A Strange Lull

Max woke up at 6 a.m. this morning. I guess this counts as sleeping through the night. Personally, I'd rather he would wake up for a bottle at 2 or 3. Then, he sleeps until 7:30 like the rest of the world (aka, Zoe). It's going to be a lot of not sleeping coming up--we're leaving for LA so I can read at Beyond Baroque on Friday and visit my friend Julie's class on Thursday. They charge for readings at Beyond Baroque--$7. I'm thinking of handing out five spots at the door as a kind of financial aid. Please come, Californians. Please. Not being from LA, I can't guarantee any attendees. Maybe Zoe will come. I know Rebecca and Iris who gave me that cool gig at the Hermann Miller blog http://www.hermanmiller.com/lifework/ideal-livework-space-writer-and-professor-nicole-walker/ will be there and my good friend Bek will come. And she's hosting a sweet after party. That's 3 people I'm bringing to the table (plus, the $15 in financial aid packages).

I cannot wait to go to LA. I haven't been to California in like 7 years. Zoe has seen the Adriatic and the Ionian seas but never the Pacific. I think Max will like getting wet (btw, he's asleep now. 6-8 awake awake awake, 8-8:30, eye rubbing, 8:30 to now, sleep sleep sleep. Hence the lull and my ability to blog).

It is good to have a lull this morning though when I look over at my list for the day, grading lurks. Still, after last week, I'm surprised even Max could wake me up. It began last Wednesday (Wayne and Garth dreamhands appropriate now). I woke up before Max to respond to thesis and to respond to grad student poems. I printed out all comments and then packed Max up (who was by then awake. Truly, he woke up ten minutes after I did), took him to school, chaired the last Grad Studies Committee meeting, advised students in the advising center about their degree progress, the lack of graduate literature courses, the prospect of thesis, essays for the end of the semester and other pending apocalypse(s)), met with thesis student, found out in the middle of thesis student meeting (I had to be online to read her electronically sent thesis) that the changes to the creative writing degree plan were due in ten minutes (emailed said changes while student patiently waited), wrapped up thesis meeting, picked up Max, picked up Zoe, filled out AWP book fair contract, helped get an AWP panel together, wrote my 500 words (I try to write 500 words a day. I delete about 250 of those words the next day), made dinner (oven fried chicken and mashed potatoes), cleaned the house, with Erik, including mopping, in time for Erik's parents' arrival.

The next day, finished cleaning in the morning, went running, took Max to school early so Erik and I could film customers/shareholders at the CSA. Erik and I are making a short film promoting the CSA on the off-chance we can win a full share. Erik's an amazing shooter and editor. I think we have a shot although I think the whole thing should be longer. He edits too well, possibly. A problem we do not share. Then, taught poetry class--not particularly well because the interviewing of the people and the unloading of the farm truck made me weirdly exhausted--and then met everyone for pizza.

On Friday, Erik got a call from a Phoenix television station about a potential bomb threat and could he go shoot some footage. He ran off to Cedar Street to film the suspicious package that had been delivered to a state senator. My writing day, mostly canceled (really, not the tragedy I made it out to be), turned into crazy how-can-Erik-download-a-1 gigabyte-file (answer, at the University, not from home). Fortunately, the package was not a bomb but rather a birthday cake. Fortunately, the downloading the 1 gb file worked and fortunately, Erik was with me at school to help me set up for the alumni reading that night.

Amazing alumni! It was an awesome reading that, miraculously, did not go wrong. I had planned for exactly enough chairs--every seat but two were taken. There was enough food--although there is no need, catering services, to slice yellow squash and call it part of an antipasta platter. Still, the food was fine and the caterers helpful and my students helped stack chairs after the reading. Then, the alumni went to the Northern Arizona Book Festival dinner at the Greek Taverna. Distressingly, the Flagstaff Tea Party's party adjoined ours. Our host was outraged. No one had told her about competing parties, especially the tea party kind. She was so mad. I love her most of all now. I wanted to make signs that read "Raise my Taxes" to combat their "No More Taxes' signs. As they were all huffing oxygen, probably paid for by taxes, it was lucky there wasn't a brawl. I took comfort in the fact that there were 50 book-lovers and only 20 tea-partiers. Go books.