Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Christmas here is winding down, but we wanted to wish everyone a wonderful new year!

You can check out some of our Christmas pictures here.

New Blocks and Kumars

Dev and I are having a baby!

I'm currently 13 weeks pregnant, with an estimated due date of June 16, 2009. So far we've had two ultrasounds (the latest just this morning) and heard the heartbeat twice, plus a host of blood tests, etc., and so far, everything is looking good.

This morning at our 13 week NT scan (a type of ultrasound) we watched he/she/it run through the full complement of fetus tricks, including sucking his thumb, yawning, stretching, twisting and turning, and what might have been waving. The Lentil (as we are calling it) is not, however, a particularly cooperative baby, and it took about 20 minutes of prodding to convince him to get into the right position for the scan.

(We wanted to post our latest ultrasound pictures here, but the very surly technician refused to print us copies. My regular doctor promised he'd get me some when I see him in two weeks.)

Two dogs, one isopod

"Impulse"

"Impulse," a play I co-wrote with Megan Shank, is going to be performed for the first time this weekend in Shanghai, by East West Theater Group.

If you are in Shanghai, check it out, Friday and Saturday nights at 7pm and a Sunday matinee at 3pm at Figaro, 160 Xingye Lu, near Madang Lu, 100 RMB.
RSVP your ticket request to impulsetheplay@gmail.com.

If you aren't in Shanghai - well, we are hoping to bring it to the States very soon, so stay tuned!

Red Rabbit Holiday Arts & Crafts Fair

Everyone in the LA area should check out the Red Rabbit Holiday Arts & Crafts Fair, with work for sale by 27 local artists including my mom. The event is held in the Descanso Gardens in La Canada and is free with garden admission ($8) so you can come to the show, buy local for the holidays, and then enjoy walking around the gardens, which are decorated for Christmas.

For more event information, go here.

Happy Halloween!

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Originally uploaded by misssummerblock

Halloween 2008

Check out some Halloween photos here.

I found an old ottoman someone had put out on the street for trash night and reupholstered it for the living room. Overall, it turned out well, though of course there are some minor problems here and there, since it was my first time using a sewing machine or upholstering anything.

See more photos here.

The ottoman, before

With the cover removed.

The new ottoman.

Congratulations, Mr. Blackstone.

The very talented Charles Blackstone (The Week You Weren't Here) has a new anthology out, The Art of Friction. Read the Time Out review here, and then head here to buy it.

Here's the link to the novel The Week You Weren't Here, and to my review thereof (from Identity Theory).

Work Updates

(from summerblock.com)

It's been nearly two months since I posted anything here last - my apologies. I've spent most of the last two months studying for the GRE and then the GRE subject test in English Literature, preparing to apply to grad school for fall 2009. I've also been doing some profitable but unexcited editing and fact-checking work, etc.

But I have managed to write a bit, at least, so expect new work from me soon in Tarpaulin Sky, Identity Theory, artnet, Hotel St. George, and ALARM. And I've signed on as an editor over at Swink, too, reading fiction submissions.

I've also been shopping around the draft of my first novel to some agents, and working on scenes and monologues for Megan Shank's "Impulse," to be performed for the first time next month.

And of course, The Foghorn rolls on, with lots of great new stuff!

New Autumn Designs at Posh Plums!

Check out the new fall line at Posh Plums!

New designs at Posh Plums!

Check out new fall designs at Posh Plums!

Thank you, Katy!

What should arrive on my porch this morning but a GRE Study Care Package, including a tin of incredibly moist cookies, a good luck (edible) rosary, and a sheet of practice math questions like,

"If Beowulf can kill a being with the mark of Cain once every three days, how many hours does it take before he wins the honor of the Danes?"

and

"If Miss Elizabeth Bennett's prejudice falls at an average rate of 15% per day after seeing Pemberly, how many days must pass before Mr. Darcy ought dare to renew his offer of marriage?"

