're in Michigan safe and sound. The move was okay. The movers (whom I will not name because I'm nice like that), when they gave us our estimate, said one truck oughta do us. Well, they left about 10% of our stuff in our old place. Saturday I have to go back with a tow-behind U-Haul to get the rest. That's a pain in the butt! I might try to get a refund outta the movers, but I don't know. The movers themselves, the actual guys, were awesome. They both play football at University of Toledo. Enormously strong guys.
Our place is so great. HUGE master bedroom. My office is gonna be sooo much more roomy once I get it set-up. And our basement is sweet. We love it. Now if only the boxes unpacked themselves.
Well, going out to dinner with my sis and bro-in-law. It's gonna be sweet living so near them. I haven't had family near me in a couple years.
Bought a first edition, hardcover of James Wright's Collected Poems today for, get this, $5.00. Unreal.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Monday, July 16, 2007
hoot hoot, time to boogey
The lovely editors at Barn Owl Review accepted my poem, "On the Death of Houdini," for their first issue. I'm very excited. The first issue will be debuting at AWP in NYC this year. Included in the first issue, among many other great poets, are my buddies AC, FDR, and JP. Rock on!
Well, M and I move tomorrow morning. Crazy amounts of stuff still to do. Will be offline for a couple days. Should be hooked up again Thursday, but we'll see if the cable company actually shows up for our appointment (you know how those things can go).
Have a good couple days everyone!
Well, M and I move tomorrow morning. Crazy amounts of stuff still to do. Will be offline for a couple days. Should be hooked up again Thursday, but we'll see if the cable company actually shows up for our appointment (you know how those things can go).
Have a good couple days everyone!
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
freeze tag, bitches
From my buddy Amanda:
"You're stranded on a desert island. With no one around. Like worse than Lost.
Luckily, you have 5 books with you. What are they?"
This was hard... so here's my initial gut-reaction list of the books I could never live without (in no particular order).
1) John Berryman The Dream Songs
2) Raymond Carver Where I'm Calling From
3) William Faulkner The Sound and the Fury
4) Yusef Komunyakaa Pleasure Dome: New and Collected Poems
5) Chris Offutt The Same River Twice
BONUS: 6) Frank Stanford The Battlefield Where the Moon Says I Love You
I just realized as I was typing this up: my desert island books are all by men. Does this mean I'm a pig? I'd like to think it's just a matter of happenstance. I mean, if I were to extend the list, 6 of the next 8 would be books by women. I guess maybe it's a fluke... or maybe I just identify with these dudes most of all the writers I love. Whatever.
I tag Adam, Steve, Julie, Amanda (duh, you gotta do it!), and Brent.
"You're stranded on a desert island. With no one around. Like worse than Lost.
Luckily, you have 5 books with you. What are they?"
This was hard... so here's my initial gut-reaction list of the books I could never live without (in no particular order).
1) John Berryman The Dream Songs
2) Raymond Carver Where I'm Calling From
3) William Faulkner The Sound and the Fury
4) Yusef Komunyakaa Pleasure Dome: New and Collected Poems
5) Chris Offutt The Same River Twice
BONUS: 6) Frank Stanford The Battlefield Where the Moon Says I Love You
I just realized as I was typing this up: my desert island books are all by men. Does this mean I'm a pig? I'd like to think it's just a matter of happenstance. I mean, if I were to extend the list, 6 of the next 8 would be books by women. I guess maybe it's a fluke... or maybe I just identify with these dudes most of all the writers I love. Whatever.
I tag Adam, Steve, Julie, Amanda (duh, you gotta do it!), and Brent.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
blogger won't let me title...
... my posts...... There, it worked that time.
Spent most all of yesterday with FDR and Amanda. Went fishing on the Maumee River with FDR in the AM, went sunbathing and pooling (I swam... I know it's not good for the tat, but it was 100 degrees outside for shit's sake and I covered it with tat-approved sunning creme) with Amanda and M in the afternoon, then the four of us had a delicious Mexican dinner at our favorite local joint, El Zarape. It was a great day. Having been able to spend more time with FDR and Amanda lately, I fully realize how much I'll miss them. But we won't be too far, and I'll still be in touch with them a lot (Amanda through the blog and FDR through the anthology and general bullshit).
I hooked a nice catfish yesterday. Nothing enormous or anything, but definitely the biggest I've ever hooked into. I lost him though. Hooked him behind a huge log and when I finally got him to the surface, he snapped my line with one shake of his ugly-ass head. I was using my lil pole with 6lb line instead of my 12lb stick. Learned my lesson there.
