Elinor Nauen

= Meg. I was present at her birth, on this date back in 1980, at Sherri & Rick's house in Ellsworth, Maine.

= Gene Wilder, of the kind blue eyes.

= The sticky weather, kihons 8, 9, and 10, & lunch.

= That the problem was not that my computer is a lemon but  Read More 

We went to the Thai place around the corner on Second Ave & had a terrific lunch. We half-watched a strange TV show, I think called Bones, on a giant screen, sans sound, a foot away. It involved a medical examiner & poison. The best part was one of the characters was named Dr. Camille Saroyan. There were subtitles, & even if I looked up only occasionally, & even though I'd never seen it before, I could easily follow what was going on.  Read More 

More than 300 reindeer—who huddle together during storms—were killed by lightning in Norway. There is so much sadness going around but this is the one I'm highlighting.

Happy birthday, Ron Guidry, 66 today.

Happy birthday, Lou Piniella, 73 today. Anselm & I went to his last game, June 16, 1984 (I knew it was 1984, but had to look up the month: Bloomsday, no less!). I cried a little, & Anselm, age 12, opened his mouth to mock me & then shut it again. Not his first adult kindness/awareness, I'm sure, but an early one.  Read More 

I know it seems like I'm just recycling everything I wrote in the past, & maybe I am. But this is an odd little tidbit I thought I'd share.

I got an email that "Majenta" likes my review of Wild Strawberries on Goodreads. I suppose I didn't remember anything about it because it went up Apr 03, 2008. My review in full (if that's the word):

Wild Strawberries
by Angela Thirkell

She wrote a novel a year from around WWI through the '50s. Trollope meets E.F. Benson. A couple of duds but most are great. This is a good one to start with. Thirkell trivia: She was the model for Wendy Darling in Peter Pan, Barrie being her godfather. Read More 

Since I've been posting so much old stuff, I thought I should show that I'm living in 2016 & not the 1980s.

What did I do today? I finished & turned in an article. I went to the gym. I learned some Torah, none too soon. I washed my hair. I bought an ink cartridge & deodorant. I found out that the Blue Man is aka Gray Dave & is said to be a talented graphics artist. I got this from  Read More 

From the same issue of Exquisite Corpse, & a perfect example of our sense of humor. Maggie & I have always known why we thought something was funny, even if no one else does.

This was in Andrei Codrescu's Exquisite Corpse in 1984. The days when it was a long skinny print mag.

Tomorrow I'll post another work from the same issue.

I love DuoLingo, the language-learning app. I randomly started learning Norwegian last year, which fascinates me intensely and has introduced me to some wonderful Norwegian friends & poets. I have also dabbled in Spanish, French & Italian on DuoLingo. Now I've started on German, & I must say, my ear is sharper there than in any other  Read More 

The text on the back of this undated ('67? '68?) and never-sent postcard:

The "Hashbury" Scene
The love-in community of the flower children is centered at Haight-Ashbury. Sometimes referred to as the world headquarters of the hippie revolution, here's where it all began.