(lightbulb blnks)

Was Susan askng about the grammar? I didn't even notice - I thought it was a search for good terminology in which to sum up Anna briefly.

DUH, deb.

I would probably guess "an heiress of high birth", and avoid the sound problem you're describing, Susan. Like Deb, it took me a minute to see the problem, but once it was in my head it bounced around like a bat in a laundry basket.

Without further ado:

WANTED: One tightly-wound Judeo-Christian (or well-informed similar), any age, any sex, for passionate evenings of yellow theological struggle. Must enjoy enormous, angular, hard-muscled nudes of lower-than-average temperature. Ability to see unimportant. Please inquire @ Tate Museum, first and third Fridays, main rotunda.

(Jacob Epstein's Jacob And the Angel)

Nutty, that fucking rules!

Nutty, that was dead on.

Variation on drabble theme: Art Education

The baby nestles her silky head against my shoulder as I sway to “Ripple,” the guitar trilling in my blood, and I hum the tune in the shell of her ear. Ben stares at Schiele’s blowsy redhead in the painting on the dining room wall, and says around a forkful of potatoes, “She’s smiling funny. Maybe because one of her feet isn’t finished.” Later Jake emerges from his darkened room, squinting, the final Lord of the Rings installment in one hand, and mutters, “That was so friggin’ awesome.”

Sometimes, animal sounds, second-grade spelling, and even algebra can wait.

Those are great, Nutty and Amy.

Here's my first drabble-that-doesn't-quite-fit:

Miniature, Part One

It’s not a very good likeness. Oh, the painter knew his art well enough. He captured the color of her eyes and the set of her chin, and resisted the temptation to flatter her with a dainty nose.

Maybe it’s too old—from four years ago, long before he met her, long before adversity and hardship marked her face. It’s not quite his Anna, just the girl destined to become her.

For all that, he wears it as a talisman next to his heart. She asked him to remember her. He’ll never forget.

Man, the art-personals ad drabble is hard (for me), but I really like it as an exercise. As follows:

Know the value of a good nap? Me: pastel on canvas, still attractive at the age of 100-something, looking to share light and loveliness. You: seeking the still, simple peace of a fluffy pillow and a dozing beauty. Age and gender unimportant. Must know that the naked human body is more than a springboard for salacious sentiment. Must also appreciate the wonder of a curved and luminous human body as art in and of itself. Love of 300 thread-count bedding is optional. Contact Cincinnati Art Museum, any day except Monday. Will reply to all serious inquiries.

(Link somewhat not safe for work: Siesta, by Frank Duveneck.)

(siesta image not precisely work-friendly, FTR)

Oh, dear god. ita, thanks. That didn't even register with me, since it's "art."

Small bit of news, before details are firmed up and such.

Looks like Lea and I, in late January, will be doing a handful of readings in Orange County, Los Angeles and San Francisco.