Holiday Readings, Redmond Lights, Parties, and Getting Ready for Visits from Family

Tonight I’m reading for the art dedication of a piece called “The Erratic” on the Redmond Connector Trail, at 6:30. I think the reading is actually outside, and there’s a luminary walk and hot chocolate booths and such for kids, and I believe the part that I’ll be a part of will last from 6:30 to 7 PM. Did I mention it’ll be outside and last night it was ten degrees outside! Ten degrees in Seattle! It’s the coldest I ever remember it being out here, I have to keep thawing out the hummingbird feeders. I’ve gone up to my “old clothes closet” to dig out: heaviest long winter coat, earmuffs, gloves, and I have to try to find something “festive” to wear for the reading that I won’t freeze in underneath. (The Ugg boots aren’t necessarily festive, but possibly a necessity!) The whole schedule for the Redmond Lights events tonight is here: http://www.redmondlights.com/events/

Last night I went out to see former editor of Poetry Northwest and current critic for The Rumpus David Biespiel do a reading at Open Books. Local luminaries like Linda Bierds (winner of one of those MacArthur Genius Grant) and Martha Silano were there, so that was fun, but it was so cold last night, and someone was coughing all the way through the reading, and I came home with a sore throat, so I’m drinking hot water and honey to fix that before tonight. Sometimes I have to remember to rest the night before a reading!

Did I mention tonight is also the husband’s annual Christmas party downtown? So it’s possible I will race home from the outdoor reading, change clothes, glam up, and head downtown to help the husband do networking and see what the company sprang for this year (in early years at the company, they used to splash out on smoked salmon and champagne and 80’s cover bands, but it’s been a while. Times are lean!)

In the middle of this, I am getting ready for a holiday visit from my parents, which means I am trying to decorate and clean the house and get the upstairs ready for visitors (we have a tiny Christmas tree for the upstairs!) and running around trying to put presents together for everyone (five nieces and nephews, five brothers and brother-in-laws, friends, the parents, various others…) It seems harder to shop this year as the sales weren’t very good and the quality on everything seems a little cheaper – probably due to the recession, shops are trying to make more profit.

Let’s see, I’ve been reading Donna Tartt’s new book The Goldfinch, which I think is horribly repetitive and the voice seems very phony, like she’s never even talked to a teenage boy in her life. It got praised up and down for its wonderful “Dickens-esque” character, but Dickens was more fun than this – and based on the plot, the book should be a lot more fun – art thievery, white trash living in Vegas, snobby Manhattan families, etc. I’m disappointed because I loved The Secret History so much, but I remembered I don’t always love everything by every author I like – I’m crazy about some AS Byatt books, for instance, but only “meh” about others. (And while Margaret Atwood continues to be one of my favorite writers, her latest sci-fi dystopian trilogy didn’t thrill me, either.) Perhaps I’ve become a tougher reader as I get older? One book I’m thrilled with so far is “A Poet’s Prose” – the prose writings of Louise Bogan, which makes a wonderful read along with the correspondence of Flannery O’Connor, because they discuss some of the same problems and write to some of the same people (although Louise was born first, she outlived Flannery by decades.) Even if you don’t love her poetry, you will probably love her letters – she’s sharp, gossipy, intelligent, passionate, someone you would have wanted to be friends with. It’s the kind of book I love to “happen upon” when I go to Open Books.