Finished my first week back teaching after a far-t00-idle summer. Four classes and a fifth starts in October. I need to be busy again. Busy-ness makes me feel better. Having things to do, having places to be and responsibilities. I’d like to think it pushes me creatively, too. This summer was just a wash–too much [...]

Posted in art, collage, crafts, fiction, my writing, postcards, teaching, writers No Comments »

Where to begin? I seem to keep taking too long to post new blog entries. Sorry. This has got to be one of the slowest summers — as far as (paid) work for me — I’ve ever had but still I find myself busy, frazzled, distracted. So, first, Fishtrap. Got back from my 8-day writing [...]

Posted in Fishtrap, cute photos of me, fiction, my writing, travel, writers, writing residencies 3 Comments »

I love getting my Word of the Day from Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary (you can sign up for it on their website). I’ve discovered so many cool, strange, new words from it and I keep a file of them on my computer. Who knows, one or more of them could end up in my writing. Today’s [...]

Posted in Movies, fiction, my writing, word of the day No Comments »

I’m making my way through Tinkers, this year’s recent Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Paul Harding. Yesterday I took it to a coffee shop, had an iced coffee and a cookie and sat out on the patio and read for an hour and a half of uninterrupted bliss. I’m torn between really loving the book, [...]

Posted in art, books, cary elwes, collage, crafts, fiction, my writing, writers No Comments »

Back from NYC. Wonderful wonderful. Two weddings (in one night…) but no funerals thankfully. We did get to meet up with some of our favorite people: Aaron Hamburger and Anthony (by the way, Aaron’s new cooking blog , Aaron’s Sweet Spot, is fantastic!), Lee Houk and Kip (Lee’s book comes out in August! Yee haw!), [...]

Posted in books, fiction, ted, writers 2 Comments »

How does time slip away so fast? I was just saying to my buddy Eduardo yesterday that days and weeks and months just fly by now that I’m a grown up. I remember being in junior high or high school and feeling as if the days and weeks dragged on. Now I wish they would [...]

Posted in Fishtrap, books, crafts, fiction, my writing, postcards, writers, writing residencies No Comments »

For my birthday Ted got for me this great vintage Pocket Book, Peabody’s Mermaid, by Guy and Constance Jones–and it came today in the mail.  The book, this version of which was published in 1948 (it was also serialized in Cosmopolitan Magazine in 1945!), is a movie tie-in. I think I’ve mentioned it before but [...]

Posted in Movies, books, fiction, ted, vintage books No Comments »

It’s been over a week, sorry, since my last post. Lots going on– school is coming to a close– I finish teaching the last week of May. I cannot wait. I’ve rented an office with a co-worker of mine–it’s beautiful, pics to come! So I plan on spending my summer writing–especially since I have literally [...]

Posted in books, fiction, my latest man-crush, my writing, nonfiction, poetry, travel, writers No Comments »

Reading the book A Sudden Country by Karen Fisher; she’s one of the featured writers at Fishtrap, where I won a fellowship for July so I thought I’d better read her book. It’s won or been nominated for a slew of awards and it turns out I remember this book being reviewed in Entertainment Weekly [...]

Posted in Movies, books, fiction, my latest man-crush, my writing, television, writers, writing residencies No Comments »

I really shouldn’t have, but I bought this pulp novel on Ebay a week ago and just got it in the mail.–it was just a $1.99. I’m a sucker for these pulps from the 50s/60s–but especially if they’re film tie-ins, like this one: The Best of Everything written by Rona Jaffe. The movie starred Hope [...]

Posted in Movies, books, fiction, shopping, vintage books 1 Comment »