My skin is pretty dry. It's rough. It's itchy. It's so rough, it manages to itch itself. That, we call, "an upside." It's also cold, my skin, but that is mostly due to it being really cold outside. Really cold. Like, my-dog-won't-even-go-outside cold.

I've been listening to a lot of old French pop and chanson music. I love the rhythm of French, and it's only amplified when it's sung, especially in the chanson tunes, which, I read, are propelled musically by the rhythm of the language. When I first heard them, I was a little like Navin Johnson in, "The Jerk."

Also, my poem, "Michigander," was recently picked up by Greying Ghost Press to be published "sometime this year." I've been a fan of this press for a couple of years now. The aesthetic of the press has always been attractive to me; both in what they print and how they do it. Though it was an open-reading, I've imagined this poem in a GGP dress for quite some time, so it is, literally, a bit of dream come true for me. Anyway, I'll be sure to pass on the exact details as they become available.

A friend of mine, Matthew Klane, is breathing here.

Another friend, David Gorin, is telling you how your breath sounds here.

Also, Letter Machine Editions friends have a couple of new books for you to buy here. Please do think about buying those books. Noah and Joshua have great ears and buying these books is like rubbing the back of your hand against them...it's a win/win.

School starts back up soon, and I couldn't be more ready. Seriously, I'm taking pictures of my own hands...