Monday, August 22, 2011

Whaling

After a cool, damp summer the kids went back to school and right on schedule two weeks later it started to get hot as all goddamn. After the summer pool passes expired, thanks a lot. I am a devoted red wine drinker but the humidity has made this impossible. I caved and bought a bottle of white today. And it is actually great. Go, New Zealand. Go, gooseberries.

Still, summer has officially ended and it is time for me to lament never having read Moby Dick. I was in a bookstore at lunchtime and indeed they had Moby Dick, and I picked it up and checked to see the print wasn't miniscule and it was not and I pretended that wasn't happening and put it back on the shelf...

In terms of seasons it also seems to be journal reply time. I've gotten about 7-8 replies in the past week and a half, pretty evenly balanced. On the Yes pile: DMQ Review, Umbrella, Pure Francis, Verdad. Plenty of rejections, too. Have you heard about writers seeking to get 100 rejections a year? It's a quest I may join.

Want to hear the worst rejection I had this year? It came from Grey Sparrow, and I am sure I immediately tossed it, but it said something like: "We will pass on these poems. Have you read the poems at Grey Sparrow? They are exceptional." Which to me meant, "and you suck."

Anyway, at the moment I'm reading Christian Wiman's Every Riven Thing, which I got from a newspaper colleague who had no intention of reviewing it, and which I am surprised to like so much.

6 comments:

Kathleen said...

I fear to count my rejections!

I got an acceptance from Umbrella today! I sought it out because of you! Excellent guidelines, exceptional poems. (And you don't suck!)

Glad you are enjoying your reading and your white wine. Me, too.

Robert Mc said...

Congrats on the acceptances. You KNOW I am going to end up chasing the Sloat Achievement record by submitting poems to some of these places.

I bought Moby Dick--it is supposed to be my August classic read. Guess I'd better get a move on. That whale is not gonna catch itself.

NE said...

One hundred rejections a year? That's all? Still, it's interesting to track them like that. I hate, hate, hate when they say, "I think we'll pass on these." It's become the go-to phrase of rude editors.

I have made three or four false starts on MOBY DICK. When you're ready to seriously try it, let me know. I can join the voyage and we can talk each other out of jumping overboard mid-voyage. Call me Ishmael.

Re: schools and summers. Although summer doesn't officially end until the solstice on Sept. 23rd, you know and I know the first day of school (Aug. 30th for me) is the true date. For stay-at-home parents, such sweetness. For teachers....

SarahJane said...

white wine, white whales, whine woes, whale wonk...

Yeah, I'm going to read Moby Dick in late OCTOBER/NOV. It's decided. NE, I'd be pleased to read it with you! You were just digging those Patrick Leigh Fermor books, I saw. Not my thing, really, travelougues, but they sounded good.

toniclark said...

I've read Moby Dick a couple of times (high school, then college) and have a great fondness for it, though I'm sure it would be a completely different experience today. I'm a red wine drinker, too, but try to balance with a few summer whites -- lately rieslings, though we brought home some good whites from Burgundy last fall.

SarahJane said...

God, I just notice I promised to read Moby Dick. What was I thinking?
Toni - I hope you are well and not underwater!

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