Terrifyingly neat and meticulously maintained

...is how Bob Calder describes my work space in the President's Report in freeLance. Ha! I like that. The comment is in reference to the display of work spaces called "A Room of One's Own" at the last SWG Fall Conference. Calder goes on to relate a rather terrifying work space story, which I will get H to read as a preventative measure. No one is allowed to tinker with my stuff.

That said, whenever I go away for a few weeks to concentrate on my writing, H will spend a fair bit of time in my office on my computer, doing things I hate doing. Practical things like cleaning up the hard drive. Making space. I really appreciate that.

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The latest issue of The New Quarterly arrived today. I know I go on and on about this magazine, but I do so for good reason. I just finished reading "A Passel of Poets / A Snicker of Critics," a conversation drawn from a panel discussion on criticism that took place in St. John's. The panelists: Mark Callanan, George Murray, Amanda Jernigan, and Carmine Starnino. Lots of good stuff to think about here. For example, Starnino says criticism is a context builder and goes on to explain what he means. That alone is well worth the price of a subscription.

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In other news, I finally settled on a headdress for the medieval feast that I'll be attending. I had considered a simple wimple, but decided against it. Constructing a convincing, low cost wimple is not as easy as one would think. I decided to go with a hennin instead.

Batman was beyond anything

...I could've imagined. The shark took me completely by surprise. I giggled uncontrollably. And the bomb disposal scene. How ridiculous! I did learn a number of things from this movie. Here's the top three:

1. I now know what "extraordinarily campy" truly means.

2. Labels are scary.

3. Superhero costumes simply are not flattering.

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Because I have to miss movie night next week, we watched The Bourne Ultimatum last night. I became interested in seeing the movie after hearing Michael Geist refer to it in his chilling talk on privacy issues. In light of his remarks, the movie is disturbing.

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Maclean's recently sent me a free issue and a subscription offer. I was a long-time subscriber until the internet took over. Now I get all the news online. I stopped watching news on TV. I stopped listening to news on the radio. The magazine was the last to go. I canceled my subscription to Maclean's a few years back largely because I disliked the change in format and was disappointed with the content. It lacked the kind of substance that had drawn me to the magazine in the first place. In this issue the editor talks about the revamped Maclean's and, indeed, it has been revamped. I immediately sat down and read "Adding Fuel to the Doctor Crisis," which raised fresh and troubling questions that left me thinking, exactly what I expect from a good article. I went on to read a number of articles and I must say I'm impressed. And the offer came at the right time. Like always, the times are changing. I spend long hours at the computer. I get tired of looking at the screen, tired of the mouse. I know I'm not alone. This online fatigue and the magazine's smart and timely revamping make the 82 per cent increase in newsstand sales of Maclean's seem reasonable. This magazine is the perfect getaway. A perfect magazine to read while working out on the bike. I will definitely subscribe.

Next time I'm in Toronto

...I'm definitely going to Colborne Lane. The chef and restaurant were featured tonight on The Nature of Things in an episode called The Science of the Senses: Smell & Taste. The food looked amazing.

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In local news, to celebrate 80 years of mining success, HudBay Minerals Inc. made a $1-million contribution to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Cool. This is the first I've heard of the Canadian Museum of Human Rights. I like the vision statement. The description of the location, however, causes me to pause just a bit: "The Museum is envisioned to be built at the very crossroads of Canada, in Winnipeg, Manitoba." The very crossroads? I hadn't thought of Winnipeg like that before. Regardless, the Forks is a perfect place for a museum.

To mark the 10th anniversary of my graduation

...the University of Waterloo sent me a note of congratulations and an alumni calendar. Very nice. To celebrate, H and I went to The Orange Toad for coffee and cake. Ten years! Wow. That means it's been ten years since I left nursing. I finished up my degree while still working as a nurse: a day-night rotation, 12-hour shifts. I was a prolific painter at the time as well. I was writing, too, like I always have, but I didn't pursue publication for a ten year stretch. There just wasn't time to do everything. I must say Waterloo's distance education program was awesome. On days off we'd go out to our wilderness cabin on Precipice Lake (we've since sold it). There I'd sit on the deck and listen to taped lectures and loons at the same time. A rather aggressive red squirrel would chatter at me constantly. Clearly it had no use for English. It would sit in the trees above, chew off cones and let them fall. I swear it was aiming for my head. That squirrel was the only real distraction. I studied the work of many an author on that deck. That's where I fell in love with Hopkins.

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I'm currently reading Rilke on Love and Other Difficulties. Next up is Rilke's Book of Hours.

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The future of science...is art? To answer our most fundamental questions, science needs to find a place for the arts. From what I've heard, much is being done on this front, but, going by this article, not nearly enough. When I read this I immediately thought of Mari-Lou Rowley, a totally science savvy poet. No doubt she could speak to this.

UPDATE: Here's what Zach Wells has to say on this.

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My pop culture education continues. The other day, to my great delight, Batman arrived. Not from Amazon, but from my pop culture mentor who, like a true superhero, fearlessly embarked on an epic rescue-Brenda-from-her-massive-pop-culture-gap mission. I'll watch it on Friday. Friday night is now movie night in the Schmidt house. It's kind of like going to class. Only the chairs are more comfortable. And there's popcorn.

It turns out the old news

...I'd posted about is not old news at all, but news in the making. Exciting news! I'm thrilled. I'll post the details as soon as the event is announced.

In praise

...of melancholy. What a lovely, thoughtful essay.

Offers from literary magazines sit before me

...urging me to renew my subscriptions and send gift subscriptions to my friends. I'm trying to decide what to do. Actually, I'd set aside only three of the letters that came during the holiday season. I chucked the rest in the recycling bin. Had the letters arrived at a less hectic time of year, I likely would've given them more thought. So now I'm looking at the three. I will renew my subscription to The New Quarterly for sure. It's always a good read. I'm thinking about giving Geist another try. I really like their new website and I'm curious to see if there have been changes to the magazine as well. I'm also considering Arc Poetry Magazine. I swear I bought a copy of the latest issue last time I was in Saskatoon, but I can't find it. I wanted to take another look at it before making a decision. And for fun, I was going to compare its redesign to that of The New Quarterly, both of which are now sporting a spanky square format. The New Quarterly has gone with two columns of text per page which really appeals to the eye, at least at a glance (with the exception of the poems), but I have to be careful to keep the journal as flat as I can while I read. If I don't, the inside columns curve into the spine, making my eyes follow the words up the well-lit slope and down into the shadow, line after line. After a few columns of that, my eyes feel the strain. A small quibble with an otherwise superb magazine.

Old news, yet news

...to me, I see that "Night on an Old Trade Route," a vocal work by composer Jim Hiscott, commissioned by the Flin Flon Community Choir, was based on a poem by me, a poem that later appeared in my book More Than Three Feet of Ice. Cool. I'd given permission, but never did hear what came of it.

January 19, 2008: Update!

The years go by

...so quickly. I was thinking about this the other day as we sat in the car eating bread and brie while watching a flock of ptarmigan feed.



We were doing the second annual Creighton Christmas Bird and Mammal Count, an all day affair, so I had plenty of time to think back. 2007 was a big year for me. A fun year. So much crammed into such a short time. I hope I was paying attention.

2008 is shaping up to be another big year. My third book is due out in April. I'm very excited about it. I'm also excited about Gerry Hill's upcoming book and for good reason. I'll fill you in on the rest as the year goes on.

I hope to see you all this year. Wishful thinking perhaps, but it's possible. Most of all, I want you to know how much I appreciate the time you take to read these words. Thank you.

Happy new year! Best wishes to you all.