Grief and Prospectus-ing

In doing research for the next phase in my PhD-ing, I'm trying to see if my favorite authors have anything new coming out. I really wish authors had something like IMDB, so I could see if a new book might come out-- like if something is currently filming, or in postproduction. Ruth Ozeki's writing is amazing (her novels have changed my eating patterns and God willing, will constitute a chapter of my dissertation). So looking at her website, I am compelled to link to a PDF for her most recent article, called The Art of Losing: On Writing, Dying & Mom. Like any good fan, I bought her documentary Halving the Bones and absolutely fell in love with her mother. I couldn't believe it when confronted with the cremains of her mother, she immediately started piecing through ash and bone fragments with her hands, commenting on how beautiful, how tiny and fragile the shards of her mother are. Now I feel like I've lost a loved one too, although I'm just a grad student reading, and Ozeki lost her mother over three years ago. In any case, because I share her mother's fondness for chocolate and brightly colored flowers, this is for both of them.

My next post will be happier, and will explain that in Nashville, Indiana, they grow peonies as big as your head.