Here's a random, semi-artsy pic of the tattoo artist that did M's tat in Florida:
Today M and I cleaned our acquarium (sp?)... fish tank. It's a 50 gallon monster and it reeks badly. It's not out of the ordinary, but it still warrants mention. I took all 60+ fish to the local fish-guy (dude that owns a big store stocked with crazy-huge catfish and rare and exotic fishes and lizards and other reptiles and an enormous eel). He'll take care of them. The fishes wouldn't have survived the move and I couldn't hurt them (i.e. flush them alive. So it all worked out. The fish-guy seemed surprised by the quantity of fish we had in our 50 gallon tank. I told him the story: we started with 8 fish. They humped (ok, not really) and reproduced a dozen times over and with baby-deaths, floaters, etc we were left with our huge numbers. He told me that several of the big females were ready to burst again. I swear, those fish were preggers every other day!! We probably cycled through 25 generations in that tank. Unreal.
Well, I might fish tonight. I love sitting, watching a bobber, and just thinking. It's so relaxing.
Two more poems from the ms were picked up today. This time it was Memorious and they took "Winter" and "Nectar." I'm very excited. I'll let you know when the new issue is posted.
Steve is right. They happen in threes. Just between you and I, I'm hoping they happen in fourteens or fifteens or some larger number.
Spent most all of yesterday with FDR and Amanda. Went fishing on the Maumee River with FDR in the AM, went sunbathing and pooling (I swam... I know it's not good for the tat, but it was 100 degrees outside for shit's sake and I covered it with tat-approved sunning creme) with Amanda and M in the afternoon, then the four of us had a delicious Mexican dinner at our favorite local joint, El Zarape. It was a great day. Having been able to spend more time with FDR and Amanda lately, I fully realize how much I'll miss them. But we won't be too far, and I'll still be in touch with them a lot (Amanda through the blog and FDR through the anthology and general bullshit).
I hooked a nice catfish yesterday. Nothing enormous or anything, but definitely the biggest I've ever hooked into. I lost him though. Hooked him behind a huge log and when I finally got him to the surface, he snapped my line with one shake of his ugly-ass head. I was using my lil pole with 6lb line instead of my 12lb stick. Learned my lesson there.
Here's a random, semi-artsy pic of the tattoo artist that did M's tat in Florida:
Today M and I cleaned our acquarium (sp?)... fish tank. It's a 50 gallon monster and it reeks badly. It's not out of the ordinary, but it still warrants mention. I took all 60+ fish to the local fish-guy (dude that owns a big store stocked with crazy-huge catfish and rare and exotic fishes and lizards and other reptiles and an enormous eel). He'll take care of them. The fishes wouldn't have survived the move and I couldn't hurt them (i.e. flush them alive. So it all worked out. The fish-guy seemed surprised by the quantity of fish we had in our 50 gallon tank. I told him the story: we started with 8 fish. They humped (ok, not really) and reproduced a dozen times over and with baby-deaths, floaters, etc we were left with our huge numbers. He told me that several of the big females were ready to burst again. I swear, those fish were preggers every other day!! We probably cycled through 25 generations in that tank. Unreal.
Well, I might fish tonight. I love sitting, watching a bobber, and just thinking. It's so relaxing.
Two more poems from the ms were picked up today. This time it was Memorious and they took "Winter" and "Nectar." I'm very excited. I'll let you know when the new issue is posted.
Steve is right. They happen in threes. Just between you and I, I'm hoping they happen in fourteens or fifteens or some larger number.
Friday, July 06, 2007
Diet Caffeine Free Picture Diary (in random order)
Ouch. Yes, it hurts. But it's a good hurt. A really good hurt. June 2007.
Taken the night I had the tat done. They had to shave my calf. I should be a swimmer.
Lizard fish caught in Gulf of Mexico, June 2007. It's teeth were REALLY sharp.
Our tackle. Also on the Maumee, July 4, 2007.
Me, a little too happy, with a freshwater drum caught on the Maumee on July 4, 2007.
Some of the crew at my 4th of July BBQ. We ate hotdogs and turkey sausages. Yum.
View of the Maumee while wading, July 4, 2007.
A close-up of the tat. Still hard to read. Damn camera.
Nice 2-3 pound smallmouth caught on Maumee River July 4, 2007. Manning the camera is FDR, my partner in all fishing related crimes.
My new tat. Can't read it in this pic, but its location is clear.
