And just like that, I am finished with work for the year.
This past week was hectic but fun. Last weekend my partner and I drove to Novi so that I could attend a ConCom meeting for Magical ConFusion. While I was in the meeting Z sat in the hotel restaurant working on her business Gallafe, which she is re-launching in January.
We arrived at the hotel Saturday and immediately set out looking for food, which we found in abundance at Bi Bim Bap inside the Atrium of Novi. The food overall was very good, and the kimchi was ferociously spicy and (assisted by a hot toddy back at the hotel) scorched my cold-ridden sinuses clean. Highly recommended.
On Sunday, after the meeting, we met up with a friend at the Basil Bowl on Haggerty, which is also excellent, and offers good food for when one is recovering from a cold or a hangover.
This past Wednesday, Z and I drove over to the Frederick Meijer Gardens to experience Enlighten, which was most excellent. Fortunately the outdoor temperature Wednesday evening was considerably warmer than the past few weeks, so the two-plus hours we spend wandering the mile-long path through the installation was comfortable and enjoyable. If you have a tolerance for being outside in the snow, I highly recommend attending.
Light show at the Enlighten event at the Frederick Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids, Michigan 
Light show at the Enlighten event at the Frederick Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids, Michigan 
Light show at the Enlighten event at the Frederick Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids, Michigan 
Light show at the Enlighten event at the Frederick Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids, Michigan 
Light show at the Enlighten event at the Frederick Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Reading
I am about three quarters of the way through A Sportsman’s Notebook, and should be able to complete it by the end of the year. Then on to the next thing.
Writing
I didn’t have time to write anything new this week. However, when reviewing the links in my Literary Matters page I discovered that Coffin Bell, the online journal which published my short story “Occupied Space,” has closed. So I have now published “Occupied Space” here on my website.
Weekly Writing Prompt
Subject: Mutants, Fae
Setting: Labyrinth
Genre: Fantasy
Listening
Scott Krieger reading from his new book of poetry, Certain Lightnings.
Christine Stephens Krieger reading poems from her new book Love Garden at the End of the World.
Interesting Links
- “The 50 Biggest Literary Stories of the Year” (Emily Temple, Literary Hub)
- “America’s collapsing consumption is the world’s disenshittification opportunity” (Cory Doctorow, Pluralistic)