Sorry for my lack of posts – I had a surprise visit from my little brother and his wife (and he’s coming back next weekend, after his LA-based training) and I’ve been spending a lot of time in doctor’s offices. Plus I’m wrapping up my class at National U for the quarter.

It seems my (auto)immune system is on the fritz again. I went to a very smart UCSD doctor yesterday who was recommended by my Seattle hematologist who called the head of medicine at UCSD for me (thank you Dr. G! You are so getting a fruit basket!) and I was very impressed with her. Not only was she intuitive to the point of being psychic, she asked good questions and was actually interested in my records (which I usually shuffle in with, embarrassed, since I’ve had sooo many tests and screenings over the years that might or might not be helpful for a new doctor I feel like a bit of a freak.) So I feel like I am in good hands in my new city.

Also, if you’re someone who may or may not have lupus, you might want to avoid a lot of sunlight. Such as that found in Southern California.
Note to self: Southern California: good for Reynaud’s syndrome and asthma. Bad for lupus-like autoimmune problems.
Also for my notes on SoCal:
Good: lack of rain.
Bad: plenty of fire.

I also had time to sneak out to a reading and dinner with K. Lorraine Graham who invited me to a very interesting feminist/experimental fiction reading. (One of the readers was Seattle-ite Laynie Brown, a prose poet who also apparently dabbles in prose prose.) What was expecially interesting was how the “experimental” methods in fiction – split and layered narratives, for instance, something Old TS Eliot was doing years ago – seem hardly “experimental” at all – even old-fashioned – in poetry. I’m not up with the usual “experimental fiction” suspects, but if any of you all out there know more about this, I’d be interested in more of a discussion…