Blog Hiatus

As you read below, I'm going to be "out of town" for a spell. I'll be sipping coffee, strolling down promenades, shopping, and museum hopping. In the meantime, don't do anything silly while I'm gone. Joseph.

Summer Vacation and Secrets Revealed

Hey, y'all. Many of you guessed my secret. Meredith and I are engaged! Ring photos to follow shortly. Anyway, to celebrate our engagement. We're going to Paris. If you're curious, here's our rough itinerary:


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Wed. May 18

Arrive in Charles de Gaule airport, Bercy gardens, Pere La Chaise cemetary.

Thurs. May 19

Ile de la cite & Marais (Notre Dame, Place behind Notre Dame, Concergerie, Sainte Chappelle, Pont St. Michel, Petit Pont, Pont Neuf, Place des Vosges, Opera de Paris Bastille, Musee Picasso, Hotel de Ville) Ice cream across from Pont au Double “Le Bertillon.”

Fri. May 20

Beaubourg & les Halles (Pompidou Center, Café Beaubourg, Forum de Halles, St. Eustache church?, La Samaritaine dept. Store, Jardin des Tuileries, Le Louvre, Palais Royal, Rue de Rivoli, Hot chocolate on Rue Rivoli, Jardin de Tuileries.

Sat. May 21

St. Germain de Pres & Latin Quarter (Les Deux Magots, Brasserie Lipp, Musee d’Orsay, M St. Michel, M Odeon, little streets back where toy shop is, Pantheon) Moules frites restaurant down from Pantheon Bateaux mouche daytime.

Sun. May 22

Jardin des Plantes & Invalides & Eiffel Tower quarter (Institut Musulman, Institut du Monde Arabe, Napoleon’s tomb, Musee Rodin, Trocadero, gardens at Troc., Eiffel Tower).

Mon. May 23

Place de la Concorde, walk up Champs-Elysees to Arc de Triomphe, Petit Palais, Grand Palais.

Tues. May 24

Dinner: Le Relais de Venise steakhouse, 271, bd Péreire (Porte Maillot) 17th Arr. Montmartre (Sacre-Coeur, St. Pierre de Montmartre, Au Lapin Agile, Place du Tertre, Place des abbesses, Moulin Rouge, Dali or Fourney museum).

Wed. May 25

Porte de Vanves--strolling Montparnasse-Crepes for lunch, La Defense (la Grande Arche, office buildings).


Thur. May 26

Breathing.

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Somewhere in there, we'll see the new Star Wars movie. When we get back, we've got to high-tail it to Aimee's wedding. The Summer kicks off with a bang!

Finally, all done grading.

Yup. I'm finished for the semester. For the past week I've been a grading machine. Now I'm in the midst of cleaning out my office. It's amazing how much stuff I've accumulated over the past four years.

I just went through my closet. There were over two-hundred unclaimed portfolios handed in by students. I was going through some of them and I was shocked at how I had forgotten so many names/faces. I used to be really good at keeping names and faces of students straight, but now I found I couldn't remember 3/4ths of the folks.

So now, I'm offically on Summer Vacation. I lounged around the house today, drinking coffee slowly, and watching recaps of SportsCenter. I checked my e-mail a half-dozen times, and I read trashy pop-culture magazines.

By the way, Meredith and I are going to Paris this coming Tuesday. For those of you who are LOUSY at keeping secrets, it's sort of our pre-honeymoon.

I'll bring back some cheese for you guys.

Fishouse is Live

Hey folks, Fishouse is live. Check it out. I've got a few poems posted as do fellow bloggers Aimee, Barb, and Patrick.

For those of you unfamiliar with a couple of folks, might I direct your attention to the work of Brian Turner and Steve Scafidi?

Brian's a sweet guy. I met him at AWP in Vancouver this year. His favorite drink is a White Russian. Check out his poem, "Here, Bullet."

And Steve's a cabinet maker living in West Virginia. He's also a sweetheart. If you listen closely to the audio recording, you can hear chickens in the background. I recommend "To Whoever Set My Truck on Fire."

Do you listen to music when you write?

I spoke with the poet/writer Eric Gansworth about this at length when he came to Utica for a reading in 2002. Anyway, Eric's one of the most prolific artists I know. He also does almost all his composition while music is blaring in the background.

I have to say that I also write when there's music going. The music has to be all instrumental, though. There can't be any vocals, otherwise I'm apt to get Earworms. So the music I listen to ranges anywhere from Classical (rarely), to Classical Jazz (most often), to odd-ball instrumental groups like The Dirty Three and The Rachel's.

Still, a lot of writers I know need complete silence. What type of writer are you? Do you need the background noise to compose? Do you utilize the sounds in your environment? Do you need absolute silence when you write?

Reading Conundrum

Dear Ruth is having a reading dilemma. Go help her here.

Secrets part II.

Shhhhhhh. . .

Last day of classes

Today's the last day of classes. I'll be lugging around a ton of portfolios by the end of the day. Poor me!

I had promised my Advanced Poetry class a pizza party, but I have no money. I mean, really. . . I have no money. So I'm not sure what to do. I think I can scrounge together a few leftover pieces of candy and cookies.

One of my former professors came in on the last day with a bottle of port. I suppose I could do that, but . . . I don't really like port, and I don't want to part with any of the liquor we have in the house.

Got any suggestions? Should I just bag it and say I can't buy you guys pizza because I'm poor, or should I try to put something together with whatever's in the house . . . OR, should I bite the bullet and buy a damn pizza?

*sigh*

Welcome Ruth!

Please welcome my dear sister/friend, Ruth Ellen Kocher to the blog world!

Not only is she a fantastic writer, but she's one of the sweetest people I know.

Glad you could join us, Ruth.