In case you’re all disappointed that we haven’t been posting more pictures lately, I thought I should explain that this walking thing Nathan’s been doing has made it difficult to snap a picture of him that doesn’t contain visible bruises. He pretty much always looks like he’s been in a bar fight. At least with movies, the pixelation blurs out the scars.
The moment when you realize that your toddler is about to poop in the tub is fraught with indecision. Should you pull them out of the water and put them… I don’t know… somewhere other than the tub? Should you leave them there, treating the tub like one big toilet, until they’re done? Should you have waited an extra five minutes before starting the bedtime routine? The answer to the first two questions is, “Who fucking knows?” Both options totally suck. The answer to the third is, clearly, yes.
Of course, by the time you’ve answered any of these questions, your child’s adorable little rear end will have released a rather substantial turd that is surprisingly buoyant. The moment of release is almost comical, except for the fact that bathtime has now turned into a horrifying exercise in e-coli contact minimalization.
Now, if you have a baby bathtub within the bath, you may think it would be a good idea to try to dump the poopie water slowly in the toilet. This, however, would be an incorrect assumption. That amount of water is very difficult to control, and you will without a doubt end up mopping the bathroom floor before going to bed. Just dump it all down the tub drain and be thankful for the detachable sprayer shower head.
I’m reading and talking at UC-San Diego Wed. Jan. 24 and Thurs Jan. 25. If you live in or near San Diego, drop by! Yes, the talk really is entitled “Inside Secrets of Book Reviewing,” and yes, the title is slightly sarcastic, though the talk, of course, is absolutely serious. One might even say excessively earnest.
I’m still reading in St Paul February 1 with Eric Lorberer. (Scroll down a bit for the info.)
I have a new poem online at the Harvard Review; the last stanza contains submerged references to Galaxie 500.
Some apologies for my insubstantial posting these days: school starting up again means more to do as chair.
Nathan, whose first birthday went superbly (we took him to the Longfellow Grill, no kidding), has expanded his eating habits to include dates, whole slices of bread, cow’s milk in great gulps, and whatever remains of our free time. You should hear him say “Doodley doo.” No kidding.
I’ve been so busy lately, I haven’t had much time to post pics and videos. This is one I made just before Christmas to share with the family. I used iMovie HD, which is a fantastic tool. The song is from John Lithgow’s latest album, The Sunny Side of the Street.
I’ve added a whole lot more photos to our Flickr page as well.
Nathan sits at his high chair, refusing food and pointing. We eliminate all the obvious objects and realize he’s pointing at the Vanity Fair cover with George Clooney.
Apparently, Clooney’s charm is magnetic even for toddlers.
Rain Taxi, my work home and a fantastic mag with which I’m sure many of you are familiar, is holding a benefit auction on eBay. Great items including books and comics autographed by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, many cool poetry broadsides and chapbooks, original art and photography, handmade items, and a book on the history of the bathroom. Find out more at www.raintaxi.com!
On the top of the pile of clutter on my desk sits the Real Simple brochure, “Conquering Clutter.” Apparently, it isn’t working.
I spent the two hours since Nathan went to bed cleaning our house. I have now given up without vacuuming the living room, dining room and kitchen, and will not pick up a single toy before going to bed tonight. Why is it so hard to keep things neat? I feel like I’m constantly in a battle against chaos. Maybe I should just let us live in absolute squalor, run the risk of us being crushed under the weight of junk mail, books, and baby toys. The big motivating factor tonight was the impending arrival of Steve’s folks, who really don’t care all that much if the house is clean or not, but it’s impossible for me to just blow off cleaning before they show up.
I think I’ll go relax on the couch with a glass of Bushmills now, and try to forget about the dustbunnies under my desk.
At the Poetry Foundation website, Brandon Stosuy sings the praises of the Hold Steady, whose stunning new record namechecks both John Berryman and a fabric store where Jessie has bought costume stuff. (Stosuy used to do a bizarre, remarkable zine.)
This hitherto-unknown-to-me group blog also noticed the piece; I suspect that I know and enjoy reading the orthonymous journalism of two of the bloggers, though their refusal to give their full names may just mean I’ll never know.
I’m reading at UC-San Diego on Jan. 24; if you live in or near San Diego, I’d love to see you there.
Christopher Benfey notices that for 150 years American readers thought that Longfellow was really, really important: he’s no Whitman, but maybe we will– and we should– think so again.
I’m not ready to travel again (brief trip to New England later this week) but readiness is, in fact, not all. At least I’ll be back in time for Nathan’s first birthday– before which, I have learned, we will be able to take our little guy to Baby Loves Disco: Jessie won tickets this morning! For that, I am psyched.
Another rock’n'roll item: if my more formal critical’n’scholarly commitments permit me to do it, I still expect to do something at some length about the Loud Family, and their precursor band Game Theory. Reminiscences, anecdotes, or far-fetched theories about either band, or both, are welcome.
Consumer Reports tests of infant safety seats only produced TWO acceptable models. Are you using an Evenflo Discovery? GET RID OF IT NOW.
Jessie and I need to get rid of some of our vinyl LPs, because we Simply Do Not Have the Space. Want some?
Rather than catalog the records and try to sell them (or give them away) individually (which would take way too long) we’re trying a Woot-style Box o’ Crap experiment. Email us if you want a box of records. We won’t tell you what’s in it, just that it’s a box of records (probably a wine/ liquor box size). We will then tell you what it will cost to ship the box, and you can have the box if you pay for the shipping!
Let us know if you’re interested. Record Hospital detritus, duplicates of LPs we now own on CD, failed experiments, second-rate indiepop, Noseflutes LPs, first-rate indiepop– all some must go!