Reading

I had fun last night joining other bloggers at a live reading put together by Leah Peterson at our local Tangier Lounge down on Hillhurst in Los Feliz. I found myself sitting at a table with fellow-blogger Deezee from Confessional Highway and Laura Viera Rigler, the author of a new novel, "Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict," to be published in August by Dutton. There were about eight of us who read selections from our daily labors, and it was interesting, given the variety of tones and voices, to find a common thread: it is, I think, a confessional medium. It attracts those of us who are willing--even eager!--to expose a deep part of ourselves in the often trivial events of daily life. We usually hide behind our computers, because there's a part of us that's shy enough to want to remain anonymous, but we're drawn irresistibly to reveal ourselves in our weakest and most vulnerable moments as well as in our strength.

I'm short of time this morning. I have a final interview scheduled for my next "Art of Outrage" segment for Artscene Visual Radio, and the rest of the morning will be taken up with organizing all the sound files for editing next week. Then off to Idyllwild for a weekend at Painting's Edge, and a full week in our little cottage in Laguna Beach for the Fourth of July. I'll plan on doing some linking to my genial fellow-bloggers in the coming week. Thanks, meantime, to Leah and the blogging gang!