Bella at the Maumee River, July 3, 2007. The log to the left, the huge one, she carried that around for awhile. She's buff.
Bella at 8 weeks old. Yes, the bottom half of her right eye is blue.
Erika's beautiful 4th of July watermelon sculpture filled with scrumptious fruit.
Lil catfish caught at Maumee River July 4, 2007.
10 week old Bella with Mommy.
The cutest pic of Bella ever: swimming with Daddy when she was only 10 weeks old.
Taken the night I had the tat done. They had to shave my calf. I should be a swimmer.
Lizard fish caught in Gulf of Mexico, June 2007. It's teeth were REALLY sharp.
Our tackle. Also on the Maumee, July 4, 2007.
Me, a little too happy, with a freshwater drum caught on the Maumee on July 4, 2007.
Some of the crew at my 4th of July BBQ. We ate hotdogs and turkey sausages. Yum.
View of the Maumee while wading, July 4, 2007.
A close-up of the tat. Still hard to read. Damn camera.
Nice 2-3 pound smallmouth caught on Maumee River July 4, 2007. Manning the camera is FDR, my partner in all fishing related crimes.
My new tat. Can't read it in this pic, but its location is clear.
Bella at the Maumee River, July 3, 2007. The log to the left, the huge one, she carried that around for awhile. She's buff.
Bella at 8 weeks old. Yes, the bottom half of her right eye is blue.
Erika's beautiful 4th of July watermelon sculpture filled with scrumptious fruit.
Lil catfish caught at Maumee River July 4, 2007.
10 week old Bella with Mommy.
The cutest pic of Bella ever: swimming with Daddy when she was only 10 weeks old.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Plums, Apricots, and Bing Cherries: These are a few of my favorite things
Have you checked out this website yet? It's really cool. If you join, add me as your friend and we can share book recommendations.
Caught two really nice bass at the local pond last night at dusk. Much bigger than what I've caught there before. Saw someone catch a nice 20" catfish, too.
Also checked out a new reservoir in the area yesterday afternoon. I didn't fish it much (M and I were there mostly to take the dog on a long walk), but I did hook a HUGE catfish. It started pulling out line, zipping across the water, then stopped, jumped a foot out of the water and spit the hook. I don't I even had time to flinch, let alone set the hook. It was crazy. And to make it all the more bizarre, I was fishing a Rapala. I was trying to catch bass, cranking the bait in at fast speeds when the catfish jumped it.
Gotta mail a bunch of stuff. The anthology (of essays on the prose poem) is going really well. A publisher expressed interest, but asked us (Dan Rzicznek is my co-editor) to gather more material so we are doing just that. A bunch of great names have agreed to contribute essays. It's very exciting! So I need to mail them all the official guidelines, etc. I also have to mail my contract back to RHINO. First though, I have to write a two-to-three sentence note about the process, craft, or content of the poem they will publish. This should be easy, but it's turning into a fun project for me. I'm spending too much time on it. I need to cut the thing down (I wrote two damn paragraphs) and just call it quits already.
Well, off to work on a book review or two, pack some boxes, do some reading, and get ready for a 4th of July BBQ we're hosting tomorrow!
Have a great holiday everyone!
Caught two really nice bass at the local pond last night at dusk. Much bigger than what I've caught there before. Saw someone catch a nice 20" catfish, too.
Also checked out a new reservoir in the area yesterday afternoon. I didn't fish it much (M and I were there mostly to take the dog on a long walk), but I did hook a HUGE catfish. It started pulling out line, zipping across the water, then stopped, jumped a foot out of the water and spit the hook. I don't I even had time to flinch, let alone set the hook. It was crazy. And to make it all the more bizarre, I was fishing a Rapala. I was trying to catch bass, cranking the bait in at fast speeds when the catfish jumped it.
Gotta mail a bunch of stuff. The anthology (of essays on the prose poem) is going really well. A publisher expressed interest, but asked us (Dan Rzicznek is my co-editor) to gather more material so we are doing just that. A bunch of great names have agreed to contribute essays. It's very exciting! So I need to mail them all the official guidelines, etc. I also have to mail my contract back to RHINO. First though, I have to write a two-to-three sentence note about the process, craft, or content of the poem they will publish. This should be easy, but it's turning into a fun project for me. I'm spending too much time on it. I need to cut the thing down (I wrote two damn paragraphs) and just call it quits already.
Well, off to work on a book review or two, pack some boxes, do some reading, and get ready for a 4th of July BBQ we're hosting tomorrow!
Have a great holiday everyone!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
