And they're off!

First, a picture of a very cool spider I saw at the base of our stairs leading into the basement. I'm not sure what kind of spider it is, but it's got really interesting markings. Maybe I can sell it on E-bay like those people who sell burnt toasts in the likeness of the Virgin Mary.

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It's the beginning of the 2010-2011 academic year and already I find myself swimming in deadlines. I'm applying for sabbatical this year and the process is really difficult--lots of paper work, documentation, etc. I have to talk about what I intend to work on during the calendar year, coupled with a calendar breakdown of what I'm doing from month to month. I've got about a week to crank out my proposal.

I've also got a few requests for some pedagogy stuff as well as poems. So even before I've taught my first class, I've got a whole bunch of things on my plate.

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One of the interesting courses I'm teaching this year is a course on contemporary avant garde poetry. My first question to my class will be if there is such a thing today, now that we have so much DIY publishing as well as web publishing. What kinds of art are springing into the scene as reactions to other types of art? I wondered this as I hastily gave my chair a list of potential topics to teach last year. I'm teaching Ashbery, Barbara Jane Reyes, Craig Santos Perez, Myung Mi Kim, Ronald Johnson, and Chelsea Minnis. Are they avant garde poets?

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The toddler also started daycare. He's exausted. Right now he's asleep in the middle of the bed with his sandy, dirty clothes.

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It's kind of good to be back on some kind of schedule. I thrive on a schedule. What can I say? I'm clock-like by nature. Some people are clocks.

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Current Spin: