Notes from the road

In essence, this book tour has just begun, but I feel like I've been away from home for a long, long time. I'm currently in Bloomington, watching The Sox game (good guys winning 5-1) and waiting for the Pats game at 4 p.m. In an unfortunate overlap, the football game and my reading are going to coincide. Hopefully, Tom Brady can do it without me watching. It's time to take off the training wheels, Tom. You're a big boy now.

Here are some comments, observations, and all things esoteric.

• I met the world's biggest book-douche after the reading in Cincinnati. This grad student in poetry accosted me and proceeded to blab about how poetry ought to be written for an elitist audience of other poets and academics, like himself, who can understand it. Apparently, my writing is too facile for such a beautiful mind as the uber-book-douche. And poets wonder why everyone hates them and no one reads their work.
• Much to my surprise, I pronounce Louisville incorrectly. Bob Penick and Jason Jordon brought it to my attention. The locals say the word using only two-syllables.
• Micah Ling is not an Asian man, and she has a business card that says as much. She is, however, a very cool person and a fine poet.
• Bob Penick's poodle Scooter really likes me.
• The Sox have had me shaking my head, cursing under my breath, and feeling a lot like I used to feel in the pre-Pink Hat era.
• It's hard not to like Josh McDaniels; almost as hard as it is to like Bill Belicheck.
• It's my wife's birthday tomorrow. Happy birthday, honey. I miss you.
• It seems road trips were considerably easier on my body when I was 22 years-old than they are at 34 years-old. For some reason, my body now rejects Arby's. Very strange indeed.
• I'm running out of clean boxer shorts. If you're one of those people fortunate enough to step into a clean pair underwear every day of your life, you live a charmed life, my friend. It takes some real guts to go commando. Real guts.
• For here forth, we shall start calling Dave McNamara, the publisher of sunnyoutside, the ambassador. Yes. That's an esoteric reference.
• Once again: Go Sox! Go Pats! And happy birthday, Liz! Before you know it, I'll be home and annoying the shit out of you again.