Monday, February 25, 2008

Maureen, ZZ and Karen

I just finished Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading by Maureen Corrigan. You might recognize her as the book critic on Fresh Air.

It's about her love affair with books. My favorite quote from the book captures something that is true for me:

"I think, consciously or not, what we readers do each time we open a book is to set off on a search for authenticity. We want to get closer to the heart of things, and sometimes a few sentences contained in an otherwise unexceptional book can crystallize vague feelings, fleeting physical sensations, or, sometimes, profound epiphanies."

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Busy week ahead. In addition to the usual whirlwind of teaching and grading, I will be interviewing ZZ Packer on stage on Wednesday. That event is followed by a dinner with our advisory board and some donors, an evening reading featuring ZZ, and a reception. My co-director and I are responsible for all of this. Whew. I just need to remind myself to relax and enjoy it as much as possible since the major work of organizing these events is behind us.

I also have another big thing happening this week that I can't talk about here but will be able to soon.

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It's gray. And Monday. Brings to mind this:

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