I just checked out

...the Brick Books site to see what's new and there's plenty. The site has a great new look complete with a shopping cart! I love the words Add to Cart.

Anansi also caught my attention. I'd looked at Jeremiah, Ohio by Adam Sol last time I was in McNally Robinson. I flipped through it and put it back on the shelf. Even though I own his last book and like it, and even though this one was recommended, I didn't have the urge to buy it. But then yesterday I listened to the audio that Anansi posted. Now I'm sold. And Anansi also has a shopping cart. Nice.

The Practice of Eco-Poetics: Readings

...and conversation with Canada’s leading environmental writers, featuring poets Tim Lilburn, Elizabeth Philips, and Maureen Scott Harris, will be happening at the Eco-Art and Science Symposium, which invites artists and scientists to come together to explore the issues and inspiration of water. The symposium events are free and take place September 27 - 28 in Vancouver. It's part of The Cultch's presentation of A Few Little Drops: The Extraordinary Life of Water, September 25 - 28th. Now that's a conference I'd like to attend.

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Grief has been a hot topic on lit blogs lately. I'd like to point to this excellent post on Ursus, a new blog I've been following.

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A few little drops


on an alder leaf.

I've been trying to read

...Acquainted With the Night, but the book stinks. Literally. It smells strongly of dust. It's like walking into an old abandoned house. I got the book back in November. I don't know if it smelled that way when it arrived, but it's bad. I can only read a few pages before I have to put it down. At this rate it will take me years to finish it. Because it's my first experience with an overwhelmingly dusty-smelling book, I didn't believe my nose at first. So the other day I said H, smell this will you? Smells dusty he said. Now what to do? So I did a bit of googling. If my dusty-smelling book is actually a musty-smelling book, there are things I can try. I really like what I've read so far, so I guess I'll stand it on end, fan it open and see what happens.

Beauty

...and the brain.

I don't shed tears often

...or easily, but this morning they were flowing. First a lovely, generous and unexpected phone call. The kind of call that sticks in your heart. I was still thinking about it some time later as I mindlessly clicked on my rss feed. It was then that I saw the title of Lemon Hound's new post: Shawna Lemay reads Brenda Schmidt. I couldn't believe my eyes. What a wonderful surprise! Lovely, generous and unexpected. I am grateful to Lemon Hound and I am grateful to Shawna Lemay for the close, sensitive reading of my work.

It was standing room only

...at the Off-Broadway Dinner Theatre last night for the launch of the 10th New Leaf Editions. I'm happy we got there early to grab a table. It was a great event. After the readings we pigged out on the incredible torte cake made by Adrienne Gruber's mom and chatted with friends as we waited for the long lineups at the book table to shorten. I bought a copy of each. They're beautifully designed books, inside and out. Lovely to look at, lovely to hold. It's a pleasure just to run a hand over the covers and feel the textures. The cover image on each feels just like a photograph and has a warmth to it while the matte finish of the dark background actually feels cooler. And you can feel the text on the cover. Impressive.

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We stopped at McNally Robinson earlier in the day. I wanted to do a bit of research and was determined not to buy any books. But I broke down when I saw that The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews was 30% off. What a deal! Then I saw Going Home, Tim Lilburn's new collection of essays. I just had to have it. Thank goodness I ran into a writer and gabbed for a while. Who knows how many books I would've bought otherwise.

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We got home a couple hours ago. It was a great road trip. They're twinning the highway between Saskatoon and Prince Albert and it's coming right along. I find road construction endlessly fascinating. It's a culvert lover's dream. I posted some culvert pics from today.

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I saw a fisher further north in the ditch along the Hanson Lake Road and it was a big one. What a treat! It didn't stick around to have its pic taken. The closest I can offer is a pic of the forest floor in the vicinity.


That's about as close as I want to get to a fisher anyway. They don't look particularly friendly.

Another collection

...for my collection.


The cover reminds me of last evening. While I didn't see a water strider, I was helping H hunt for prairie tree crickets in the alder west of town. He photographed a male tree cricket earlier in the week and now wants to find a female. Easier said than done. I'm just learning about tree crickets and I've fallen in love with them. The way they move. The way they call. Their calling song. It's a song I grew up with. It makes evenings magical.

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Off to Saskatoon tomorrow for the 10th New Leaf Editions launch.

The Danforth Review is beginning

...its 10th anniversary year. Wow. Hats off to Michael Bryson! I wonder how many times I've clicked on my TDR bookmark over the years? I'm always looking for something new and TDR continues to deliver.

On my last visit to TDR I found a link to Maple Tree Literary Supplement, a nifty new quarterly literary journal with 75% Canadian content. The current editorial is titled "The Professional Poet?"

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This spring H planted wild cucumber seeds by the downstairs studio window on the west side of the house. It grew like crazy, the vines twining around the window. Now there's a cucumber hanging in plain view.


A bit prickly, but lovely nonetheless.

The 2008 Lieutenant Governor's Arts Awards

...shortlist has been announced. Congratulations to all! It's especially nice to see Hagios Press, the publisher of my latest book, receive a nod for Innovation in the Arts.

The 10th New Leaf Editions

...launch is a week from today. Here's the invitation.


I plan to be there. My first book came out with this series in 2001. It was a great experience and one that left me with a solid set of standards. I remember studying the Thistledown Press Author Information Handbook. And when I say study, I mean study. At the time I'm sure I had it fully committed to memory. I wanted to understand the process. I wanted to do everything right. The handbook made things clear. As a result I was fully engaged with the process and not worried about the unknown. I still have that handbook.

So hats off to Thistledown Press on this, the 10th New Leaf Editions.
I look forward to hearing Adrienne Gruber, Taylor Leedahl, Ian LeTourneau and Kelly-Anne Riess read from their new books, books which I'll be adding to my collection. And I see there will be cake!

Pinker on swearing

...and violence.

Writers and conceptions

...of audience. Going by the definitions put forth, I think I'm a groupist with individualist leanings. I lack the internal conviction required to be a true individualist. And audience is important to me. That said, I do have a separate body of work that I do not put forward, ongoing work that is important to me but doesn't fit with the rest. I suspect many groupists do.

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The hops we planted on June 1 is doing amazingly well. This pic was taken this morning.


I needed a step ladder to photograph it and still the plant stretched well above. Select Hops is growing as well. It's my turn to post and I will do so today.