The Blues: Seven Days, Five Books, Some Other Stuff

I closed the door of my classroom approximately 168 hours ago, and it will remain shut (barring trips back for reference material) until August 26. Since the door closed I've hosted one barbecue, attended one wedding, attended one Makers of Manchester meeting, met one Rhodes Scholar for a beer, spent three days in curriculum-development workshops for a new Freshman Writing class, shared one KC’s Rib Shack platter with my wife, slept about fifty hours, started breaking in a new messenger bag, played three hours of (mostly losing) poker, watched three episodes of The X Files, wrote a couple of thousand new words of fiction, plowed through the new Rolling Stone and Poets & Writers, and read five books.

I feel pretty good about the week, but I have a mixed reaction to the books.

What I'm ... (May 24, 2013)

Reading:

I’ve been on a “dirty realism” kick this month: Charles Bukowski’s Ham on Rye, a bunch of Ray Carver short stories, and The Stories of Breece D’J Pancake. I’ve long been a fan of grit -- as any oyster can tell you it’s the only way to get a pearl – and stories of doggedness.  Life’s default is “not pretty and generally unsatisfying.” Happy endings and happiness itself are fleeting.  We can learn a lot from fiction that refuses to sugarcoat that, while still revealing the pearls -- the shiny bits that make it worth the work.

I picked up Michael Chabon’s The Wonderboys for $1 at the supermarket donation bin the other day. So far, so good.

I also received my contributor copy of Something Wicked Vol. 2. It looks good and, may I say, there’s something mightily satisfying about seeing your name in an other-published book. You can get the ebook (published by Random House Struik) on Amazon  or preorder the paperback via Barnes & Noble. I haven’t read it yet, but I have looked at the pictures. Did I mention every story has an illustration?

Writing:

I’m still punching and scraping my way through the latest revisions of Leaving Home. I have vowed not to write anything new until I get that together, revise the synopsis, and get the book back into the ring. You can do it, Rock!

Listening to: 

George Jones.

The new Bowie album.

A chum recommended the new Daft Punk, but I gave up on it and listened to Parliament instead.

Watching:

Batman Beyond … In the future, Batman is still around, but he’s a kid in high school. Great visual style plus crusty, old Bruce Wayne.

Drinking:

HiCu – Magic Hat’s cucumber/hibiscus ale. In a summer variety pack near you. Light and weird.