Tilting at Windmills

Our New House
Originally uploaded by Michael_Kelleher

After casting about looking for an interesting, well-paying job to appear in a major city, a couple of applications that went nowhere, and a few monthsof living in a less violent and chaotic neighborhood than our old one, we've decided we've got it pretty good here in the Queen City. So....

We bought another house! And a fixer-upper at that!

It's on Norwood Avenue, between Summer and Bryant and features a deep back yard, front and back porches, a studio space for Lori and an office for me, plus room for guests, books, exercise equipment and various other forms of detritus. We are set to close in about three weeks and are getting ready to start work on it immediately.

In other developments, the summer of reading in Spanish continues. I just finished reading Roberto Bolaño's "Los Detectives Salvajes," which is probably the best novel I've read since I started reading novels again a few years ago. I've also read a great story by César Aira, a prolific Argentine writer, called "Cecil Taylor." My friend Greg Biglieri has been poring over his work and is also working on a translation of this particular "cuento" into English.

My current project is to read Don Quixote in Spanish. This may take the rest of my life, as I am pretty sure reading Quixote for a Spanish speaker is a bit like reading Chaucer to an English speaker. Fun when you finally get it, but a lot of work to get there.

More soon, I hope (this may turn into a home renovation blog before long)...