This may be the only good thing that comes out of all this mess!

I take part one of the test on Monday, and the more important part two on October 18, stay tuned!

Cookie Log: Week One

Susan Waddington was kind enough to share with me the recipe for her unparalleled sugar cookies. Above you can see my first attempt to do her recipe some justice. Sadly, the world is unjust.

As you can see, I made the pumpkin first, when the icing was still far too runny, so it's the most messy (the cracking happened later, when I transferred the cookie to the plate for this photo).

The ghost came next, he's a bit more respectable, though lacking in eyes and ghastly moaning mouth, etc. The horror comes from his anonymity.

Icing for the cat and bat was made last and with added cocoa and so they taste the best. The icing had finally reached a fine consistency by then, but I had also reached the end of my patience, so some sloppiness remains.

As we enter the holiday season, I'll be working on these every week or so until I can get something, if not Waddington-worthy, at least not a lasting shame to their family legacy.

Posh Plums on Cuteable!

My mom's Etsy site, Posh Plums, is on Cuteable today!

You can also check her out today in the Etsy Children's Showcase.

The house is done at last! Or done enough for now, at least. Check out the final photos here.

Last night we had a housewarming party to christen the new place. Now it's time to turn our attention to the garage - more photos on that soon.

Check out one of my photos from Scotland in an online guide to Edinburgh. The photo is of Holyrood Park.

Preliminary Photos of the New House

By familial request, we present some photos of our new house.

Remember it's still very much a work in progress, but we expect to have it done by the end of the summer, for sure.

Introducing Posh Plums

Everyone check out my mom's new Etsy site - a great place to buy unique, hand-embroidered baby clothes. She is selling embroidered long- and short-sleeved onesies from American Apparel as well as dresses made by hand from 100% soft kona cotton, so check it out! You can mix and match what you see on the site - choose the garment type, color, and embroidery pattern, each outfit is made to order.

Meanwhile I'm working on her own site off Etsy - stay tuned.

AND - thanks to the beautiful Rosemary Spindler for modeling the baby clothes on the Etsy site.

Settled in Glendale

Hello all, and apologies for the dirth of posts lately, we've been spending every moment shopping, cleaning, unpacking, and generally negotiating our return. But now we're settled in Glendale, California (in the northeast part of Los Angeles, near Griffith Park) and almost back to the usual routine.

Our new address is
1830 Glenwood Road
Glendale, CA 91201

L.A. residents should look forward to a housewarming party to be coming soon. We'll also post some photos of the house when it's all clean and set up properly - stay tuned!

Also, thank you to Mina and James for hosting us until we found a place, and to Lucas for shuttling me all over the city every day until I get my own car.

Goodbye, Shanghai!

Tonight is our last night in the city and I'm feeling sentimental. So, so long, Shanghai, I'll miss you. I spent more than two years in China, including my first year and a half of married life. I made a lot of great friends, had a lot of harrowing adventures, learned a lot of new things, and most importantly, became a little more good-natured, patient, and fearless.

Some things I'll miss about Shanghai:

1. Massages.
Plentiful and cheap, massages are perfect whenever I want to think calmly and deeply about work. They're responsible for many of my very best ideas.
2. Taxis.
Wherever, whenever, $3 will get you anywhere worth going. And no need for designated drivers.
3. Traveling.
It may not be logical, but somehow when you already live in a foreign country, the idea of going to other foreign countries just seems so much easier (even when it isn't!)
4. Street vendors selling yams in the winter.
There is no better way to spend a winter day than walking down the street with a warm yam wrapped up in your coat pocket.
5. Not having a car.
See #3. No parking, no tickets, no fill-ups or oil changes, no fender benders.

