New Poetry in PANK

Anyone who's had to listen to me lately knows that March has been a hard month around here. Dev and I both suffered from serious stomach flus, and I got a string of bad news of all kinds, delivered by everyone from doctors to literary agents to graduate school advisors.

Considering this month's rocky start, I'm all the more pleased to have four upcoming poems in PANK magazine. One of the four will be online shortly and the other three will be available in a handsome bound paper version to be released this winter.

And now, we are officially ready to bid farewell to March and get ready for some good news in April . . .

Baby Shower Photos

Sadly, the photos don't do justice to what a beautiful decorating job Mina and Suzan did, nor to what lovely gifts I received from my friends and family, but they're fun to flip through just the same. And yes, photos of Rosemary are included.

Congratulations, Zhu Yingxin

Last month Megan Shank selected Zhu Yingxin as our scholarship winner and presented her with the proceeds from the first production of "Impulse." Megan had the wise and generous idea of using proceeds from the play to create a scholarship for a young woman in China working in film or theater.

To quote Megan:

"Zhu Yingxin who is a student writer/director at Shanghai University. Zhu comes from a small city in Heilongjiang (a province in northeast China). Her father is a cop-turned-lawyer. Her mother is a housewife. She is finishing her junior year at the film academy. Zhu has already produced two short films . . . One is called 'Deliver the City' and the other 'The Summer of Wisdom' . . . One won a runner-up award in the shorts category at the Shanghai International Film Festival.

"Zhu says her main aim is to tell stories; she's particularly interested in telling women's stories, though her work would certainly appeal to general audiences. She has already begun her graduate project and is appreciative for the money, which will do much to help her produce what she believes will be her best film yet."

Thank you, Megan, and congratulations Zhu Yingxin.

Best Baby Gift Ever.

Dev and I are back from a wonderful four days in New York, visiting Travis, Aubrey, and Melissa (as well as Edward, Vanessa, Alistair, Elise, Jordan, and Grant).

While we were there, Travis and Aubrey presented us with what might just be the best baby gift ever . Thank you guys so much! and thanks to Melissa, too, for her technical advice and assistance.

24 weeks

I had another routine doctor's appointment today - everything remains on target. The infant is utterly average, in everything from heart rate to head size to body length, right down the middle all the way. Of course, it would be nice to have a remarkable child, but probably not as regards to head size.

In other news, this week we're heading to New York to see Aubrey and Travis - more soon.

22 weeks (more or less)

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Originally uploaded by misssummerblock

Congratulations, Lucas and Veronika!

Last week was spent in excited preparation for Lucas and Veronika's wedding, which was held last Sunday in Santa Monica amid a host of wedding-related events and activities. My parents and Gillian came down on Friday night and stayed through the weekend, so we all enjoyed the tea, the brunch, the reception, and all the other celebratory eating and drinking events.

And I could not be more excited that Lucas and Veronika have officially joined Team Married!

Photos to follow.