If you haven’t read this wonderful novel yet, do. click to buy
I picked it up because I liked the title and vaguely remembered some review, and I was completely, joyously surprised: It’s one of the best novels I’ve read in a long, long time. I haven’t read anything else by Jane Gardam. I actually had never heard of her before, but she’s written a lot. If anyone out there has another of her books to recommend, let me know. Otherwise I’ll just start randomly making my way through them. The happiness of discovering a whole new author! With an oeuvre!

Two of my favorite things: design AND dogs. When we were in Key West a few years ago, we saw some cards, which I fell in love with. I googled the maker, Barkology, because I wanted more, and I found a whole empire of smart, funny, beautifully designed caninobilia (I know that’s not a word.) Barkology is a company run by a talented dog lover named Zoe Lancaster. Sometimes I go to the site just to look around and admire. Here is an example of one line of cards called Signature:

There are great t-shirts, too. And hats. And…cats! click here!

EVERYDAY… GO TO THE WRITERS ALMANAC…
EVERYDAY!!!
(CLICK HERE)
EVERDAY!!!
And during April, Poetry Month, go to FSG Poetry (click here)for RING TONES of your favorite poets! James Schuyler speaking in your purse! There is a God.

I PAID MY TAXES TODAY, AND YOU PROBABLY DID, TOO…SO, ALLOW ME TO RECOMMEND Gekkeikan Black & Gold Sake. I AM NORMALLY NOT A BIG SAKE FAN, BUT AFTER THIS SMOOTH, DELICATE NECTAR WAS SERVED TO US BY WONDERFUL SOON-TO-BE COUSIN-IN-LAW NOAH A FEW MONTHS AGO, IT HAS BEEN ON MY MIND. AND YOU CAN AFFORD IT EVEN AFTER…TODAY.

MMMM.

These are made by Ann Wood, better known for her soul cheering birds, like this one named Abra:

She makes them from scraps of vintage fabric she’s collected, and they sell out so fast that she now offers a bird a day and tells you a day ahead when it will be available. I love them!
Go to Ann Wood’s blog (click here)
This my favorite:

An important discovery on my new favorite blog, ndozo’s It Doesn’t Suck, You Just Don’t Like It(click here):
“Some friends and I went on a hike today in Devil’s Den, a nature preserve managed by the Nature Conservancy. It was so pretty but we didn’t see many critters. We did spot this spider, and we all took pictures of it. It wasn’t until I put it onto the computer that I saw The Face. The spider has the face of the turbanned guy on the Joyva Halva pack!”

I love Halvah! Now I know why. Thanks, ndozo!

Diagramming sentences…a beautiful, beautiful thing. I thought I knew how until I read this wonderful little book. Florey diagrams a Henry James sentence! It’s exquisite. The sentence below, needless to say, is not it…

And speaking of dogs, which one does tend to do, this beautiful collie is Laurie, my very first dog. The beautiful woman is Randi Kroger, our Norwegian au pair who lived with us with her husband while he was studying engineering. I am on a sled to the right.

Here is another collie we had. He was very sweet and regal looking, but I gave him a terrible name. The Soupy Sales show was my first brush with media irony and I named this wonderful dog…Pookie. Sorry, Pookie. You deserved better.

Some people think collies look too much like Barbra Streisand. Some people think collies have pea brains squeezed into their overbread needle noses. Those people are wrong. When you’re a kid, collies are like happy, smiling, prancing body guards who happily smile and prance up to guard every body they meet. Collies rock.

Just by the way, sincesome of you asked, Hector is fine, he’s just not in New York. He is in Malibu surfing today.

I missed Hector the dog so much today that I took a walk pretending I was walking him…and pretending it was springtime. Here is what I saw:

It’s a start!

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