And, so I don't feel too sad, some things I won't miss about Shanghai:

1. No books.
Soon I'll be back in a place where anything - Bede, Baudrillard, or Bulgakov - is available immediately for the price of a cheap lunch. Shanghai is only the place to read if you're exclusively interested in 19th-century novels, business books, and travel guides. For $30 or more each.
2. The heat, the humidity, the pollution.
You know it's bad when you are eagerly awaiting living in Los Angeles because the air is so cool and clean.
3. Mexican food.
I can't repeat that enough. I've gone too long without a lot of foods, from In n' Out and donuts to fresh artichokes and decent strawberries, but two years without tamales is torture.
4. Missing everything.
People at home are getting married, graduating, having babies, buying houses, and I don't want to miss the fun.
5. Having a car.
Urban parking and driving might be a nightmare, but nothing beats a road trip. An open highway with the company of the radio and a cup of gas station coffee is all I need to be happy.

So goodbye, Shanghai, and hello Los Angeles!

I was very pleased to wake up this morning amid bubble wrap and boxes to find myself on McSweeneys. Now to see if I can get our security deposit back for a double-play.

Welcome, Jacob!

And congratulations to our friends Diane and David on their new baby boy! We've been promised photos soon....

Today the DIAGRAM newsletter went out, alerting people to the new issue, and I was delighted to receive a host of emails the same day: some from old friends who found my name in the magazine and dropped me a line, some from other poets whose work I respect, and one from the editor of another magazine asking me to contribute some more poems.

It's great to see how far-reaching the DIAGRAM subscription model is - many of the people who emailed me were just "regular" people and not other poets, so I'm glad to see that the magazine is getting around.

Speaking of getting around, I'll be doing an interview soon for Hotel St. George Press (check it out - it's pretty much the coolest website I've ever seen). I also have my first Tarpaulin Sky book review coming soon.

Hey Californians: Check out Felicia's reading

My very talented friend Felicia Sullivan (of Small Spiral Notebook) will be reading from her first book, The Sky Isn't Visible From Here, at three bookstores in California. And as a bonus, she will be bringing baked goods!

For more information about both the book and the baked goods, go here.

Wednesday, May 7—SAN FRANCISCO, CA–Booksmith, 1644 Haight Street, 7:00 pm

Friday, May 9—LOS ANGELES, CA–Booksoup, 8818 W Sunset Blvd., 7:00 pm

Saturday, May 10–PASADENA, CA– Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., 4:00 pm

exciting news, and the helpful internet

I'm pleased to say that my recent piece "Marcel Proust Discovers LiveJournal" is due to be published on McSweeneys very soon. I've been hoping to work with McSweeneys for awhile (and actively trying to get onboard for the last three months) so this is good news indeed.

And that's not the only reason to be glad for the internet. I also posted a decorating question to one of my new favorite blogs, Apartment Therapy, and they posted it. I got a lot of helpful comments, thinking ahead about decorating our new apartment.

And speaking of new apartments, we'll be back in the U.S. in only 20 days!

I'm happy to say I will soon start writing for the venerable magazine Tarpaulin Sky. Links to follow.

In other news, one of my Foghorn pieces will be published in Monkeybicycle, an excellent comedy magazine that features writing by comedian like Sarah Silverman and David Cross (from TV's "Mr. Show").

It's Official!

Dev and Summer are moving back to the U.S. permanently on May 23!

We'll be flying into San Francisco, staying a few days to see my family and gather up our things, and then heading down to L.A. to see Mina and James and to move into our new apartment.

We'll update you on our new address soon.

Congratulations to frequent Foghorn contributor Ritija Gupta! Chicago's Metromix voted her one-act comedy "Engaging" as a top pick this week.

If you live near Chicago, check it out at Gorilla Tango Theater's night of one acts, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. Through April 30. $15. Tickets: gorillatango.com

See more here.

Summer runs her first 5K run on June 1

I'm excited to say that I've just entered my first 5k race, sponsored by Los Angeles' Temple Beth Hillel and taking place on June 1. Recently I've been working on a 5k training program to improve my speed and endurance, and this will my first chance to test the effects of the program. As a kid, I couldn't run even the required one mile for gym class, so running a 5k in decent time is a big accomplishment for me.

