Succeeded in hooking up my new scanner this morning, and since the cats have both taken it it upon themselves to sniff it and then promptly lay on it, eyeing me maliciously whenever it looked like I'm about to make them move, I'd say it's been approved.
Last night's reading was awesome, a really good turn out and incredibly fun. I should have Lina's Failed Star Spawns Planet/Star up later this week for sale. I wound up doing a pre-pub printing for the reading last night of about twenty, but I still need to print 100 of the final version and get them assembled. It's so freakin hot, worse over in Wicker Park last night than here closer to the water. And it was still 84 degrees at 1 am. The last two nights I dragged the mattress from the bedroom closer to the AC in the living room. Today, I'm just leaving it there. It looks like this will relent by Thursday. There were slight storms earlier, mostly moving off over the lake. They did put out a seche warning, something like storm surge, but more like back sloshing that raises the water level. I hope I have nothing to worry about, a block and a half away and three floors up, but I'm seriously hoping nothing knocks out the power.
I really can't believe it's almost August already. I'm sort of glad the summer heat will be abating (September one of my favorite months, along with May) but I hate that onrush of winter that starts in October most of the time and drags through April. This summer has been reasonably productive in terms of poetry stuff--acceptances from Pebble Lake Review, Slipstream, The Tiny, and Backwards City, plus alot of stuff still out from late spring. NMP accepting feign. I've mostly been revising the sideshow poems and working on the phobia pieces. A few great readings at the Cafe, DvA, WomanMade, and Quimby's. Putting together the Chicago issue of wicked alice, and soon, the two latest DGP chaps and the print annual all by September hopefully. And then the book, (yay!) coming in November. Just sent off the blurbs and my only back cover photo in which my hair looks less wonky than usual (because, of course, bad hair can doom a book.) And the fall birthday issue: I took a quick peak at the the Alice issue subs and WOW! Great stuff and lots of it. So there's that, and two more fall chapbooks, The Traffic in Women (Kristina Marie Darling) and Parapherna (Donora Hillard).
And the thesis.
God, the thesis. in terms of the critical paper, I think I know what my general direction is, but I'm not sure entirely. The creative part will work itself out I imagine, but the essay is what I'm freaking about. I'm thinking the idea of fractured and non-linear narrative in respect to Cixous ecriture feminine and the whole notion of the feminine gothic, though I may be casting too wide a net. We shall see. I'm considering blogging the whole damned process, my notes, my thoughts, drafts, on a separate blog, just to maybe get some feedback, suggestions, and keep everything in one place..and sorry and reluctant scholar that I am, to try to trick myself into thinking this is fun.
