Wednesday, May 21, 2008

That time is now


Wednesday evening, warm, bright, all summer: I'm home from the Alleycat where I stopped for a glass of tea. Last time I was there I discovered a waitress was from Chattanooga. We traded stories. Tonight she was back, watching her little boy play with a Pirates of the Caribbean skeletal action figure. It was her third anniversary. They were waiting around to go out to dinner. Cute couple.

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O poor blog, how I have failed to tend you.

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Last week I was inducted into my high school's Wall of Fame. A kind gesture, though that sort of attention makes me uneasy. My remarks began thusly: "I kind of hate inspiration. You're all smarter than inspiration. So thank you for being here."

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And, praise God, the school year is over. I barely survived it. Somehow, I fear the coming year will be just as insane. Readings in Nebraska, Ohio, Tennessee, presumably Georgia, Brooklyn, and who knows where else look to crush me.

But it's all great fun.

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I bought new shoes.

4 comments:

soft grass said...

Yay!

Anonymous said...

what kind of shoes?

Jennifer Bartlett said...

Hey Paul,

When is your reading in Brooklyn?

I also wanted to ask you...I'm giving a paper on the body and poetry at the PRESS conference this weekend in Olympia. I am using our conversation on the word invalid and I wanted to know what you meant by 'solidly nourish.' Did you mean noun?

Best, jen

Paul said...

Noun-ish.

I'll be reading at the Brooklyn Book Festival on Sept. 14th.