Sold, Baby and Other Good Stuff



"The Sassy Carrot" (2011)
from the Naughty Veggie Series
sold in yesterday's BnR. w00t!

 Okay, I know, I know....I should be finishing my book review column. I've got two more books (The Historical Dictionary of Polynesia and a book about comet classification). The large, snarling dogs employed by my Type A personality are nipping at my ankles. Back, boys. I'll be getting back to that work in a moment. Really.

Ow! Cool it.

Some good things have been happening. I shall enumerate:

1) I'll be interviewing Absurdistan author Gary Shteyngart for City Paper. Shteyngart is coming to Pittsburgh to read at a City of Asylum event, so we're helping to spread the word. More details on this to come!

2) My review of Sandow Birk's American Qur'an, now on view at The Warhol, appears in this week's City Paper. It will be released in print today and will appear online tomorrow. Link to come...link to come! There will be a symposium related to the exhibition held at the Warhol on April 16th from 1p.m. to 4 p.m., with a reception to follow. Read more details on the event here. I'm grateful to have been able to weigh in on this exhibition, which has tremendous potential for opening discussion and inspiring debate.

3) I posted a story, "Zurich, 1989"--which originally appearing at LitSnack in shorter form--on Fictionaut. I'm very grateful for the good feedback from everyone. (Believe me, I need that.) The story is semi-autobiographical, as the date in the title probably reveals. In 1989, I was indeed 14 and truly did pass through Zurich from first Milan and then Rappallo, Italy with my Mom and Dad and a bunch of hardware salesman....these trips we took when I was young helped to shape my world view in ways I never imagined at the time.

4) Yesterday, I sold my "Sassy Carrot" art pin (pictured above) to a wonderful shop owner in Florida. Our lady of root vegetable sassification is packed in bubble wrap and ready for the post office this morning.

More to come tomorrow....