A Steady Year, I Suppose.

1. Learned to eat fresh Wellfleet oysters.

2. Discovered the poetry of Zachary Schomburg, Noah Falck, Michael Earl Craig, Frederick Seidel, Jonah Winter, Mathias Svalina and a whole spittoon full of other great poets.

3. Visited Amsterdam, LA, Las Vegas, Big Sur, Berkeley, San Francisco, Chapel Hill, Jackson (NC), New York, Cape Cod, Memphis, Nashville, Meredith (NH)

4. First poetry reading. At Grub Street.

5. Similarly, had poems published for the first time this year.

6. Dad was diagnosed and beat cancer in one month. Fucking resilience.

7. Read and truthfully completed almost ninety books this year.

7. Hosted over 130 author events -

Favorites -

Aaron Petrovich - memorized and performed a two person mono/dialogue. Incredible.
Jonathan Lethem - only because Hallelujah the Hills performed
Rishi Reddi - Dewars' sponsorship. Catering. Got drunk. Free Indian food at Rami's afterwards.
Nathan Englander - Awesome Dude
Nick Hornby - Awesome bald dude.
Ben Greenman - Tense awesome dude. Great Stories.
Shalom Auslander - God fearing awesome dude
Andrew O'hagan - Best reading voice I've ever heard. Irish buttah.
Jasper Fforde - We threw a parade. We had fife player. We had a banner. We had 100 people follwoing us in a line. I dont know why. I've never even read his books.
William Gibson - Ran into him in Chinatown the next day.
Meghan O'rourke - Sweet lady. Like caramel corn.
Tedy Bruschi - Eloquently delivered a soliloquy about why he didnt like The Road. Wouldn't have thought.
Chris Abani & Joe Meno - Hilarious dudes. Joe Meno hallucinates turkeys. Chris Abani makes fun of him.
Alex Rose & Jim Shepard - Major talents in different places.
Chris Matthews - Took his pants off. Yelled a lot.

Non-Favorites

1. Chuck Palahniuk - No deal.

Upcoming

1. Grad school (?).
2. Chapbook(s).
3. Publish more poems.
4. Start online poetry journal.
4 1/2. Spend night in jail. For something funny, preferably misdemeanor.
5. Build something with hands.
5 3/4. Learn to tie different forms of knots.
6. Fix ankles. Go running.
6 1/2. Go everywhere on Rt 1, Saugus. Possibly in one night.
7. Fix stomach. Eat better.
8. Dig for oysters this summer.
8 1/2. Ride a horse.
9. Read more books.
9 1/2. Leave Boston. Drop out.
9 3/4. Learn to make my own cheese.
10. Get awesome. Stay Awesome.