I hope everyone will take a look at the Los Angeles Review of Books tomorrow, March 25th, when they should be printing an essay by Patrick Kurp about the history of Light Poetry Magazine...including interviews with Melissa Balmain and Mike Juster, and possibly a quote from me as well...I'm hoping this will draw a lot of new readers to LPM and light verse in general. That's the good news from here.

I've been working really, really, REALLY hard during my nine-month tenure on the board of directors of the San Diego Master Chorale. There has been a very steep learning curve.

Last weekend, we were awesome.

I'm prouder than I've ever been of any performance, even though I stayed behind the scenes and didn't even sing.

I feel invigorated, and eager to dive into the paperwork and panic of the next one.

Well done Julie, that really is something to be proud of.

Congratulations!

Wonderful, Julie. Many congrats.

This thread being bumped made me realize that I never posted this here: I've been offered a job in the philosophy department at Purdue University. I'll start as an assistant professor in the fall.

Props to you all in the LARB!

Julie, I look forward to visiting your link when I get some quiet time. Soon...

Aaron, that is big news, and not so easy these days, as I hear. Hearty congratulations!

As Michael said, congratulations to all those featured in the LARB's interesting article; congratulations, Julie, on your achievement; and congratulations, Aaron, tenure-track jobs are indeed not easy to come by these days and Purdue is a fine place just down the road from Chicago in West Lafayette.

Cheers,
John

Well done, Spherians all.

May I add a bit of a hurrah for the success of friends who have been working with local teenagers. Photographer Clémentine Schneidermann and former Welsh Businesswoman of the Year Donna Wallbank, now head of our local Rotary have done this for - and with - some of the youngsters I've prattled poetry to as part of recent local festivals.

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/ph...in-south-wales

and
https://www.vogue.com/article/this-i...arr-foundation
.

Shameless plug: my nieces (my husband's sister's kids--I can't claim to share any of their brilliant DNA) have released a new CD called "American Postcard."

You can watch them playing the first piece, John Adams's "Short Ride in a Fast Machine," here. It's a four-hand piano transcription of an orchestral piece--compare to the original version here.

You can listen to snippets of the other tracks here to determine whether the CD will be your cup of tea before purchasing on Amazon.com.

Beautiful girls... incredible piano playing... No wonder you're so proud, Julie!

Jayne

x
Julie! Such an animated, energized piece of piano playing collaboration! Really a treat to watch and listen. With any luck at all (because it always seems to take some) they will find an ever-growing audience eager for everything they've got. Thanks for this -- I will check out the CD for sure.

And although nature provides the DNA, the environment shapes it. I can't imagine that you haven't rubbed off on them : )

(I also loved the orchestral version you posted. Brilliance.)
x
x

I gave a poetry reading (and I now incorporate some magic tricks as an amateur magician; the two things go down really well together!) to the loveliest bunch of ladies I've ever met in The Women's Institute in 25 years of giving talks to them.
I have several branches of the W.I. nearby in my home town but, if I ever join, I shall travel a few extra miles and go to the one I visited last week... it's only about 15 miles away but well worth it!

Now... I want to explain something: This thread has been SO uplifting, and so many of you have shared joyous news; thank you, thank you.
(With Donald Trump and now Boris Johnson to deal with, truly good news is even more welcome.)

I have a very significant, 3-digit number that has played a big part in my life for many years, for too many reasons to go into right now... but it is 414. This post is #412, so please indulge me and let me finish this thread on my important number.

Jayne

Right,... now I'm going to start a new thread for even MORE good news!

Yay! I made it to 414, my "magical" number.

I never dreamed this thread would run for so long, so I'm going to lock it now (forgive me, but the reason is posted up above), and start a new one.

Thanks for all your wonderful news.

See you on No. 2 version.

Love to all,
Jayne