A few weeks back, I ran across a piece of my writing from a few decades ago that was so horrendous I felt I dared not share it with you. And when I told you that, I asked that you remember what Ezra Pound had said.

Found a poem I wrote 20+ years ago about Clarion. Man, was I pretentious! I _won't_ be sharing it with you. Remember what Ezra Pound said.

— Scott Edelman (@scottedelman) June 7, 2013

I figured I should share the exact quote—but when I went looking, I couldn’t find it. And neither could my friends who know more about Pound than I ever will. Which meant the only way to track down the quote was to dig out my diaries and find the page on which I had copied it over in my own hand from a book I’d found while visiting a friend in Eugene, Oregon. (I was staying with him because we’d attended Clarion together and I was going to head over to Damon Knight and Kate Wilhelm’s house in the same city to take part in one of their famous workshops.)

Anyway, I’ve now finally found the time to locate the right diary—I’ve been keeping up with it since 1978 and so had a LOT of volumes to go through—and learned exactly why none of us could find that Pound quote, even with all the power of the Internet at our disposal.

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I wasn’t able to make it to the June George Formby Society convention in Blackpool. I suspect you weren’t able to be there either. (Well, most of you, anyway.) Luckily, David Brindley was there to film the two-day event, and he’s since cut together a couple of hours of highlights.

Check out the strumming and merriment below!

George Formby Society Convention June 2013 – Part 1 from DeeBee Web Design on Vimeo.

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Yes, I exercise—in fact, today was my 45th consecutive day of walking at least 10,000 steps/5 miles (assuming my new Fitbit Flex can be trusted, that is).

But according to this suggestion from way back in Superman #1 (which DC Comics has been giving away free via its iPad app as part of a Man of Steel promotion), I’m doing exercise all wrong!

I hope it’s not too late to change my ways.

Time to start hefting furniture over my head, I guess …

Have you seen the cover to the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly? It features a huge image of Superman zooming at the reader, above two other smaller Superman drawings plus photos of five actors who’ve played the part in movies and on TV.

Does the main drawing look familiar to you? It did to me.

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About two weeks ago, we discovered that three baby foxes had been born and were living under our shed, and since then, we’ve spotted them at least once each day. (Don’t worry, they haven’t been abandoned—we see their Mom, too, from time to time.)

Yesterday, for example, we caught two of them napping, which is just about the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.

Why were they zonked out like that? What was it that had exhausted them so?

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Last month, as usual, I remembered dozens of dreams, which guest starred Don Draper, Neil Gaiman, Raylan Givens, Captain Marvel, Danny Kaye, Tom Disch and many others.

Let’s see what we can learn by having them rub up against each other in one place, shall we?

MAY 2013

I dreamt I was in a story conference and disappointed a studio exec — Seinfeld‘s Mr. Bookman — because I didn’t know enough cop slang. 30 May

I lost a dream because I have no idea what last night’s scribbled middle-of-the-night note means: PERFORMANCE ART NOT ACCEPTED BY FANDOM 30 May

I dreamt the phone rang, and it was for @neilhimself, who was suddenly there. Someone wanted to discuss a writer’s suicide. Not sure whose. 29 May

I dreamt I was in a donut shop, and the owner tried to fill a box in front of me, but couldn’t. As a new donut was placed there, I’d eat it! 29 May

I dreamt my sister-in-law badgered my wife with basic Internet questions, like how to recover a Yahoo password, and my wife grew annoyed. 28 May

I dreamt I walked through a bar in the UK with a ukulele and was asked to play something, but was afraid I wouldn’t pull off my Formby solo. 28 May

I dreamt Irene showed me a copy of MAD in which an old comic story of mine had been reprinted, and I grumbled about not having been paid. 27 May

I dreamt I saw @MaryRobinette at Worldcon, in full Regency garb, marking up a Hugo ballot, as if voting and ceremony happened the same day. 27 May

I dreamt I was being driven home on snowy country roads, wondering whether I’d get there, when the driver received word the bridge was out. 27 May

I dreamt I was trying to get home pushing a shopping cart and somehow got trapped on skateboard ramps, going round and round, up and down. 25 May (more…)

I got my first look today at the cover to Psycho-Mania!, edited by Stephen Jones, which will contain my short story “The Trembling Living Wire.” The anthology will be published by Constable & Robinson on October 17th.

If you plan to be at the World Fantasy Convention in Brighton … I hear rumors (or should that be rumours?) there’ll be a launch party!

I’ll be there. Will you?

Because Mother Nature thought this morning’s baby foxes …

… and this afternoon’s baby birds … (more…)

I flew to Chicago last weekend for, of all things, a Vegan meal. Those who know me, and have either accompanied me or been repulsed by me eating spicy horse tartare, will wonder … why? After all, I’m the kind of guy who’s never eaten even a vegetarian meal (which I’ve surrendered to from time to time in order to go with the flow of a group) without needing to chomp into a bloody burger on the way home.

Scott eating Vegan? Has Hell frozen over?

Not quite. But Next restaurant, the chameleon-like brainchild of Grant Achatz, Nick Kokonas, and Dave Beran, where I’ve previously eaten cuisines built around Sicily, Kyoto, and The Hunt, had this time reinvented itself as a Vegan restaurant … and so I had to be there.

What could chefs operating at the level of Achatz and Beran do with only Vegan ingredients? Would the menu rise above the unsatisfying level of vegetarian food I’d experienced up until then, meals which always left me hungering for more?

This note awaiting us at the Kitchen Table made a promise …

… and that promise was fulfilled. (more…)

After my dinner Saturday night at Next restaurant—which I’ll tell you all about soon—I decided to take a postprandial hike up and down Michigan Avenue to aid in the digestion of those several dozen Vegan courses. And then—

Serendipity!

Fireworks began to explode in the sky to the east—off the Navy Pier, if I’m not mistaken—as I crossed the Michigan Avenue Bridge.

Here’s what I managed to catch of it in the distance. Apologies for the interruption caused by a passing bus which ended up trapped in front of me briefly due to a red light.

Happy belated Memorial Day!