Texmas break

I'm doing laundry & packing for my annual sojourn to the native state for Texmas, where we'll sit in shirtsleeves in the backyard but still build a fire in the fireplace on Christmas Eve just because. It doesn't get dark till 7:00PM and the rooster crows (um, a literal rooster) around 5:30AM on beautiful scarfless, gloveless days. I'm looking forward to seeing my family & to sleeping without wool socks.

Be safe, if you are traveling.

Before I go, a few things:

A review of For Girls (& Others) at Allen Bramhall's new review blog. (Thanks, Allen!)

Three poems from For Girls (& Others) are up at Sina Queyras's blog, with a mini interview to follow. (Thanks, Sina!)

Somehow I've managed to hang in through the elimination rounds in C. Dale's year-end Caption Contest. Today will be the final showdown between myself & RJ Gibson. We've received the pics and they're great, but I gotta say, this is the most difficult contest so far. The audience voting puts contestants in a position to campaign, but it's really tough to come up with something original when you get one shot per photo and can't see what the competition is offering. (In the past I tended to get lucky with judge Joseph, who seems to share my sense of humor, and always took a blanket approach with multiple captions!) Anyway, check Avoiding the Muse throughout the day today to vote in the final rapid-fire rounds.

It's my party & I can blackmail you if I want to

You could vote for me because you like my caption...

or, you could vote for me because it's my birthday.

This is the only day of the competition I will campaign. I have a strict it's-all-about-me policy each Dec. 18th.

Update: Thanks, y'all! :)

You've got nothing better to do

Sez Jennifer L. Knox:

"I'm reading tonight at KGB with Billy Collins.

That's right, I am! for the anthology,
Great American Prose Poems
along with some other very cool poets.

Like Mark Bibbins, Charles Bernstein, Jenny Boully,
Mark Strand, Paul Violi, Susan Wheeler, and others.

KGB Bar
7 p.m.
85 West 4th St NYC 10003

It would be awesome to see your friendly,
or short of that, familiar face.

Knoxoxoxo"

Who knew?

A reality show about poets.

A winter storm

A good day for household chores & cooking long, slow stews with plenty of greens & beans.

Even if I wanted to go out (which the weatherwoman insistently advises against) it'd take a lot of hot water & scraping & salting just to get out of the driveway.

I look forward to a spotless living room, redolent of soup, some cinnamon tea & a thick book this afternoon.

Maybe an icy trudge in the village park to listen to the tsussing of the sleet.

Anyway, it suits my hermitic mood.

I've gotta get my camera fixed

Because at times like these in the past, I'd just post photos.

But at least my tube is unstuck now & the internets are freely flowing.

Stuck in tube

No internettin chez me. Out like a wink sometime yesterday.

Awesome.

Great

& now I'm sick. Right on schedule.

Euphemism, anyone?

One of the things I love about living out here is that I can disappear into the woods (a feeling I've greatly missed the past dozen years in Brooklyn). To have my line of sight completely free of buildings, my auralscape completely free of traffic noise, music, construction machinery, or any other sounds of so-called civilization. It's difficult to describe, but the sensation is one of blankness and fullness simultaneously, of relaxation and stimulation at once. Probably seems a bit hokey, but folks who grew up or spent formative years in rural areas likely know what I mean. (I've met native NYers who are utterly creeped out by natural sound--which is never silence!--and open spaces.)

There's a great park a couple blocks away that's about 1/4 landscaped and 3/4 open field & woods, complete with wild fruit trees, berry bushes, & critters. Within a 5 minute drive in any direction there are public lands, farmland & wildlife preserves, trails on the watershed, and privately owned parcels that nevertheless remain open to walking visitors.

But the past two weekends I have been thwarted by ominous flourescent signs suggesting I wear Safety Orange on my hikes.

Because "deer management" is in progress.

Catching up

Yesterday I finally tackled my in-box. Sheesh. Since my email app crashed in September I've been using webmail, and in a horrendously disorganized fashion, just procrastinating until I chose a new app. In the end I decided against switching to new software, to free my machine from the burden of stored mail. So webmail it is for the forseeable future, but I made some folders and set up new filters to make it manageable. Anyway, sorry for the severly delayed responses, folks. I'm embarrassed!

Also catching up with the DIY blog, which I've been neglecting while I was busy with the Bloof launch, etc. There's a fresh round-up post (with more to come ASAP) & Sandra's posted a couple of times recently too. Also, reviews are in the works! Check it.