May 17, 2008
It's so beautiful outside I feel like I'm supposed to be in a broadway musical, you know, wearing an orange ruffled petticoat and jumping off fence posts to sing some frighteningly exuberant song... Which is to say, hey, I think I'm going to survive this flu!
Also, Happy Norwegian Independence Day, or as we say at home: Happy Syttende Mai.
(On this day in 1814, the Norwegian Constitution was signed, giving Norway independence from its 500 year union with Denmark. Which means that I'm probably not going to bother my upstairs neighbor who happens to be from Denmark because she would just become more convinced that I'm a crazy person and then maybe discontinue cat-sitting for me when I go out of town.)
May 11, 2008
Yes, the semester is winding down to an end, and because I have oodles of grading to complete, and because I am sick as a dog with a cold/flu, I am giving this space over to a friend and guest "blogger":
"Iowa may be boring, but it's still the best state to say out loud under water. Sounds like 'wahowah'. "
-- Brendan Constantine, poet of Los Angeles and beyond
February 29, 2008
I received a number of emails from concerned citizens (okay, just one) about my entry below. Apparently I sounded depressed when mostly I wanted to convey the sense of excitement only seeds can bring. Sorry to worry you, my fellow campers. All is well--snow-covered, but well.
February 27, 2008
Well, the sun is shining today, and I'd better get out in it. This week I started thinking how nice it would be to just sleep for a month (or two ) until this snow has melted (or starting to) and spring has begin Because, you see, you people of warmer climates, according to the weather guy (who's last name is "Winter," which I think is a bit weird) as of yesterday Iowa City has received 55+ inches of snow this winter. That puts us in 3rd place of all-time snowfall records, well, since they've been keeping track anyway, which is about one hundred years. (We don't know about the winter of 1769, say, but I'm okay with that. But that made me wonder about the poor people of Europe. Let's say my friends in Hamburg, Germany, suffer a really rainy year; they might find that it's nothing compared to the flood of 1458 where they got 85 inches. Imagine how disheartening.)
And more snow predicted for us tomorrow!So last night (trumpet fanfare) I grabbed the ceramic pots, shook out the detritus, and I planted the beefsteak tomatoes. I also planted a few pansy seeds. They'll enjoy the indoors until the thaw--assuming the thaw actually happens.
Planting snapped me out of my state of, you know, craving a grave. Then I cleaned the house and folded laundry until 1am. I'm like that.I have seeds for broccoli, sunflowers, and asters, and they are all going into pots in the next few weeks. Am I rushing things? I don't know. Please write me a long email to let me know your thoughts on this, and then I promise not to read it very carefully because I don't really care about being reasonable at this point. Reasonable went out the door back at 25 below zero, a couple of weeks ago. Just so you know.
February 5, 2008
College is dead. Long live College. 2006-2008.
I don't have a picture of College (the fish), but here is a picture of another fish:
College looked a little bit like this fish, only College had a large cyst that made his belly resemble a fish-sized basketball. Last night he, uh... well, he sort of popped. (I have decided that popped is a better verb than exploded.) Poor College. He shall be missed.
Also, the second reason why I'm posting onto this oft-abandoned news page... I just saw the following warning from the National Weather Service in a lovely, shocking, and poetic forecast for my corner of Iowa:
...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 3 PM CST
WEDNESDAY...CONDITIONS APPEAR FAVORABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THUNDER SNOW
LATE TONIGHT. IF THUNDER SNOW DOES DEVELOP...SNOWFALL RATES OF 2 OR 3 INCHES
PER HOUR WILL BE POSSIBLE. WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 15 TO 25 MPH LATE TONIGHT
THROUGH WEDNESDAY CAUSING BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. TRAVEL IS
EXPECTED TO BECOME EXTREMELY DIFFICULT LATE TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY
MORNING.Thunder-snow. Who knew there was even such a phrase? I mean, really. It sounds like the retired old men who pay attention to the weather (and who I adore for that reason) have reacted to the usual wintery state of being "locked inside your house for four months" by inventing words about it. Thunder snow! And 10-12 inches it, (to add to the 10 inches we got two days ago.)
Well, yes, I have hereby updated something on this website. You're welcome.
P.S. If anyone actually reads this page, could someone please tell me why, when it loads, the page generates popup window that warns that it could run "scripts" or "Active X controls" that could be bad for your computer, etc. etc.? I would never do such a thing, mostly because I have no idea what that means. I don't have a webmaster, and this page was designed eons ago by a woman who now lives in a polite but foreign country far, far away (England).
(Pssst. One reason that I don't frequently put information on here: students. I have them. And I have been informed that many of these so-called students are aware of the existence of the interweb and have the tendency to google such things as the names of their unasuming teachers. )
WHAT'S NEW: July 23, 2007
It's summer in Iowa, and man, is that a nice thing, so beautiful here. And the fireflies! I would tell you more, but there is mac n' cheese to eat, so I'll keep it brief...
I'M COMING TO LOS ANGELES IN AUGUST!
Hold onto your poetry, folks, I'll be doing a couple of readings:
Tuesday, Aug. 14, Coffee Cartel, 8:00pm
1820 S Catalina Ave, Redondo Beach, CA 90277
(310) 316-6554Wednesday, Aug. 22, Ugly Mug, City of Orange, 8:00pm
261 N Glassell St, Orange, CA 92866
www.theuglymug.com/Huzzah.
