Monday, July 31, 2006

back from paradise

Hi all,

so I’ve been a patchy blogger at best lately. Why? Well, a month ago I got married, which, as you can imagine, required a great deal of preparation. Then I was teaching night classes alongside my 9-5er. Then B and I went to Hawaii for our honeymoon. We got back this morning. It was paradise, and the transition back to normal life will not be an easy one (for one thing, it’s unpleasantly hot here). In Hawaii, I bought a Ukulele, and am now slightly obsessed with it. And B and I spent a lot of time snorkeling, boogie boarding, and drinking tropical drinks. There’s not much of that to be had in NY.

But, now that things have calmed down, I hope to resume writing a bit more regularly.

Read the new Peter Carey novel on my honeymoon (it’s ok—a novel that doesn’t quite extend beyond the boundaries of the world it’s made; in other words, it doesn’t have much implication for me, or, to my way of thinking, any reader. An entertaining read, though). And read about half of the Collected Poems of Donald Justice. Some wonderful things there, but, overall, I was underwhelmed, or at least there were fairly few poems I want to return to. Still reading a great deal of Paul Muldoon. And thinking again about Lowell.

There are a bunch of forthcoming books I’m excited to check out when I get back to work—look out for a debut by Jillian Weisse and a new edition of Thomas Transtromer.

More soon.

Monday, July 03, 2006

Post-wedding shock and business is beginning to settle down, and I feel like B and I are resuming, and beginning, our life. This long weekend has given us some time together, for which I’m very grateful.

After years of virus and spyware infestation, and an increasingly sloth-like and frustrating computing experience, I’ve switched from PC to Mac. The changeover has been surprisingly pleasant, and I’m a bit obsessed with playing with my new toy—and Macs have a way of feeling much more like a toy than a pc. It’s got so many little gadgets and doohickeys. And it’s fast enough to run GoogleEarth (my old one couldn’t handle it), which is an altogether thrilling and mind-boggling experience—the world has gotten small and vicarious enough for us to travel it (and actually have a kind of experience traveling it, seeing it pass beneath us) while simply staring at a screen. Very strange.

Listening to a lot of Brad Mehldau, reading a novel and Paul Muldoon. Seem to have gotten over Lowell for the time being. Reading the Welsh poet Gwyneth Lewis, Ben Lerner, the new issue of Tin House (with a compelling interview with Will Self, whose forthcoming novel THE BOOK OF DAVE I’m eager to read on my honeymoon), and watching Woody Allen movies. Ah, married life…