Cricket, cricket

Abandoned Desk by Katherine of Chicago on Flickr

Always sorry to see talented colleagues go, whether it's across the country or across town. Best of luck to y'all. Oh, and hey, can I have your old chair?

Mom and the fishes, Emory waiting room

Here's a strange image captured this morning on Instagram. Looking for any distraction before pre-biopy paperwork and diagnosing, mom watched me photograph this fish tank in the doctor's office. The camera "accidentally" caught her reflection in the glass. She's sitting in a wheelchair behind the giant goldfish. We sat marveling at the photo before we went in for her appointment. It felt good to laugh and float in the unknown for a while.

Hanging on Elizabeth Cook's Apron Strings

It's the little things, right? Few things make me happier than driving around Atlanta and listening to Elizabeth Cook's radio show "Apron Strings" on SiriusXM's Outlaw Country station. Heck yeah it costs a chunk of change for satellite radio (confirmed it today, in fact, after adding up my 2011 tax receipts and "entertainment" deductions), but for the price of a couple therapy sessions, you can feel a whole lot better after listening to her delightful twang, down-home banter, and music picks. I wish I knew in advance that she was at the Ryman Auditorium tomorrow night in Nashville. And I missed her, too, at Eddie's Attic in Decatur just the other week. Dang it! But still, I'm good with just us girls in my car. Whether she's telling insider country music stories, dissing the Weather Channel for not covering enough, uh, weather, or giving tips on re-potting flowers or handling a fussy neighbor, she makes me smile. Thanks to Music in Atlanta, I did catch her David Letterman appearance. You can check out her website, too. * Girl crush *

Getting Wrecked With The Boss

I'll be spending tonight with my two favorite guys from Jersey: NewspaperGuy and Springsteen. Bruce and the E Street Band start their tour tonight in Atlanta at Philips Arena. Someone told me they saw him play there two years ago and the acoustics were crap. Whatev. It's been a couple decades since I've been to one of his shows but I'm ready for it. Caught his Sirius performance from the Apollo and listened to his keynote speech from SXSW this week. Hey, I don't care if you think he sucks, it's gonna be good for the soul.

Get Yourself Some Grace, Kid

We are grateful to the hipster editor who handed us an uncorrected proof of Anne Lamott's latest, saying, "Here, you want this? It's not my thing." Oh, you Faulkner-stained, Dave Eggers-steeped, Hunter S. Thompson-soaked youngin'. You'll learn. Miss Lamott eats cool writer kids for breakfast and spits them out. And they're the better for it. May I suggest starting with a certain writing instructional and the chapter titled "Shitty First Drafts"? I can't wait to see Anne again in Decatur, thanks to Georgia Center for the Book for bringing her back this month.

Feelin' Blue: Decatur Bookshop Announces Closing

See, people? This is what happens when you spend too much time reading your Kindle at Dancing Goats Coffee. Blue Elephant Book Shop recently announced that it will close mid-March. We were so excited when this adorable white cottage opened its doors. Nestled in a cozy spot on Ponce near Taqueria del Sol, and across the street from Farm Burger, the Marlay House tavern, and a quick skip from Decatur CD, I thought it had found a good home. But if this sweet lil thing can't make it in Decatur, home of the acclaimed AJC Decatur Book Festival and the awesome Georgia Center for the Book, then I don't know what to tell you. I feel like this is a bad break-up. Where did we go wrong?

Best wishes to the Blue Elephant staff. Go bring the nice ladies a Valentine and say good-bye.

Who Gives a Puck About Poetry?

Photo found at Poetry Foundation. Hockey player Terry Sawchuk inspired Night Work: The Sawchuk Poems by Randall Maggs.

Caregiving. Creativity. Carefree living. Not sure it's really possible to balance all three. Trying. It's hard. To keep my sanity, also trying to fit in some poetry. This month, I'm reading Billy Collins' ninth collection, Horoscopes for the Dead. (Hey, have you ever tried reading poetry on a Kindle? No? Well, it kinda sucks. Weird breaks and all.) Anyway,  I've been so distracted lately that I completely missed last weekend's appearance by Collins at Emory University. The Emory Wheel has a good recap of his speech.

And I loved this from an AJC interview with Billy Collins:

“I really stopped guessing why people don’t read poetry. I’ve sort of come to the conclusion that the reason people don’t read poetry is that they don’t read poetry. I don’t think it goes any deeper. The common excuse was that poetry was too difficult. I don’t buy that. My analogy is like with me and hockey. I don’t watch hockey on television, and the reason is I just don’t watch it. I have no interest in it. I don’t care if it’s violent or not, I’m just bored by it. So I really think it’s as simple as that. People are busy doing other things.”