The Heat is On

The temperature shot up to the high eighties on Saturday and the low nineties on Sunday. As has been the case in years past, whatever it is I'm allergic to loves the freakin' heat. My allergies went ballistic over the weekend.

Another reason to be glad about work: air conditioning. Not only am I not uncomfortably hot and sweaty while at work, but my allergies are subdued under these artificially cool conditions.

Hurray for work! Hurray for work!

Yippee...

Thank you, Sir.

Hey Now, Jeff...

 

Really digging your new chap...Joie is too, I bought one for her too...amazing to see her kids taking a shine to particular pome tomes in your book...Joie is reading it aloud to them...her daughter's raving fave happens to be mine--The Youngest One Stopped.   I really dig Ratchet...charmingly reminds me of the old South Side of Chi Town relatives in the Old Neighborhood when I was a boy.  Swimming in Beauty and Light is a heartfelt gem.  Lots to really get into and dig dig dig in your new one.  Congrats.

 

Your Cohort in the Craft,

  Robert M. Zoschke

Thank you, Robert.  You are a poet and a scholar and a fine judge of talent (ahem).  The chap he is writing about is called The Bones of Saints Under Glass and you can get it HERE.

And if you buy Bones and Poieses you pay no additional shipping.  And Poieses is a massive tome of a magazine with something like 54 poets.  Read the review of this amazing book HERE (just scroll down about halfway).

 

The Pukes

Well, I was home the last two days with Cameron who had some sort of stomach bug. There was some vomiting: once at school, once in the bushes at Henry's school, and twice in the car.

In the car. That really stinks.

He's feeling a lot better now. Back to school this morning. Fingers crossed that Henry doesn't get it and knock wood that I don't get it. Maybe I'll cross a few toes for myself as well...

This morning, on the way to school, we had a conversation about all the different ways to say vomit. Here's what Cameron came up with:

vomit

throw up

Here's what I added to the...discussion:

puke

ralph

up chuck

I'm sure there are others, but that's all I could come up with in the moment.

Mother's Day

Well, I must say that Mother's Day can be an emotional challenge, but I find that focusing my mind and energy on the mother of my children (and my children) brings a lot of joy.

We had a great day today. Slept in until nearly 9am (if you have young kids, you understand how much of a joy that is) and had a leisurely morning: sitting on the deck reading the Sunday paper while the kids did their kid thing in the back yard. We went out for a late-ish brunch and had some wonderful Huevos Rancheros.

After brunch, we went to the California Museum of Oakland. They have a wonderful natural history floor with hundreds of examples of the flora and fauna of California. As my four year-old kept asking, are all these animals real? Yes, Henry, they are all real. Are they all dead? Yes, Henry, they are all dead.

Next up: Starbucks for a little pick-me-up for the adults (and the kids, too). Then it was over to "Bird Park" as my kids call it. Actually, the park at Lake Merritt. A little bird watching/lake staring and then over to the boat docks for a wonderful Mother's Day gondola ride. Thirty minutes of sitting in an authentic Venetian gondola, oared (is that right? oared?) by an authentic Venetian! Ah, like a limousine, only way more aquatic and relaxing and...did I already say wonderful? Our gondolier, sang three different songs (in Italian) and gave a us a quick history lesson of Venice all while steering the gondola with an impressive ease.

Did you know that Venice was a sovereign nation for over 1000 years? It was.

Then off to Pyramid Brewery for dinner and couple of Hefeweizen. Oh, man can they make a Hefeweizen! Then back home and (after a reasonable waiting period) some yoga.

Damn, that was a good day. Why can't they all be like that?

Have You Bought My Book Yet?

Why not?

<---- You can click on the picture to the left. Or you can click HERE

or HERE

or HERE

See how easy I made it for you? Now, what are you waiting for?


Seriously...don't make me come over THERE.

You Gotta Meet Her

Click on over to nibble and check out the interview with leah angstman (no, that's not a typo, she's all small letters!).

She is an amazingly brilliant artist and the brains and brawn of Propaganda Press, the most ass-kickular publisher in the small press universe.

Seriously.

Oh, and in case you hadn't noticed, she's one of my best buddies.

I Don't Believe in God

Well, I don't believe there's a white dude with a flowing beard standing up in the clouds keeping his baby blue eyes on us (more on that later, perhaps).

But, damn, thank god for kids and cats and drizzling rain and that perfect little buzz you get when you drink just enough alcohol, but not too much.

Ok, I said no more drunken posts, but I feel so damn good RIGHT NOW, I had to share.

And technically, I'm not even close to drunk...