Spain

Hard to believe I will be here in about a month. Can't wait to hug my brother, drink Spanish wine, stay in a villa, and tour the Alhambra. Also can't wait to escape the bitter cold of the American midwest in favor of the Mediterranean coast. Feeling like I should be studying Spanish (in what spare time?), but suppose I will rely on my brother for translation as needed. Starting to count down the days. (35 as of today!)

Grace Paley

At the first meeting of my new class, "American Literature since 1960," we read "A Conversation with my Father" by Grace Paley. Oh my goodness! Her prose is so spare, so compact, so forthright, so clear, yet so dense that a group of graduate students continued uncovering meaning for a solid hour. From a four-page story. I went the following week and used my birthday money to buy her short-story collection "Enormous Changes at the Last Minute." Hello, new friend.