It's Independence Day! :)

Today we celebrate the day we were freed from the pesky 'ol British. And good riddance! Right? (I actually sort of dig England. But yay America today.)

Well, it's almost 2 a.m. I can't go to sleep yet. I learned not so long ago that I am no longer 21. In fact, I'm almost the big 3-0. And on nights when P and I have drinks at home, I can NOT in any way, let myself go to sleep until all the effects have worn off. Otherwise I'll be staring down a huge headache in the morning. I'm talking the kind of headache where you can literally feel the backs of your eyeballs. Not fun. So, instead, I'm here writing to you good people.

First off, I took mom to the airport at 7:30 this morning. I was sad to see her go, but I'll probably be seeing her again in a couple of weeks when I meet her at Mimi's house to pick up a few items before the new buyers close on the house. Mom and I had fun whilst she was here. We hit up the DMOA, which was cool. However, I was surprised to think this, but the OKCMOA actually has it beat by a mile. I need to hit up the Kimball in Ft. Worth. They recently bought one of the only Michelangelo paintings in existence from when he was 14 or 15 years of age. (It's kind of a cool story if you look it up... that thing's basically been floating around in abandoned houses and people's basements since the 1600's. Hello Antique Roadshow!) Anywho. The DMOA was pretty cool though. My fave was this Leon Frederic painting called "Nature". I hadn't seen his stuff before. Mom saw it first and said, "I knew you'd like this one. It just looks like you." You can't tell in the picture (it was the best one I could find on the web), but it was life-sized and absolutely brilliant. I also saw a few Jackson Pollock's up close and personal for the first time. Mom had never heard of him. I was like, How can you be an art lover and have worked at 3 liberal arts universities and have never heard of Jackson Pollock? But I guess some things just get missed. Now she knows who he is. :)

In other news, we only have one photo/chapter title page and the cover to tackle on the poetry book, which, if you haven't gathered by the sidebar here, is called bits & pieces. (And yes, I meant to use the "&" sign. My poetry editor struggles with that one...) I will have that thing to press before July 31st. Then it will be four to six weeks before it's available to the public. It'll be available for purchase online through amazon and Barnes & Noble, and there's a slight possibility it will be available in stores. Also, Bart's Books will have a few for sale in the store as well. So, if you're in the Ojai Valley area... :)

Well, it's past 2 a.m. here and I still haven't turned into a pumpkin, so that's the good news. But it's time to skedaddle. Happy Fourth! And don't let the sparklers light your hair on fire! :)