Linky

Apropos of, well, not much:

The memorial service for Tim Russert was apparently very, very nice. You can read about it and see a lot of video clips at The Huffington Post (among other places). If you watch nothing else, watch his son Luke Russert's tribute -- what an impressive young man he is; no wonder his dad talked all the time about being proud of him -- and of course Bruce Springsteen's touching solo rendition of "Thunder Road." (And by "touching" I mean "damn it, Bruce, you made me cry.")

All the news coverage about Russert struck me hard, for some reason. I ended up writing a wee elegy for him a few days ago. Odd, that. Not something I would have expected myself to do. Anyway.

* * * * *

A bit pricey, but you could make it yourself a lot cheaper: Diaper Sushi. What a cool shower gift this would be! Cute, but not icky-cutesy-cute. (Thanks to Karen S. for this one!)

* * * * *

photo credit: Danny Clinch

Speaking of Springsteen, he's announced a couple more August dates, with pretty solid rumors of a few more in the works. I'm thinking very, very seriously of getting to the St. Louis and Kansas City shows at the end of August if the rumors prove true. A great way to wrap up the summer, plus you never know when you're going to find out that the E Street Band in its current incarnation is no more -- and if you've passed up a chance to see them one last time you're gonna kick yourself hard. And by "you" I mean "me." And by "kick yourself" I mean "a whole bunch, and for a really long time." If STL and KC don't pan out, Nashville is another possibility. Hell, I really need to go to Nashville sometime anyway -- it's only like a five hour drive from here, and I've never been. -- Breaking news update! I just went over to backstreets.com to check the current rumor status, and apparently the STL and KC dates are official -- so official that Billboard has posted them. Whoop! Goin' to Kansas City...

* * * * *

I wouldn't go so far as to say they are selling like hotcakes (and since when do hotcakes sell like hotcakes, anyhow?), but sales of my chapbook seem to be going pretty well so far. Many, many thanks to those of you who have already pre-ordered! For the two of you on the face of the earth who haven't yet been spammed about it multiple times, you can get all the details here. If you like the sample poems, you'll probably like the chapbook, though I'm hardly an objective judge.

I have to say, it's kind of nice that I'm now focused on getting the full-length manuscript shipped out. It takes the pressure off of my little chapbook. Should Breach get a bad review or something (and I should be so lucky as to get ANY reviews for a chapbook), I can say to myself, big deal, the book is what's important now.

Actually, what's important now (as always) is continuing to write, and push myself to write as well as I can. Publishing is a hobby -- a fun one, and one I take (maybe too) seriously, but really pretty much a hobby. Writing is something bigger than a hobby. I'm not sure what it is, but it's bigger than a hobby.

* * * * *

Finally: Norbert Krapf is the new Poet Laureate of Indiana. Congratulations to him!

* * * * *

A very, very happy Summer Solstice to all...