The blogosphere just got better...

Because... Jeff has joined our ranks!


http://jeffsharlet.blogspot.com/


And though the damn firewall won't let me link him, I suggest you copy and paste this into a window, and link him your damn self.


Jeff is smarter than you. Jeff calls things by their ugly names. Jeff tells the truth, except when he's exagerating for devastating comedic effect. If Jeff were a rabbi, I might go to shul. When Jeff says "FUCK" there is no other word that would have worked.

Big (buried) news...

In Baltimore for the week, and we're having a nice visit. Hanukkah with Dad, and Christmas with mom. Then a night ( a whole NIGHT) away on the Eastern Shore with my husband... JUST my husband. Very nice. We missed Mose, but survived it.


Tomorrow, a trip to the Museum of Industry, and a stop at Lexington Market.


Overall, too much food. A lot of sleep. Things are good.


Oh, and by the way... I'm knocked up again!

WOW!!!

Ali and Jordan got married!


And this is amazing because it is amazing for all the obvious reasons (they are each and together amazing, marriage is amazing, etc), but also blogworthy because of this fact:


I introduced them!


I brought Jordan upstairs to hear Ali play piano. Quite by accident. I was rooming with Ali, and party-crashing with Jordan, and I brought them together. End of story.


But here's what else:


I know Jordan through blog-land.


So, in essence, blogging brought them together.


Weird, right?


Now, of course, it may be that fate brought them together, and if I had been rooming with someone else, or Jordan had been at a swankier party... they'd have met in a 7-11 in Utah a year later....


But I'm not so sure. And I'd like to think that all else aside, this is one convincing argument that blogging is worth all the wasted time, rants, and apologies.


It brings people together.


In any case, CONGRATS to Ali and Jordan, who are each and together amazing.


It bears repeating.


Now... Get busy guys. Spin your life/lives into gold!

A holiday poll...

Would you buy your holiday gifts at Loehmann's?


What about TJ Max?


What about KMART?


What about Goodwill, or the Salvation Army?


Let's say the gift is some manner of textile... a fabric-kind-of thing, maybe even "a fashion".


Now... having decided what you think about each of these gifts, how would you feel if you got a gift, with an enclosed gift receipt, and KNEW that your wallet/loofah set/slippers had come from one of the above?


And would you, could you, return a gift to the Goodwill for store credit?


***Just adding some context as an afterthought, after reading Ginger's helpful comment:


This post was inspired by two experiences I had this week (one at Loehmann's and one at TJ Max). I overheard two different pairs of women discussing how they were embarassed to be buying holiday gifts at discount stores. One convo was about how the woman planned to put the fancy item (a cashmere sweater I think) in another (Macy's) box, and the second convo was more a justification-- "it's not that I'm cheap... it's just I can afford to give much fancier gifts this way."


This weirded me out, and seemed super-gross... but then when I got to thinking about it... I realized that while such sentiments seem odd to me in Loehmann's (which I think of as a nice store) I don't know if I'd be open about giving secondhand (Goodwill gifts). So then I felt bad, and wondered if we all have a breaking point when it comes to this kind of stuff.


In any case, there's no wrong answer. I grew up with a father who brought home, washed, and wore clothing he found at the park while walking the dogs. Clothes discarded (more likley than not, based on the park) by homeless people. And I was certainly never embarassed about it. More power to Goodwill shoppers! (On second thought, I think I'd give Goodwill if it was vintagey... but I have to admit I don't see myself wrapping up, say, a "perfectly good button down" for my husband. "It only has a little stain under the collar... nobody will know!"






Just curious.

It's official!!!

I've been sitting on some news for awhile, which has been making me nutso.


But I can now (finally) say this out loud....


My first full-length book of poems, The Myth of the Simple Machines!!


Will be coming out next fall!!


From No Tell Books!!!


Hurrah!!


(And please excuse the obscene number of exclamation points)

Amy Guth's Virtual Tour!!!

Today, I'm part of Amy Guth's amazing Chanukah blog tour! For more on the tour, read about it here...

On to the meme...


1. Quick! You must turn a plate of latkes into an upscale gourmet delight
(as if they aren't already?). What would you add to them to dress them up,
flavor and/or garnish them?


OOF! As a rule I’m opposed to anything touching a latke that isn’t applesauce or sour cream. I’m a purist. One time an ex-BF tried to squirt ketchup on a latke and that was the end of HIM! So I’d add… fancy words. Fancy words+latke=upscale delight. I’d add these words, “A gentle saute of hand-grated new fingerling organic potatos and sweet Vidalia onions in cold-pressed Tuscan olive oil, served with crème fraiche and a rustic puree made from locally grown seasonal fruits. Bon appetite!


