Five Things that Don't Suck, Getting Ready Edition

1. counting chairs (25 so far)
2. arranging to borrow tables
3. finalizing the guest list
4. ordering the happy, small-farm turkey
5. thinking about pie. Lots and lots of pie.

Five Things that Don't Suck, Friday Edition

1. dinner with friends
2. time for a run
3. not having grading this weekend
4. a latte or two while still in my PJs
5. seeing how long I can hang out in my PJs until I feel socially obligated to put on real clothes

Bonus: Books and Books and Books

Hey, all, guess what? My chapbook, Dear Turquoise, is out. You can read a sample poem (and order a copy if you want) from Dancing Girl Press. I'm proud of the poems, and I love the cover that Kristy Bowen designed.

I realize it's been pretty quiet around here lately, but it's all for good reasons. I've put together a second chapbook, called Creature Feature, which should be out soon. It's a collection of poems centered on the Universal monster movies of the '30s and '40s. I've been writing new work and trying to get it out in the world. I've been working on editing an anthology for poets and workshop leaders (more on that later), working on writing my own part of that anthology, editing two upcoming poetry collections from Cider Press Review, reading my way through my poetry library, and teaching. I've also been working on two guest posts for other blogs, and I'll post links to those when they go up. In short, All-Poetry Autumn has been amazingly productive so far, and I'm trying to go with it, mindfully and with gratitude. On top of that, I've been managing to get some running in, despite nursing a minor injury for the past couple of months (don't panic, Mom. It's nothing serious).

Which reminds me: I also have a couple of poems in the upcoming anthology Bearers of Distance:Poems by Runners. A portion of sales benefit the One Fund, to support the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing, so it's a worthy cause and a worthy book. And it got a review on NPR's show Only a Game. Cool, huh?

I do have a lot to tell you about, and I will. But for now, follow one of the links up there. Read a poem. Get a copy of the book or the chapbook if you like. Or go crazy and get both—I'm not gonna stop you.

Five Things that Don't Suck, Belated Edition

1. Scoring great deals at Goodwill
2. Keeping stuff out of landfills
3. Not supporting sweatshops, transportation costs, labels with skeezy advertising* or skeezy management**
4. Maybe managing to get that Mackelmore song out of one's head, eventually
5. Having more than 20 dollars in my pocket***

*I'm looking at you, American Apparel
**And you, Abercrombie and Fitch
***Dammit, Mackelmore! Why you gotta be so catchy??

Five Things that Don't Suck, Rough Week on Campus Edition

1. having very cool students
2. working with amazing people
3. how funny people are--genuinely funny
4. when an entire campus comes together in support
5. getting to work somewhere this gorgeous in the autumn

Five Things that Don't Suck, Random Edition

1. cloth napkins
2. chimney sweeps
3. window washers who dress up as super heroes
4. super heroes
5. clear sinuses

Five Things that Don't Suck, Up With the Birds Edition

1. being up early enough to see a little sun this morning
2. an extra cup of tea
3. getting some paperwork done early
4. loving dogs even if they can't tell time
5. cute outfits

Five Things that Don't Suck, Extra Hour Edition

1. an extra hour of sleep
2. or of hanging out with people you love
3. or for getting a handle on things
4. or for trying not to think about how dark it's gonna be at 4PM
5. Tom Brady