It's been a while

I started a new job relatively recently, and my workdays are longer than they were. Also have been running around with visitors, getting ready for the holidays, traveling and so forth.

I recently read Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead, which is a perfectly fine book, but not what I wanted it to be. Too much teenage boy stuff. Way too much. Not nearly enough about everyone else in the book, whose characters seemed way more interesting. Probably if I'm going to read coming-of-age novels I should either stick to ones about women or expect this sort of thing.

Now I just started Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri. It's a short story collection, which is normally not my thing at all, but I love her work and it should be good for the train. The first story was excellent.

Other work other places

I recently wrote this piece for my friends' website, Bully Pulp:

http://www.bullypulp.com/articles/2011/11/29/the-culture-of-white-people.html

It's a little ... strident. People who understood what I was trying to say saw what I was getting at, but I'm thinking I could have said it better.

I also just wrote this, which was published today, on my two-year anniversary of moving to New York City:

http://rustwire.com/2011/12/05/rust-belt-expat-story-2-finding-career-that-buffalo-couldnt-offer/

I hope a lot of people read the second piece. The editor called it "relatable." I like that. I think it's the most personal piece I've published anywhere besides my own website since I was writing opinion columns for The Bona Venture back in, gasp, the 90s.