update on our house

as you may (or may not) be aware, we are currently living in a tiny one-bedroom apartment as a new house we purchased is being built. however, that new house was to have begun back in September but has been indefinitely delayed since. if it was begun on time, it would've been finished sometime around the end of February or the beginning of March. now, who knows.
we just heard word that our house is supposed to begin sometime within the next 45 days. if we go by this, and assume the worst (45 days), that would put the ground breaking at the end of January. six months for construction (at the minimum. more if we have a bad winter), and that puts the finish of our house at the end of July. that's five extra months living in this hellhole. christ!

i suppose it always can be worse.
ignore my complaints. at least the wife and i have our health, and a roof over our heads (which is no small thing when it's ten degree Fahrenheit outside with a skiff of icy snow on the ground).

the only thing about this whole situation, though, as it relates to my poetry, is that i don't feel at all like writing. ever since moving into this miniscule, infernal place, i've felt like all my energy is spent in trying not to get in my wife's way (or in finding a way to get her out of mine) that writing has become secondary or tertiary to that. i've written a few new poems, but nothing worth a damn. my output has dramatically decreased, my apathy about it has increased and the quality of my writing has plummeted. this happens, though. when i get more comfortable, with all my books and typewriters and other accoutrements out of storage; when i can set up my little writing space; when we finally move out of this little place, then it'll all come back.
i hope.

winter is here

it snowed today. big, fat flakes. i work on the benches of the Wasatch Mountains, and it is a good 10 degrees cooler up there than down in the valley (where we live). it was raining down in the valley (until later tonight when it turned to snow), but it was cold enough to snow up where i work. gorgeous. i love snow. i hate driving in it (especially here in Utah where morons in their huge trucks and SUVs think just because they have 4-wheel drive they can drive like maniacs), but i sure do love watching it fall.

today i received a copy of Poultry Broadside #4 from J.J. Campbell. he has two poems in this issue. John Dorsey and Corey Mesler are also featured in this issue. Poultry Broadside is a quarter-sized folded pamphlet published by Gunch Press. check it out.

today

was one of those crisp late autumn days we get out west here; where the temperature hovers right around freezing, the sky is blanketed by high-altitude clouds from a recent cold front, snow dots the ground here and there and the air is so clear you can see forever. it's beautiful. very little wind, the nip in the air just enough for a coat and scarf. maybe a beanie to cover your ears.
it almost makes driving to and from work bearable.

it's been awhile since i've posted anything of value. this is because i was on vacation. the first in a long time. well over a year. it was two weeks long, but still much too short. however, we got to see our two nephews (2 1/2 years old and almost 1 years old) for the entire time. i wished we lived closer to them so i could watch them grow. alas.

i hate traveling. to be more specific, i hate flying. i don't do well in an airplane. this trip, however, was not so bad. our connections were on time, we have minimal layovers. the landing in Atlanta on the way to Florida (our only layover for that particular trip) was scary, though. the pilot came in way too fast and we bounced once, then shimmied. i'm sure it didn't look like much from the ground, but i was certain a wing was going to clip the ground and we would burn to our deaths in a mighty fireball. i'm happy to say that this particular hell did not occur. obviously. the flights back were uneventful and even a little fun (once the plane gets to cruising altitude, i'm fine; it's the takeoffs and landings that kill me).

so, what's new in the world of poetry, as it relates to me? well, while i was away i received my copies of Bathtub Gin #17, where my poem the business trip appears. Bathtub Gin is a great literary journal that is not easy to crack, so i'm proud of this one.
also in my mailbox was a copy of remark. #39. Kat did another great job on this one. it's an autumn-themed issue. job well done, Kat.

that's about it. nothing else new. it's been slow, i suppose. unfortunately, there were no new acceptances of any of my poems, but, on the other hand, there were no rejections, either. no news is good news, i guess.

back

i am back from my two week vacation. we have yet to decompress from the whirlwind it was. i will post more later. suffice it to say, like all vacations it was too short.