If you are interested in sponsoring me and donating to the Temple Beth Hillel charities, please contact me. Proceeds from the run will go to a package of relief programs, including the Yachad Program for children with special needs, the Moses Program for those with disabilities, the Community Crisis & Counseling Center, and my favorite, the North Hollywood Interfaith Food Pantry, where I have volunteered in the past.

And yes, bagels will be served after the race. Seriously.

Congratulations, Dev!

An advertising agency contacted Dev this week to use one of his photos for an upcoming internet ad campaign for Qualcomm. Great news! We'll link to the advertisement when it appears.

Congratulations to my friend Linara Washington for her film "Kings of the Evening," which will be featured in the Atlanta Film Festival this month.

Read more about the film here and here, and if you live in the Atlanta area, make sure to see "Kings of the Evening," screening April 17th & 18th.

Trip to Yiwu

Yesterday Dev and I took a three-and-a-half hour train trip to Yiwu, Zhejiang Province, about two hundred miles south of Shanghai. Yiwu is the capital of China's export market. Our hotel was next door to the International Trade City, a ten-million-square-foot center with more than 30,000 stalls displaying wholesale trade samples of almost every imaginable consumer good. The Trade City, in turn, anchors a wider selection of smaller markets and stalls, plus freight companies, customs consults, and other affiliated businesses. This is the place to find Indian mehndi (henna tattoo) patterns, scissors, inflatable novelty hammers, flashlights, plastic back braces, statues of the Virgin Mary, rain coats, LED signs, push brooms, Native American handicrafts, fake flowers, and children's backpacks. Yes, and more.

We even found a chicken-shaped cooking timer I had years ago in college. I was heartbroken when it was destroyed, only to find it five years later in China. They wouldn't sell it to us, though, in quantities less than 500 pieces. We seriously considered it.

The trading centers are filled with businessmen from all over the world, including representatives from South America, Africa, Eastern Europe, India and the Middle East. After the markets close in the evening, you can find those same businessmen in one of the city's many Middle Eastern restaurants or nargileh (hookah) bars.

We also visited the night market (with four or five different tattoo stalls, for some reason). Then we spent a romantic Saturday night at the Aegean Sea Bar in the lobby of the Best Western Hotel in Yiwu, China. Classy.

I'll post our favorite photos now. For more, check out our Flickr site.

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Nail salon and tattoo parlor at the night market in Yiwu

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Middle Eastern restaurants and bars in Yiwu

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Russian restaurants

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Restaurant signs from around the world

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Yep, all mascot heads.

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If you need magnets and lapel pins decorated with the Iraqi flag or the Sacred Heart of Jesus, check out this stall.

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One of the toy aisles

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Inflatable novelty items, for county fairs everywhere

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Businessmen inspecting the selection of fake fruit

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Religious images for international markets

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Plastic keychains

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Dev enjoys a beer on the train, now "Free From Formaldehyde"!

Happy Birthday, James!

I'm pleased to say that I scored a mention on today's Dinosaur Comics.

Cromwell: a changed dog?

Cromwell waiting patiently in the hallway before being allowed into the apartment.

Cromwell waiting until he is given permission to eat the treat.

The small dog glows with self-satisfaction

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"duplicitous and self-serving" no more: or, whither Cromwell?

Gillian once described Shackleton as "ingratiating" and Cromwell as "duplicitous and self-serving."

Cromwell will always be Cromwell, but now he's a little bit better. The trainer whose television special featured Shackleton in January (video to follow) came back this week to train Cromwell to stop "marking" in the house. When Edmond, the trainer, came into the house, Cromwell was barking and urinating all over the place. Edmond went through a series of exercises (fellow dog owners, email me for more specific information) and by the end Cromwell was sitting quietly, performing tricks on command, and too submissive to so much as look at a dog treat without my permission.

