Poets in the Park, Summer Poetry Ideas, and the Seattle Real Estate Roller Derby

First of all, this weekend on Saturday June 20th is the Poets in the Park, a big festival from 11 AM to 6 PM in Redmond’s Anderson Park. I will be reading at 2 PM with the Jack Straw poets, but lots of my friends will be reading as well, and there’s a fun poetry mini-bookfair as well. The weather’s supposed to be beautiful. I hope we see you there!

I’ve been a bit out of it (I think I caught someone’s stomach flu bug at my last reading and watched the very messy and depressing Game of Thrones finale with the stomach flu – something I don’t recommend) and so I’ve missed out on a few days of having enough mental power to read, write, and send out work. The summer, with its long days, always seems like such a nice time to catch up on “fun” reading we’ve been meaning to do, plus I have a few reviews that I’m behind on, plus I really do miss writing when I don’t do it for a little bit!

The good thing about summer is it forces us to go out and look at new literary magazines, research new presses, and best of all, write new poems! Getting into the summer swing now that I’m getting better from first the lung infection and then the stomach bug is going to be an uphill climb, but I’m ready! This is a great resource for presses and lit mags reading during June and July: http://entropymag.org/where-to-submit-june-july/

We’re also getting ready to buy and sell a house, which will require a bit more effort and energy into the mundane (how much money is in our bank accounts? How clean are our kitchen countertops? how much work does that 1968 roof really need?) than usual. The real estate market in Seattle right now – well, imagine a really mean roller derby where everyone is prepared to play rougher than you AND is twice your size, and that’s how it feels bidding on a house in the Seattle area right now. We’ve missed out twice already, and today’s our third bid. We’re crossing our fingers. If any of you guys have advice for me, go for it!
UPDATED: We lost the house, not to someone who offered more money, but to someone who waived all contingencies. People are so crazy right now! No financing contingency, no inspection contingency. This is no way to run the real estate business. Boo.