If it’s Monday, you must be in Seattle…

Back from picturesque Bellingham (I forgot my camera, but everything was like the perfect autumn small town – from snowy Mt. Baker, the turning maples, the dense fog over the water at night.) Had great fun reading with Martha at Village Books, and got to meet some great folks – including fellow blogging-poet Oliver de la Paz. Definitely have to go back to Bellingham on a purely recreational trip sometime soon.

Finally recovering from month-long chest and head thing – travel does, apparently, take a toll on the health front – and looking forward to some rest to work on my thesis, bibliography, etc (all due 11/20.)

And, picked up an unexpected extra on this reading trip – we passed pumpkin farms, sweet corn stands, pick your own apple farms…but couldn’t resist a woman with kittens. We’re now the proud owners of a little semi-Ragdoll-esque little male kitten named Shakespeare. He kept us up all night biting out hands, meowing loudly, and terrorizing our nice blonde adult female cat, Bastett. Here’s a pic – where he’s all tired out from shenanigans….

And, on the poetry front, a new review up on Fickle Muses, a new journal of myth and poetry, of Becoming the Villainess: here it is at…http://www.ficklemuses.com/nonfiction/becomingthevillainess.html

Even More Exciting Things Going On!

I know ya’ll are sick of me talking about all this stuff I’m doing this month. Well, it’s almost over…give me a few more days…

Wednesday, Octboer 18 – My former professor (and Wesleyan author) Don Bogen will be reading at Open Books at 7:30. Be there or square or something!

Thursday, October 19 – My good friends Kathleen Flenniken and Susan Rich are reading from their respective new books at Soul Food Books in Redmond. Again, be there, be square, etc.

Saturday, October 21 – I’m reading with fellow Steel Toe author Martha Silano at Village Books in Bellingham at 7:30 PM. If you live near Bellingham, come say hi! It’s my first time in town and I’m dying to know all about it.

And apres ca: a month of rest. Except for school and work. But no poetry readings. Til November 19.

Ooh, and Jessa from Bookslut has confirmed that I’m reading with them in Chicago in April. I’m excited!

Reading report from Portland…

Really nice crowd at Portland State (free wine, cheese, fruit, cookies…man, these Portland poets really know how to feed an audience – we should have this stuff at readings in Seattle!) Although I believe the mike was possessed – it had a super-pop-thing going and it actually attacked Laurel physically while she was reading. She did a great job with her very affecting work from Daphne and Jim and it was really fun to read with her. I was very happy to see some friends who teach at PSU and some of my fellow Pacific students. So, a fun trip, if somewhat too short – because we had to come in late and leave early the next day. Hope to see you again soon, Portland 🙂

Checking my DVR, two shows that were pretty hilarious – The Colbert Report featured a light-sabre fight between Colbert and George Lucas on one night, and he appeared (and got kissed) by Gloria Steinem and Jane Fonda in a very funny sketch on the other. King of the geeks, baby!

In other news, my review of Lesle Lewis’s second book, Landscapes I & II, is up at Three Candles, and I got a slammin’ contributor’s copy of the print version of Wicked Alice.

In still other news, I am very, very tired. I love doing poetry readings, but at the end of the night, I’m always ready to hibernate for a couple of days. Is this part of some strange half-introvert-extrovert personality flaw? Also, it is officially autumn – the leaves are turning (at least, here, on the sparse deciduous trees), the pumpkins are out, and all the volcanoes I saw on the way home (Mt. Hood,. Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Ranier) were shiny in the clear October sunshine. Are volcanoes seasonal?

The tour goes on…

Back in Seattle long enough to catch my breath, throw all my clothes in the laundry, (catch up on a little blog reading and television – Heroes – X-Files meets X-Men?) and indulge in some of my husband’s great cooking (yesterday, grilled salmon and beet and orange salad, mmm) before we pack up tonight and race off to the next reading on Wednesday night in Portland, Oregon.
I’m looking forward to seeing Portland State University for the first time and seeing some Portland friends, as well as meeting Laurel Snyder…Thanks to Burnside Review and Portland State for making this happen! Here’s the listing from Burnside Review’s web site:

“We’re excited to announce that Burnside Review in conjunction with PSU’s Literary Arts Alliance will be bringing 2005 Chapbook Contest winner Laurel Snyder to Portland October 11th. She will be reading from her winning manuscript, Daphne and Jim. Jeannine Hall Gailey will also read from her new book Becoming the Villainess. The reading will take place at 7:30 on the PSU campus, Smith Center, Cascade Room 238. Admission is free.”

So, be there, if you can…I think it’ll be a lot of fun.

Post from the road:
Survived the readings in Kentucky and Ohio with no major incidents, I’m happy to report. I loved being a guest-teacher in publisher Tom Hunley’s WKU classes in contemporary poetry – the students were so articulate and interesting I would have loved just staying there chatting with them. The crowd at WKU was surprisingly big and enthusiastic – the faculty there were very welcoming – it was just an ideal trip. Tom and his wife Relaina hosted a party afterwards for me and the students and faculty – Relaina even made cookies decorated with red icing versions of my book cover and the blurbs (Michaela you would have been impressed)
Going back to University of Cincinnati was really disconcerting – the campus has been really improved since I was there – but my professors all looked younger than I remembered. How does that work? My college roommate – who I hadn’t seen in years – came to the reading, which was really cool, and I enjoyed catching up with old friends and meeting some of the new graduate students there.
Today my parents are having a book party for me so I’ll get to hang out with old friends and some new folks as well. Then tomorrow flying back to Seattle…and back to my normal life…