Today I read dozens of fiction manuscripts. That's because it was the reading party for Writers at Work, where volunteer screeners go th...

Notes: 1. Good job, Self, on finishing the last of the preliminary portfolios. 2. Double good job on finishing student conferences. 3. It...

Running son has to meet an end-of-the-quarter deadline in his film-making class, which means that he has to shoot some rough footage to get ...

By "things to do," I mean "parties," and by "do," I mean "eat." Saturday morning, I arose bright and...

You wake up to a gray window, know in the muscles that hoist open your eyes that the day's not going to start well, and furthermore, you...

Findings from my ongoing style research project: 1. If you want a ball gown, you should go to Elizabeth Anthony-Esther Wolf, a store in the...

[Headphones: "Obviously 5 Believers," Bob Dylan] Back at work, although the transition doesn't feel quite so abrupt--as is my ...

Have I ever mentioned how much I love working at home? Uninterrupted quiet. Looking out my window, where I can see the Chevy parked at the c...

I'm listening to iTunes on shuffle, on headphones, while I work, a source of endless amusement to my children, I'm not sure why. Isn...

1. splendid revision of poem for writing group 2. handled transition to daylight savings time with no errors 3. cooked meals and snacks for ...

1. sleep 2. cook dinner 3. do a couple or three hours of work a day 4. go to movies with college daughter 5. send some poems out 6. nap 7. a...

1. I love basketball! 2. I have picked up many techniques, pointers, and a coaching philosophy from years of watching Jerry Sloan coach th...

We have a well-used, well-loved copy of Pauline Kael's 5001 Nights at the Movies , which is her capsule reviews of thousands of films, d...

This year's AWP lacked a panel on blogging and gender (because they turned us down!), but otherwise I had a great, refreshing time of it...

David Kirby Stanley Plumly Nick Flynn Bruce Beasley Suzanne Paola Annie Finch Brenda Miller Books purchased: several (see AWP exception to ...

After the Oscars, somehow this seems tonic. Also, anyone interested should check out dooce.com 's post on same. This may not be up you...

The Oscars are over now. We had something of a reprise of last year's Oscar debacle , with many of the same folks over for the viewing....

Once, I opined to my brother in an e-mail that, at my funeral, I would like to have the song "Sit Down, You're Rocking the Boat...

Well, we're back from our anniversary trip (happy anniversary, honey!) which was fun, but in an ordeal kind of way. That's because ...

1. I took down my Christmas tree just yesterday. 2. I was in an escalating rage about work-related stuff for much of the day yesterday. I...