what's going on?

to my dear dear twelve readers:

thanks for your patience. i have been on the road for what seems like a long long time. i have been out of sorts and out of touch for too long. but, as of this weekend, i slept three nights in a row in my own bed! i slept late today and actually shopped for, prepared, cooked and ate an entire meal last night. sarah and i sat on the back porch and i chewed and swallowed thoroughly. i am down to my last week in ann arbor now and have entirely too much work, packing and such to do.

enough about me, here's some fun and exciting news:

congratulations to the authors:
jbw submitted a manuscript! jss won a prestigious award! and dr. liza and joan's gorgeous volume arrived in my mailbox this very afternoon. you guys inspire and dazzle.

congratulations to the parents:
i met miri and tom's baby ben and was even present for an early smile. i am very very sorry that i didn't get to have some face time with alana grace, but i stare at her pixels often.

congratulations to the director:
shelley is now the director of cct!

congratulations to my furry pals:
i got to visit with my canine buddies einstein (not so playful), madeline (very playful) and twig (playful). while at m+m's in georgetown, i also spent some time with old pals, harry and maggie. (harry was lost for about three months last summer so i haven't seen much of him since 05).

i started making a mental list of the places i have been this summer leading off with Atlanta, Bmore, Chicago, and D.C. i quickly realized that i have been to a city town or township named with nearly every single letter.

the big missing one: the letter J.

i have not yet been to JUPITER florida, the new home of things one and two and their parents, patrick and tracy. it's true -- my brother and sister-in-law have sold their last stick of furniture on craigslist lutherville, tapped their last keg of nattie boh, and cracked into their last maryland blue crabs encrusted in old bay. they settled into their new planned community with a swimming pool and community center on the coast in FL. my parents, ever generous and obliging, flew the little girl to the rest of her family and have been doing some recon for me. updates to follow.


today is the 40th anniversary of the explosion in detroit. what city will burn next?

i have listened carefully to the radio documentaries on both detroit and michigan public radio today about the civil disturbances, rebellions, riots that began here in the late dark early morning at 12th and claremont. i think that even the public radio in southeastern michigan is segregated. this realization makes the accomplishment of access and the concert of colors all the more remarkable. shelley was here over the past nine days or so, and we spent saturday listening to live music in and around the max m fisher theater on woodward. by the end of the night, we heard performances from practically every continent, and i saw grown women swoon...many who seemingly came and sat along to see the headline acts of eddie palmieri and the neville brothers.

finally, r.i.p. two late greats, two creative loving people who reinvented themselves often. your too early deaths are shocking: goodbye sekou sundiata and tammy fae messner. i can only imagine what you two will have to say to each other in heaven.