February 1, 2026

Happy new year! As we speak, I'm sitting on my couch with my partner watching the MTG Lorwyn Eclipsed Pro Tour coverage, on what could be the final match of the whole PT. Do I know what's happening? Not quite. But I'm happy to be included. One of my favorite things about my relationship is that we each have hobbies that the other person isn't pressured into including themselves in. It's pretty cool.

Last weekend we went to Portland OR, as he competed in an RC (and I got to wander around the city!). I had great coffee, went to the Japanese Gardens in Washington Park, went to the Lan Su Chinese Gardens and their teahouse, bought a ton of small press titles from Powell's Books, had a great time, etc etc. Lovely city. Will have to go back & rent a car so I can get out to the Tillamook factory (& nearby hiking spots, sure, but I have my priorities).

While in town, I also snuck across the border into Washington State and met up with the incredible m klein (@stone.spiral everywhere I believe) and attended an open mic at their local library. btw -- m klein runs the incredible asynchronous seasonal writing workshop To Light A Candle, and you absolutely have to sign up for it. M chooses 5 beautiful poems and provides generative prompts based on each of them -- her workshop has never failed to pull some poems out of me, inlcuding two of mine in the Michigan City Review of Books and one in Mason Jar Press's Jarnal.

That aside: The open mic was so lovely, with easily 50-60 people in attendance, and a really supportive group of local poets. This was an event I'll be keeping close to my heart for a while :)

I often don't think anyone reads my work -- kind of comforted by that thought really -- so reading to a group is confronting. My father, who reads everything I write, always responds to me with a "Well, I mean, you're publishing it, so" and he isn't wrong. But still I have a hard time imagining anyone actually reading my poems and responding, maybe even thinking about them later. But I'm wrong! I have very kind and lovely emails from strangers to prove it! I only wonder at what point this feeling goes away!

Well. I have a few readings coming up this spring that I'll put in more detail on my home page. I haven't really written anything in the last three months, so I'm slowly learning what a poem is again. I'm still underemployed, despite my efforts, but that may be changing somewhat soon; nothing's final 'till it's final, so I shant say anything else just yet. Oh! And I've started reading for Baltimore's own fifth wheel press, so send me something to read :)

If you're here, thanks for being here. Always more to come.