happy backness

it does feel nice to be back, to have the space and leisure to jot a bit of interiority into the electrons. now waiting for a few folks to come for dinner, some of my colleagues who also meditate at the same place i go to, andreas and fernando, and andreas's partner lisa disch, a great person. it will be a slightly weird dinner as i made a pumpkin soup w/ veg broth and a salad, but then some organic lake trout sugar-cured, cold, for the meat dish (lisa's a vegetarian), and then bread pudding for dessert, plus a cheese platter that a and l are bringing. when i had dinner at lisa's once she made exquisite food, a melon and avocado salad and stir-fried jumbo shrimp w/ black mustard seeds and all kinds of fancy stuff, and this is gonna be pretty plain. but it's all abt the people, hey, na? the doorbell shd ring at any minute. they're also bringing wine. fernando is a lusophone culture expert (just got a guggenheim whoo-hoo) and he's bringing portuguese wine.
last night saw marjane satrapi at a local church that's for sale (!). she was great. lots of high school students there, very touching, a real minnesota crowd, tall, blond and earnest, wearing home-made hats and sweaters and clapping when she made even the mildest anti-Bush observations, which most of them were. mild. sat with mark nowak and lisa arrastia, two of the best people, but why say that the world is full of excitingly fabulous people and i am glad i know some of them. some are my students, my sweet undergrads who spend $$ on poetry books!!! that are not even required!!! ok, time to go fret abt being a hostesse.