--The horror facing China and Myanmar. It's staggering. I wish I weren't hovering near broke or that I had some skills to offer these suffering people.

--California! Finally, a victory for gays and lesbians. Be prepared for backlash, though. From invoking the wrath of a vengeful god to slippery slope comparisions to bestiality and incest.

--My constant leaking roof problems. I hope that it's finally fixed. My room is cocooned in plastic drop cloth, waiting for the slightest leak....

--The birth of Strange Alphabets, which will feature excerpts of published pieces and maybe even some trunk stories!

--the music of Hanne Hukkleberg (Bjork meets Billie Holiday in an alley where Psapp is playing) and Terami Hirsh (confessional piano pop meets jazztronica)

--will be writing music reviews for TNG: the excellent M83 and the promising The New Bloods

I have just started a new blog that features excerpts of my fiction. It's called Strange Alphabets. Check it out!

It's still leaking. Rain all day.

Lisa Gerrard will have two albums out this year:

One called "Farscape," a collaboration between her and Klaus Schultze, with excerpts here:
http://www.myspace.com/farscape2008

&

"The Black Opal" with Michael Edwards--the pianist on her last tour.

Well, Madder Love is finally available, and I have my new copy. I share the page with Stephen Beachy, Kevin Killian and Tom Cardamone, among others.

My review of the new Portishead is now up at The New Gay.

Two new reviews:The Magician and the Fool by Barth Anderson and The Truth About Celia by Kevin Brockmeier.

I got home at 6:20 and was puttering around when I heard the screech of wheels and the blast of gunfire. A car window was shot, as well as the house across the street. No-one was hurt. But it was disturbing--the last two times there were gunshots near my house, it was dark. The sun was up and shining as the drive-by occurred. Kids could have been out playing on the sidewalk...

It's been a pretty crappy day. Weatherwise and healthwise. Asthma has decided to act up and I find myself out of breath doing the littlest things. So the doctor gave me a decongestant that makes me dizzy and an antibiotic. Hopefully, I will get better as the week progress.

In the meantime, enjoy

a capsule review of Spaceman Blues at The New Gay
&
Piratica at Fantasy Book Spot

The New Gay, a DC-based alternative community blog, just posted my capsule review of Samuel R. Delany's Dark Reflections. You can check it out here.

I spent most of the day writing, mostly non-fiction--a piece on Samuel Delany for a gay website, yet another review for Fantasy Book Spot.

I also got outside, and helped clean the back yard. It became quite lovely in the evening, with a low, westerly breeze.

My interview with author and editor Ekaterina Sedia is now on Fantasy Book Spot, here. The pictures will appear in the article later this week.

Fridays and Wednesdays are days that review copies of books are put out for the staff for a first-come, first-served basis. Today, I got:

Jamil Nasir, The Houses of Time (Tor)
&
Josephy Delaney, The Last Apprentice: Attack of the Fiend.

1. Well, I bought my membership for Wiscon next month. I won't be staying at any of the hotels. Instead, I'll be staying with two Madison residents who have graciously allowed me to crash there. I just have to buy my plane ticket. I had a reasonably good time last time, and it will be fun to see old convention friends and hopefully make new ones.

2. The novel chugs along. I believe that with any luck and preserverance, I will have draft done by mid-summer. Other than 'resting' the text, I have no idea what my next step is. I do believe it is marketable, but would probably do best in an indie/small press. There are some *established* authors that I will contact for advice. It's nice to know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

3. I loved this photoshopped image:

The father of the Negritude movement, the French analogue of the Harlem Renaissance, died today. He is best known for his anti-colonial prose poem Notebook of a Return to the Native Land, which is considered a classic of anti-colonial literature, along with Fanon's works. His other poetry, however, is something else. Influenced by the Surrealists, the Symbolists (Rimbaud) and the strange (the proto-surrealist novel Maldoror), Cesaire's grotesque, word-drunk imagery waged war on language, twisting it into fantastical shapes. Revolution, in his words, was an almost mystical process. I hope that there is a resurgence of interest in his poetry.

If possible, this season even more scripted than before. The misogynistic jerk was kicked off the program, but I suspect that he was a plant. His statements about women were just way over the top. And besides, doesn’t he know that Gordon Ramsay merges the teams, so that you will have to work with women eventually? The bellyaching done by the men’s team was over done, and probably producer-coaxed. The strings are showing. And it’s no longer about food—it’s about Drama!

Ramsay also called the African American male contestant ‘big boy’ for the second time. Even my roommates—as politically incorrect as they are—perked up.

"Alcohol, you know, lowers your prohibitions..."

My review of the new Autumn's Grey Solace album is here.