Confession Tuesday

It's Confession Tuesday. You know the drill.

This is the note on the door of my eight-year-old-daughter's room. Lovely. It's been that kind a week. Can't figure out if winter is making us crazy or what. Maybe it's me. 

There's a book out now called All Joy and No Fun, which I think describes parenting perfectly. I confess: the day to day is just tough sometimes. I can't wait until Ella has her own kids someday. (HA HA HA HA HA -- insert evil laugh here!)

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AWP is a little more that two weeks away and I can't wait! I'll only be in Seattle a few days but I don't care. I'm just happy to get out of my space for a little while. 

When I first started attending the conference (New Orleans was my first), I went to as many sessions as possible. I was a grad student then, so my focus was MFA sessions, how to get poems published, how to make it as a writer, etc. Then, when I had enough poems for a book, I went to book publishing sessions, as well as the ones focusing on online communities. Now that my career is more settled, I go to discover new writers and see old friends. (And by old, I don't mean "no longer young.") 

Because AWP was in Boston last year, I worked much of the time; I didn't enjoy the experience very much. But this year, I'm going for myself. I really want to be blown away by a few new--or new to me--poets. I'm looking forward to those long-distance waves from friends across the book fair, the waves that say, "I know you're here, I'll catch up with you later." I like to go to a few off-site events, and then chatting it up at the hotel bar afterwards. And I love weighing my suitcase down with books and freebies. 

I know a lot of folks who find AWP overwhelming. Not me. I'm all in!

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Current reads:

Maria Gillan: Ancestor's Song

Kelli Russell Agodon: Hourglass Museum

Andre Dubus III: Dirty Love

(Psst! Go pick up Hourglass Museum. It's really good!)

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I've started writing Juno poems. It's slow going. Tomorrow, I'll wake up early to see what thoughts I can pull down from the ether before first light. My hope is to tap into something deeper, and I'm not sure if I can get there with so many distractions during the day.