Laila Lalami

I am in Indianapolis today, to do an event for the Christamore House Guild. I think the event is already sold out, but just in case here is the information:

April 17, 2009
11 am - 3 pm
Christamore House Guild
Book & Author Luncheon
Indiana Roof Ballroom

Right now, I’m sitting in my hotel room, answering interview questions by email and waiting for my hosts to pick me up. More soon, I hope.

I am heading out to Santa Barbara for a literary festival there, but I did want to stop for a moment and note the passing of the great Moroccan intellectual Abdelkebir Khatibi. Maghreb Arabe Presse, the official news agency of Morocco, announced the news earlier this week. It has been many, many years since I read La Mémoire Tatouée (and I can’t seem to locate a copy; has the book gone out of print?). I remember seeing him, in his brown cloak, as he walked down the corridors of the literature building at the university; he inspired such awe in all of us. You can read notices in Al Jazeera, Le Matin, Le Monde, and El País. Pierre Joris has posted a remembrance on his blog.

How cool is this? My first link from a Hebrew-language blog. If you know what kind of blog it is or what it says, email me.

I couldn’t blog about literary matters because of this, coupled with this, and then of course this, followed by this. Plus, I’m fighting a stomach virus so don’t expect a return to blogging normalcy for a day or two.

And it’s about to be tr&egraves, tr&egraves gras, since it’s my birthday. So I’ll take off early today and see you back here tomorrow.

Of even the most dedicated bloggers. Expect more of the same for at least a couple of days. The unpacking should be finished, the house cleaned, the laptop fixed, and the blog on track by Monday. The decorating will have to wait a while.

I’ve got a chapter to write, a new book to read, kitchen floors to clean, and it’s a slow news day. Be back soon.

It rains in Portland. A lot. We knew that. We were prepared for that. But nothing could have prepared us for the bleeping blizzard we’ve been experiencing since our arrival here on Sunday. We haven’t been able to leave the house since then, due to the snow, or ice, or both. We’ve depended on the kindness of our neighbors who’ve provided us with food when our pantry turned up only two packs of mac and cheese and a can of guava paste. Fortunately, we’ve been supremely busy with the unpacking and therefore memories of warm winters in California haven’t quite resurfaced yet.

The last two days have been incredibly busy with unpacking. We’ve been working round the clock and still it feels like we’ve barely made a dent in the mountains of boxes around us. I hope things will settle down by next Monday. Till then, postings might be more sparse. And if you’ve sent me mail, please bear with me.

Number of miles travelled: 1,050.
Number of “Vote Yes on Arnold” signs: 1, seen outside the city of Red Bluff, California.
Number of “Get Us Out of The United Nations” signs: 2, both seen in Oregon.
Cost of lunch for two (including tip) at Topsie’s in Maxwell: 20.
Number of execrable but necessary cups of coffee: 5.
Speed at which we passed the Oregon Highway Patrol officer with a radar gun pointed at the freeway: 70.
Cost of a Rand McNally Road Atlas: 12.95.
Number of times we got lost: 1, when relying on Yahoo Maps for in-town driving.
Temperature when we left Los Angeles: 64.
Temperature when we arrived in Portland: 31.
Number of neighbors who came to say hello within half an hour of our arrival: 3.
Length of time (in minutes) it took to install the internet connection: 30.
Calls from the moving company: 1.
Likelihood of my blogging anything on Monday: 0.

*Read Harper’s Index here.