gritty underbelly = poetry ideas

Quote of the Day:

"Spokane is not the first place in Washington you would expect to find literary types. But there has been a lively writing scene here for years, drawn by university programs, cheap housing and a gritty underbelly that provides plenty of fodder for writers."

- from the PI article, "There's no mystery to this Spokane author's success"

I'm still alive

It's just that I have a full-time writing job now at a local magazine, and had a few freelance assignments in June. This doesn't leave much time for blogging...or poetry writing, either. (I'm currently average one new poem a month. Hmmm.)

And summer time has been busy with backpacking, water skiing, cherry picking, voracious magazine reading, yard work, and dog walking. I also just finished reading The World is Flat. (If you've read it, you understand that there's a lot of information to digest. A combination of awe and sheepish admission that I only knew a small iota of this stuff, along with many "uh huh" moments because Friedman's ideas--especially why the Middle East is so bent on unflattening the global community--are understandable and right on.)

Hopefully, you who are reading this have had your own engaging, intellectual, fruitful summer time, as well.

Most importantly, what are you reading? Your comments are enthusiastically welcome.