Accommodatingly

Both of us have been busy blogging elsewhere and— we admit it– watching the Sox; we interrupt those activities, on a travel night for the Sox, to bring you the following linky kudos:

First, Galleycat says Beacon Broadside is great: it’s “a site which uses the imprint’s passion for social justice as a starting point for its own engagement with readers. Obviously, on one level, the site exists to promote Beacon’s books, but it’s more than just an advertisement; it’s an entirely new conversation.” It’s true.

Second, an Australian site called Media/Culture has given my new book what seems to be its first post-publication review. Very flattering, despite a few errors. It’s neat to be read.

In the national news today, a fire rages on one coast and a drought on the other.

In California, the current administration, cowed by the public relations (and human) disaster that was Katrina, seem to be responding to the wildfires quickly. But in an echo of the analysis that followed the hurricane and flood in New Orleans, the Natural Resources Defense Council points out that the Bush administration has gutted programs that could have mitigated the impact of the current disaster.

The current situation in California also echoes Katrina in the mind-boggling number of environmental refugees created by the fires. Chris Carrel at HyleBlog relates a personal story:

Monday, around noon, I tried calling my uncle, who lives in Escondido, just outside San Diego. He and my Aunt were OK. They’d been evacuated the previous night. At the time I called they were stuck in a massive traffic jam of hundreds of thousands of people heading north, away from the fires. They were trying to find a place to stay the night. They had no idea what had become of their home.

And just how bad are things in Atlanta, where they’ve been experiencing “the state’s worst drought in almost a century”?

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimates Atlanta’s reservoir Lake Lanier may run out of clean water in 110 days. The area has received 25 inches (64 centimeters) of rain this year, less than half the 50 inches it usually gets, according to the National Weather Service. Parts of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee have similar drought conditions. [Link]

While the governor of Georgia has been busy blaming endangered species act restrictions for the drought there, John Laumer at Treehugger reminds him that power plants and industry need water, too. And so, apparently, do the lawns and fountains of Atlanta residents, enough so that homeowners have resorted to cheating the system to beat water bans. Perhaps rather than resulting to subterfuge, they should try to collect some gray water.

NASCAR needs water, too, for its race at Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend, but not as much as usual, since the teams will forego washing their rigs and haulers when they get there. Add that to their recent efforts to encourage recycling, and the sport almost seems green! Now, if it weren’t for all that pesky, leaded gasoline they consume…

Over at the blog I get paid to work on, I posted a link to a Mary Oliver poem about the Red Sox. Now, I know that all o’ y’all who are into your “difficult” or “elliptical” poets or whatever may not dig Mary Oliver, but I’d love to see you visit the post and add your favorite sports poem to the comments. Of course, we all know what my favorite sports poems are…

Jessie is going to Minneapolis tomorrow to do this. If you live anywhere near Minneapolis, check it out. I’ll miss it (in addition to missing Jessie).

Steve is going to Chicago tomorrow to do this. He’ll be talking on Sunday morning, accompanied by, among others, the very good poetry critic Eleanor Cook; he– oh, I give up: I… I’m looking forward to Rosanna Warren and others on Friday night, and to James Wood on Saturday night, both in time slots compatible with sleeping until the morning hour when most non-parents likely wish to awaken. If you’re in Chicago I hope to see you there.

Nathan gets to hang out all weekend with his Bubbe and Zayde. We’ll miss him– but we think they’ll all have fun.

And if I don’t say something here about this guy soon, I’ll be derelict in my poetry-blogging duties: watch that space, I guess…

…new books I’m very excited about, and expect to say so at greater length elsewhere soon: this one, and also (despite the slightly overwrought catalog) this one. What are you excited about these days? Let us know. In Chicago or Minneapolis this weekend, if possible– in Boston later, otherwise.

Dan Bouchard and Cathy Park Hong read their poems tomorrow in Cambridge, in Central Square. I’ll be there. Both are worth hearing. (Cathy Park Hong writes science fiction poetry. It’s not what you think.)

If you live in Minnesota don’t miss the Book Festival next Saturday. You never know who you might see. (Actually, you could just check the program.) I wish I could be there. Jessie will be there!

I, though, will be in Chicago next weekend, and in Long Beach/ Los Angeles the first weekend in November. Let me know if you want details.

Jessie keeps up with protests on behalf of Iraq and Burma.

I think about Sassy magazine in Rain Taxi’s online edition, and review Robert Hass’ new book tomorrow in a newspaper.

Also in Rain Taxi, Eric thinks about Jack Kirby.

Laura Kasischke’s new book, Lilies Without is amazing, though not a radical departure from her amazing last book, Gardening in the Dark. Ausable Press have been doing a great job as a poetry press lately, but they should perhaps put their fall list on their website.

Lyra is stubborn. And cute.

Nathan dropped a CD this morning and then said “Uh-oh what happened CD fall down Nathan!” Pretty soon we’ll be seeing multiply subordinated clauses from our little guy. Also in the language department: he has a set of rubber letters and numbers for his bath, and when he’s done with his bath he lets us know by saying goodbye, one by one, to all ten of the numbers (including zero), or to all the letters he can find. “Goodnight, eight! Goodnight, nine! Goodnight, J!” Every time he seems to have done the cutest thing imaginable, he does… something… cuter.

My current employer just won an award for the ways in which it assists families, and especially moms (the award comes from Working Mother magazine), in balancing professional and family commitments. Nice to know, though– like any employee of any employer anywhere– I regularly wish that my employer did more.

This time it’s because of the convergence of “Wheels on the Bus” and Stephin Merritt, both of which have a place of high importance in my life.

Jessica Bennett (not me) wrote an article about Jessica Bennetts who are neither her nor me. Look closely at the search results in the image accompanying the article, and you may see a familiar website.