Sick Day

I woke up Sunday morning with a scratchy feeling at the back of my throat and a dull pain just behind the bridge of my nose, and I knew it wasn't going to be a good day. Gone were my plans to go to Housing Works to see Amy Hempel and Ann Beattie talk about their new short story collections, The Dog of the Marriage and Follies, followed by a quick dash to KGB where Amity Gaige would be reading from O My Darling. At least I might get to see her later this month; René Steinke, who was also on the KGB lineup, will similarly be reading again from Holy Skirts at the National Arts Club this Thursday night.

So with Mrs. Beatrice kind enough to run out to Rite Aid for tissues and to make the day's first cup of honey ginseng tea, I took over the couch and listened to the Mets game while catching up with back issues of Poets and Writers (which had a particularly interesting article on turning short fiction into a novel by Ginger Strand*), The Believer, and The Comics Journal. Somewhere in there I had the Chinese place down the street deliver a quart of chicken soup, and in the early evening I took a nap--and when I woke up from the nap, I decided to go to bed early. Fortunately I don't have any literary events scheduled until Tuesday, so let's see if we can nip this thing in the bud. In the meantime, enjoy the return of "5 Questions With..." as Rachel Kramer Bussel interrogates British pop star-turned-novelist Louise Wener.

*Who I'd probably go see at Coliseum Books Thursday night if I wasn't already committed to this National Arts Club thing, but you might want to check it out...