Checking In

So. What have I been doing, while not writing? I'm in lazy summer mode, even though we've had only a few days that qualify. I've been reading science fiction and mysteries, and watching television (science fiction and mysteries.)

The human imagination is a marvelous and limited thing. I've read two sci-fi novels recently, both written in the last decade; both positing a near future of technological marvels. But neither imagined a present in which airlines no longer serve meals.

This weekend I read Obama's The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream. I decided it was time I learn more about him. And I'm impressed. He can think; he can write. I've added his first book to my to-read list.

Speaking of books, if you like ravens, buy this one: The Raven: Soaring Through History, Legend & Lore, by Lynn Hassler from Rio Nuevo Publishers. It's charming, it's informational, it's entertaining -- and there's my Raven poem, tucked into a chapter on Ravens In Literature, along with quotes from some of the greatest writers. I.am.awed.

Another of my poems, Bell, is in this month's issue of Abalone Moon, a Journal of Poetry and the Arts.

Blogger Barbara Doduk featured some of my work on Flickr Focus Friday last week.

I notice with pleasure that Dave Pollard has included me in what he calls "MY GRAVITATIONAL COMMUNITY: People who have inspired or informed me frequently over the past few months." If I am able to inspire or inform Dave, I must be doing something right. Even if I don't know what I'm doing.

Our neighborhood is coming up: Hartman Place, Where green meets green. Actually, the neighborhood has been coming up for awhile, but still is a nice mix of students and grown-ups. This project has been in the works for some time, and I'm looking forward to seeing it go up.

Speaking of going up:

Have I mentioned that I have a cousin who's a rocket scientist? I do have a cousin who's a rocket scientist! He's the Technical Program Manager for General Dynamics, on the NASA-GLAST team:

GLAST is a powerful space observatory that will explore the most extreme environments in the universe, and search for signs of new laws of physics and what composes the mysterious dark matter, explain how black holes accelerate immense jets of material to nearly light speed, and help crack the mysteries of the staggeringly powerful explosions known as gamma-ray bursts.

I wonder what Robb would think of my sci-fi addiction? Does he share it, or might he think it, um, illogical? How can science fiction compare with what Robb is actually doing? With the questions his work seeks to answer?

Patiann Rogers once said (I'm paraphrasing) that it's the poet's job to explain science to readers, where it was once our job to explain religion. I -- an undereducated American -- don't do very well at this, I think. I look at the NASA website, and am overcome by the depth of our ambition, as humans, to understand this universe.

This unmeasurable universe.