2. What is the dumbest thing you've ever heard anyone say about Chanukah?


I don’t know. Nothing outstanding leaps to mind. I guess just that it’s the “Jewish Christmas”.


3. What's the best possible use for olive oil?


Onions. I’ve been known to fry onions in oil just to make the house smell like I cooked.


4. Settle it once and for all. Latkes or hammentaschen? Which to you
prefer? What about pitting the winner of that contest against sufganiyot?


Latkes. No question about it. And Sufganiyot ha\ve no chance. I don’t know why people pretend to like hammentaschen. They’re heavy and doughy and there’s never enough fruit in em.


5. What's the best way to mix up a game of dreidel?


I’m sorry, but dreidel is no fun and never was. Hence… the best way to mix up a game of dreidel is with a LOT of wine. Last year I decorated dreidels, and that was fun. We decoupaged a bunch of them, and that was a good time, but then we had to deal with the fact that we’d made like, 20 dreidels. What were we supposed to do with them?


6. My novel, Three Fallen Women, shockingly enough, is about the lives of
three women. Which three women would you like to have over this year for
latkes and why?


I live really far from my best friends, so I’d pick Susan, Thisbe, and Emma. I love Atlanta, and have great friends here, but it’s different. I’d give up dinner with just about anyone to sit at a table with the three of them.


7. Other than Three Fallen Women (har har), what book do you think would
make a great Chanukah gift this year? What book would you like to receive
as a gift this year?


I really want to read Betraying Spinoza, actually. And it’s suitably Jewy. So I’d say that on both counts. But in general, I’ve been reading a lot of kiddie-lit. So if I’m being really honest… maybe The Treasure Seekers.


8. What bloggers didn't participate in Chanukah Blog Tour 5767 and you
think should have?


Tony Robinson— he isn’t Jewish but should be.
David Wilensky— a new find and a super Jew!
Josh Corey—I’d like to see him work literary theory into THIS!

We are working on...

The "cover concept" for my book. My big book. My "chapter book". This is a very exciting development. I can't begin to describe it.


They want me to make a list... of all the scenes from the book I'd like them to illustrate. Then we pick an illustrator and I get to see the way the inside of my head looks to someone else. Someone who can paint and draw.


How very cool is that?


I should also say that I'm in love with my editor. She's both efficient and laid back. Creative but not flaky. Fun but not giggly. So far she's been a dream, given me all kinds of control, and even let me keep my ridiculous songs in the book. Songs! I wrote goofy little songs!


Don't get me wrong. I love small press. I will always love small press. Especially Soft Skull, who are the best people EVER.


But this experience is so far away from what I expected/feared.


Random House... I can't believe it... but you are truly the bee's knees.

I never do this, but...

I saw this picture and couldn't resist.


The guy? He's all mine. And I totally dig him.


(Hi Chris. I love you! Forgive me for putting your picture* on the internets?)


*photog credit goes to this guy but I don't know him!

Half/Life gets a second wind...

Just in time for Chanukah, Half/Life is getting a little extra attention, which is nifty...


Check me out this week on this kickass Canadian radio show...


And then, believe it or not, I'm in the Examiner! (commonly described as a conservative newspaper... but I'll tell you this... the woman who interviewed me was a total sweetheart!)


And this is all good news, as we're going into a second printing in about three seconds. Hurrah!


In other news, I am behind deadline on a book review, and I have to administer a final on Friday, and Chanukah begins on Friday, and my in-laws are passing through town tomorrow... so it's a little busy around here.


And I'm still coughing, but a little less each day.

Mose!

I'm posting again (now that life is calmer) over at Mose's place. Come see his birthday pics!


And if you haven't checked out Jewcy yet, you better!


In other news, I've crossed three desk-type-officey things off my list, written some thank-you-notes, filled the fridge, and today I'm going to see an internist (so I can get better)! Life is falling back into something I can call "a pattern".


Ahhhhhh.

Home...

And while we will be traveling this month, for holidays with my family, and while I have a huge list of catching-up-stuff to do... I'm DONE!


Done with flying around the country. Done with teaching (at the end of the week). Done with focusing on the outside. Time to go inside.


Inside me and my nest.


Time to get better (finally) and spend really good time with Mose and wander about, and cook real dinners and clean the house, and talk to my husband, and write.


I still ahve to teach two classes, and give a final... and I wish it were a week from now.


But...


We're almost home.