Two links that made my week better

Check out this rockin pic of Cindy standing between Sherman Alexie and Robert Haas at the National Book awards. Am I the only one who didn't know Denis is in Iraq?

Also, this helped me with my cv. You can click on the "footnotes" of the sample cv and they tell you how to make it better.

Novels

I'm having my students write book reviews, and I'm giving them a list to select from. Because most of the students are entirely out of touch with current work, I'm putting only novels published in the last five years on the list. So I'm looking for suggested titles. Right now my list is fairly male dominated and white guy. I need diversity on the list for my students and for my own reading pleasure.

Camp

I need stories about camp (noun, not verb).

Abby gave me this awesome collection called "Sleepaway," and I know about "The Acorn People" and "Tongues of Angels," and "Brownies," but I'm short on more titles. I'm ready to give my camp story another go now, and would like to see what else is out there. Anybody know of anything else - novels, stories, nonfiction?

Laundromats and Fire

My story "Big and Confidential" has been accepted for the Spring '08 issue of Phoebe.

Thanks to all who workshopped the original and the revision.

Cold Comfort

I'm at a coffee shop applying for jobs that I am either overqualified for or under-qualified for and listening to music that is either too sad (Elliot Smith) or too stupid (R Kelly). TSU sent some of us letters that we'd probably go from full-time to part-time in the spring. This means: get a second job and don't have a health crisis because you won't be getting any insurance. Thus, the job search is on for spring and fall. Sad. But not surprising.

Here's a statistic that I just learned:

Long-term adjuncting means losing self-respect. Friends and family rarely know the odds, that only 40 percent of English Ph.D.'s will ever get tenure-track jobs. Nonacademics rarely know that one has to be able to move anywhere, to strange and unknown locales, to land a semi-permanent, reasonably-paying job.

Maybe this is interesting. Maybe it is depressing. I like to think that those of who want to teach will be the exception?

BookWoman

So, BookWoman might be closing. Their situation is just like the one the fictional book store Madwimmin Books finds itself in in Alison Bechdel's "Dykes To Watch Out For" series. And in the book, the store closes.


Here's what they say:

Dear friends and customers of BookWoman,

My staff and I are so grateful for the outpouring of support being shown to BookWoman. We're still in the early stages, but the many shoppers, contributions, pledges, event plans, and other volunteer activities are tremendously encouraging. This past weekend we had particularly strong sales both at the store and at the Texas Book Festival.

Please check out the new website, www.savebookwoman.com. We're still tweaking it but the key pieces are in place, including a PayPal link for making contributions online and information about volunteer opportunities. We'll be updating it often, posting our fundraising progress and upcoming events.

Also, we have ³Save and Sustain BookWoman² post cards available at the bookstore - and t-shirts are here but going fast!

With your help we can give BookWoman a new lease on life. Thanks so much for all you do.

Peace,
Susan


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Be a BookWoman!

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BookWoman
918 West 12th Street
Austin Texas 78703

http://www.ebookwoman.com

Mempho

This weekend Jack and Abby stayed with me in Jonesboro, so they could attend SCMLA which was hosted in Memphis, TN. Here's some things we did:
1) they brought me breakfast tacos and I ate them
2) we smoked a lot of cigarettes
3) took a driving tour of Arkansas State University
4) checked out AR 's impressive display of Fall colors at the local park
5) heard Jack give an awesome paper
6) marveled at the stupidity and lack of etiquette of some panel attendees
7) drank at The Flying Saucer
8) roamed Beale Street
9) considered getting our group photo made in a ten foot chair
10) watched an elderly man fall off the curb and smack his face on the pavement
11) ate catfish
12) watched the movie Art School Confidential
13) met Jack's best friend, Adrian

It was soooooo much fun and exactly the break I needed this late in the semester.