The Middle West

Until this week, I'd never spent any significant time in the Midwest. I went to an AWP in Chicago a couple years ago and it was in February and it was cold and it sucked. No one should live in Chicago in February.

Iowa City is Beautiful.

I'm in Chicago now, hanging out with a friend, going to meet up with other good friends later in the week. I guess I didn't have anything better to do with my Thanksgiving week, but I'm really enjoying the food and culture and street art. I don't feel like Chicago is as effortlessly artistic as Seattle, but it's still has a lot of art stuffs happening.

Well, I guess I had other reasons to come to the Midwest: I read in Omaha on Friday with the lovely Kathleen Rooney and the charming Trey Moody at the Strange-Machine reading series. It was really fun. I feel like I did a good job. It's been a long time since I've read so I was pretty nervous. I think everyone thought I was funny, so that's good. I wrote and produced a zine for the event called "Omaha God". I have extras if anyone wants one. Hopefully there will be some at zine libraries in Chicago and Portland soon.

The Demon Poets

Kathleen read from her book, Robinson Alone. I really like the book so far. I immediately felt a rhythm to the poems, which very few books of poetry have the ability to impart on a reader. You can hear it in the book trailer (the above link).

This is sort of a dumb post with no point but to say, "I'm not in my normal place, I'm seeing the world."

I'm drinking coffee, reading Ariel by Plath, and life is good.

What should I do in Chicago?