Of course, as soon as this happened, my heart broke. I spent the whole afternoon feeling miserable. What had I done? Had I crushed Cromwell's irrepressible spirit? Is a good Cromwell really Cromwell at all? If Cromwell were a perfect dog, would I secretly be disappointed in him? (Yes, probably.)

It's been a week now and while there has been some backsliding and the occasional challenge to our authority, things are getting much better. Today, Wednesday, was the first day Cromwell didn't mark a single thing all day. Still, I was happy to see him try to fight two schnauzers on his walk and then steal all of Shack's toys and hide them under the sofa. That's my Cromwell.

P.S. - Yes, Shackleton is very ingratiating when the trainer is present.

New tags on Studio Kumar

Hey everyone - just letting you know that Dev finished a big project this weekend and tagged all his excellent "best of" photos on studiokumar.com - go check it out.

How regal!

This is old news for some of you, but I did want to share this excellent oil painting of Cromwell, done by my friend Anna (www.awrightportraits.com). She kindly painted Cromwell in exchange for some work I did updating and improving her website. My plan is to hang the portrait in a heavy, ornate gilt frame and then mount it on the wall above a velvet cushion on which Cromwell can recline, as befits him. And yes, Shackleton is also in the works, in exchange for even more web work. I've been offered one or two paid web jobs, too, but payment in money pales in comparison to payment in dog portraits.

P.S.-- I will be adding Cromwell's excellent painting to Anna's website as a sample of her new expansion into animal portraits.

A new week's worth of fun is up on The Foghorn. I have also installed an RSS feed to the site, so now you can be automatically notified when new content appears here, on The Foghorn, on Studio Kumar, on my blog, on Rosemary's blog, or anywhere else. Contact me for more details.

I just finished this embroidered pillow for my sister Gillian, an homage to the excellent Dinosaur Comics.

This weekend we heard Arundhati Roy (Indian political activist and the author of 1997's Booker Prize-winning The God of Small Things) give a talk at M on the Bund in Shanghai. In a wide-ranging talk, she spoke on nuclear weapons, development, democracy, NGOs, celebrity charity, dam building, environmentalism, the BJP, and yes, Bollywood.

I wanted to point everybody to Katy Spinder's awesome new Etsy website. If you don't know, Etsy is a wonderful website that allows artists and craftspeople to sell their work online through one big clearing house. It's also a wonderful place to get jewelry, stationery, baby stuff, photographic prints, housewares, and lots of other things. Katy also has a new blog.

Be sure to check out Dev's first blog post on Studio Kumar and check back often for updates.

And there's a whole new week's worth of content up on The Foghorn, as well.

Congratulations, Summer and Andrew!

My oldest friend, Summer St. Pierre (née Wammack), and her husband just had a beautiful baby boy the night of February 28. I have known Summer since the fifth grade, and I can't wait to meet Jack David St. Pierre in Los Angeles soon.

Announcing The Foghorn

I am very happy to announce the launch of my new web project, The Foghorn. Check back every Wednesday for updates.

Check out the photos page - I added three handy new tags to make browsing easier: "family," "friends," and "pets."

Well, I'm afraid it's been a rough week. Dev and I were both very upset by the loss of the puppy, which made this week very sad.

Then, on Tuesday evening, I suddenly came down with a serious case of food poisoning. I'll spare you the details, but it was truly the sickest I have ever been in all my life. In one evening, I lost more than 7 lbs. of body weight (from water loss). I first got sick right at 6pm, when Dev was headed home from work. Around 5am I tried to drink some juice, which set it all off again, so I slept only a few hours.

Dev kindly stayed home from work on Wednesday to take care of me, and by Wednesday night I could eat small quantities of mashed potatoes and apple sauce. Today is Friday in China and I'm feeling much better and eating normal (if bland) foods, though I'm still a little weak from fasting much of the week.

