I’m back from a trip to Seattle and Portland where I did readings at Elliott Bay and Powell’s (on Hawthorne). These were great fun, the bookstores both awesome, and they drew my biggest crowds yet — not huge, but respectable, in the (very) low double digits. It’s kind of neat that people who’ve presumably never heard of you — or read your book — are willing to come out and on the basis of a short reading and some discussion take the risk of buying your book to read. Thanks so much to everyone who came out. I appreciate it.
While up north, I also managed to find some decent WiFi cafes where I finished the last of my PWR grading, so my summer has pretty much officially begun. I’ve got a full agenda for the next three months. Before I start my new postdoc in September, I have to complete my dissertation on postirony, teach a six week Continuing Studies novel-writing class, do research at the British Library, and attend two weddings.
I also want to finish the first draft of Hamsterstan, which I think is doable, so long as I finish my dissertation in a timely manner. If I’m genuinely hyperproductive, I’d like to finish revising an article on hipsters and Thomas Pynchon for resubmission to a literary journal and also submit a few article pitches — one on the literary origins of and culture surrounding the concept of technological Singularity and another on the ways in which Obama might be understood to be a postironic figure. And while I’m at it, I’d love to get back to blogging in a semiregular way.
Wish me luck.