Strep throat. Who knew adults even got this? On the road to recovery now. One side effect of not being able to talk on the phone (and spending nearly three hours in the doctor’s office the day after Christmas) was being able to get a whole novel read – Special Topics in Calamity Physics. Kind of a prep-school-expose/murder mystery, narrated by a brainy outcast/cool kid with lots of footnotes and little sketches by the author called “visual aids.” A little dark, a lot of fun. Amazing for a first-time novelist. The plot even reminds me a little of Atwood’s Blind Assassin. Also re-watched the original, un-retouched Star Wars: A New Hope, which was better than I remembered.
Christmas Day was miraculous here – nearly fifty degrees and sunny, followed by two days of bitter cold rain. Today is another sunny one – nearly tempting me and my antibiotic-ed-to-the-gills body outside again.
Got a copy of The Cincinnati Review with my review of Louise Gluck’s Averno in it the day before Christmas. I’m kind of proud of the review, since Gluck’s been one of my poetry heroines since I was about twenty. I wanted to write something un-gushy, even-handed.
Also looking forward to acquiring my contributor’s copy of The Pebble Lake Review, which will also feature poems by friends like Wendy Wisner, Shanna Compton, Anne Haines, Steve Schroeder, JP Dancing Bear and a review of Steve Mueske’s book. From what I’ve read of The Pebble Lake Review, I have very similar taste to the editor’s. I love when that happens.
Oh, and here’s a link to the review in the Winter 2006 issue of Rattle (I believe that’s issue 26) of Becoming the Villainess by Natasha K. Moni.
One of my little brother’s friends from high school, who signed up for the Navy after getting his engineering degree from Carnegie Mellon, is going to Iraq this year. I know he’s not a kid anymore, in fact he’s turned 30, but I still think of him as a kid and I don’t want him to be in danger. Good luck Will!