One happy note to end this update: I have a number of agents interested in my novel. I have promised them to have the first draft done by June 1, so I'm keeping busy - at least, now that I'm not sick.

I am sorry to say that despite all our efforts today, the little puppy died. At least he died in a nice, warm place and not outside alone.

Hello all! As many of you have heard, Dev and I have been busy this week caring for a stray puppy. On Monday night, Dev and I were out walking our dogs when Shackleton sniffed out two tiny puppies hiding in the hedges surrounding our apartment compound. They had no collars or other identification, so we brought them upstairs. We made inquiries around the apartment, but no one claimed them. That night, we brought both puppies upstairs and set up a space for them in my office, careful to keep them away from our own dogs in case they had any communicable diseases. One puppy, Angus, seemed alert and chipper, but the other puppy, Olaf, was clearly ill and disoriented. During the night, Olaf died.

On Tuesday morning, I took Angus to the vet, where they ran some tests to determine he didn't have distemper (which is common here and which may have killed Olaf). The vet identified the puppy as a male between six and eight weeks old, weighing 2.5 pounds. To me, he looks like a Scottish terrier. At the time, Angus had no fever and seemed generally okay, but he had an upper respiratory infection (Bordetella, or "kennel cough") and so he was put on antibiotics.

That afternoon I began arranging to find him a home. I contacted about 40 of my local friends and found five or six interested people. I set up appointments with the three most serious candidates to meet the puppy.

On Tuesday afternoon, Angus was lively, affectionate, and playful. However, the combined stress of his illness and the powerful antibiotics proved to be too much for him, and by Tuesday night he was tired and weak, though still clear-eyed and friendly. He'd eaten a lot of food on Monday night, but now he refused to eat at all. We tried many things, including cream cheese, peanut butter, milk, and cooked ground beef, but with little success. The only thing he was able to ingest was warm chicken broth, which had to be spooned into his mouth or licked off your fingers. He continued to drink water, though, and did not appear seriously dehydrated.

All day Wednesday Angus refused to eat, and we continued to use the chicken broth and occasionally try to convince him to eat other foods. He was tired and ill and would often vomit. Yesterday, Thursday, I took him to the vet to find out he was worse. He now had a fever and a fecal sample revealed bits of intestinal lining. He had also lost weight. The vet switched us to some new medications and some special formulas and vitamin-rich paste foods that can be injected into his mouth via a feeding syringe.

Yesterday, we started a schedule of hourly feedings, alternating between water, several types of food supplements, and several types of medicine. Dev set up a warming bed for him, with a heat lamp and a warm pad to sleep on (we microwave a bag of dry beans and then wrap it in a towel). Of course, all his bedding, etc. must be kept strictly segregated from our own dogs, and we sanitize our hands before handling our own dogs (who are nonetheless vaccinated against Bordetella).

At midnight, he seemed extremely weak and disoriented. However, his spirit never flagged and he seemed very committed to his own recovery, still walking to his water dish or leaving his sleeping area to urinate. At midnight and at 3am, Dev and I discussed the fact that the puppy might well die, and tried to be prepared for that. But at 6am he was more alert and energetic, walking around and holding down food. At 9am this morning he accepted some food, and some medicine at 10am, without regurgitating either. It's too soon to be sure, but he appears to be getting stronger.

Everyone wish us luck, and we'll give an update again soon.

Great news! Two of my poems have been accepted by the magazine Diagram. These will be my first two published poems. The magazine will be available in print in a few months.

We are safely back from ten days in Turkey - check out our photos here. To sort through, select the tag "best."

New Year in Istanbul

After nearly 24 hours of travel and a bleak six-hour layover in Moscow, Dev and I arrived safely in Istanbul at last. Now we're on our second day of bright, pleasant weather and fresh, wonderful food. Not too bad. We'll start posting photos soon.

Snow in Shanghai