my review of mary jo bang’s new book

It’s in the Post-Dispatch today.

what i bought with my birthday $

observable wins best of st. louis!

From the current Riverfront Times…

Best Reading Series (2007)
Observable Readings

A good reading series brings famous authors to town, introduces them to the adoring masses and perhaps fetes them with a box of wine and some chunks of cheese. A great reading series honors well-known authors, gives up-and-coming writers a voice (and an audience to hear that voice) and builds a strong literary community. Observable Readings does all those things — plus, there’s usually beer. Since 2003 this ambitious, civic-minded, downright fantastic series has been showcasing the work of local talents and national luminaries alike. Aaron Belz, the local poet and Saint Louis University post-doc who curates Observable, doesn’t conduct his reading series in the rarefied hush of bookstores and libraries. Instead, the majority of the Observable Readings take place at the Schlafly Bottleworks or Tap Room. What better way to create a fun, laid-back, local vibe than with a frosty pint of fun, laid-back, local brew? What’s more, the authors’ hard-won words don’t just dissipate into the cosmos; each year Observable publishes an anthology of works by series participants. Find out what all the buzz is about by attending one of the many Observable events planned for the fall and winter — from the ever-popular Day of the Dead Beats celebration to a reading by New Yorker staff writer (and native St. Louisan) Dana Goodyear.

what is worse

What is worse than finding a worm in an apple?
Finding part of your mom’s finger.

What is worse than going to school?
Getting knifed in the stomach.

What is worse than not getting to go to Six Flags with your friends because your parents are getting a divorce and you have to testify in court?
Plucking out your BFF’s eyeballs and eating them with a fork, like eggs, but without any mustard or anything, just plain.

What is worse than being named John Drexler?
Being named John Satan.

What is worse than having your liver cut out by an inexperienced Venezuelan surgeon?
Having your liver cut out by an inexperienced Venezuelan surgeon whose only tool is a rusty jackhammer.

colleges ignore life’s biggest questions

I’d encourage everyone to take a look at Anthony Kronman’s article in Sunday’s Boston Globe, “Why are we here? Colleges ignore life’s biggest questions, and we all pay the price”—if for no other reason than that it contains statements like this:

“Multiculturalism, anti-colonialism, and insistence on race and gender as organizing principles of study are an expression of the anxious search for a new and morally honorable role for the humanities once their older role as guides to the meaning of life lost its credibility. It is that older role we now need to recover.”

For the full article, go to http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2007/09/16/why_are_we_here/

reading in chattanooga this thursday

Hey Chattanoogans. I’m giving a poetry reading at CCS on Thursday, Sept 20, at 7:30 PM. I’ll be reading from Plausible Worlds, The Bird Hoverer, and some new stuff, too. The reading will kick off with students reading from their work, and i think there will be cookies available for those who haven’t had cookies yet that day. All are invited. Please come!

perfect high end watches!

observable dinner…yum yum!

So yeah… Observable is hosting its first benefit dinner in the Savor Cabaret on October 6th. Troy Jollimore and Jane Wayne will be in the house. The guest list is about half full, and if you or someone you know would like to attend, I’m accepting reservations by email.

a razor that never needs sharpening

Email from a distant relative:

“I ordered a razor that never needs sharpening from a TV Ad. I have not received it and it has been two weeks. So I called them. The woman said it has been back ordered. I said Phooey! The woman cracked up and said I have not heard that one in a long time. The way things are going in this country I think more of us need to say it. Or we can just stop shaving in protest.”

a new bird hoverer review

Kristina Marie Darling added this today: http://roseandthornreviews.blogspot.com/2007/09/bird-hoverer-by-aaron-belz.html. It’s such an honor to see this kind of thing, i don’t even know what to say. Mostly I just want to go to bed.

the history boys

Rarely does a film begin with such promise and end so abysmally. Richard Griffiths (”Withnail and I”) makes it almost bearable.