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 I'm not a weatherperson, one of the few professions that allows you to be wrong often and not lose your job. But I've noticed something I think is interesting. We are experiencing one of the milder, more comfortable summers I remember. Who am I referring to when I say we? I thinking of Southeastern Wisconsin with Milwaukee as my center of reference. Not only have we had fewer days of extreme heat, but we don't have any extended periods of high heat indexes (90's) and high humidity (65+ dew points). Often those uncomfortable days are sandwiched in between very pleasant ones.

We have periodic rain storms that might challenge our storm sewer capacity and cause high water levels in the streams and rivers. If there is a problem with rain, it tends to fall on weekends.

Surprise! 

I reached a publishing milestone this week. Last year I published my novel, 26 Women. My lack of promotion tempers my hope of hitting the NYT bestseller list or even long listing in one of the prestigious book awards. I didn't buy any ads on Amazon. Boswell's is our local bookstore, and I did not request to read there. I gave some copies to people I thought would give me some constructive criticism, and they did. I also had some people who bought the book comment on it.

But this week, I learned from one of my coworkers at the All Saints Hunger Book Sale that she saw a copy of my book. Intrigued by the title, she saw the author and wondered if it was me. That meant they displayed my book along with all the big shots. Nice to meet you, Mr. Gresham. How's it going, Mr. King? Enchantee, Miss Penny.

Art Report

The work on the painting of my great-granddaughter, Jonny continues. I'm not getting what I want. This painting is teaching me a lot. For example, trying to paint precisely is not helped by drinking three cups of coffee.

As for my pencil sketching, I found photos of three famous subjects in an article about the photographer, Ettlinger.

From the Studio (Apartment) of Poppa Jeff

Our Motto: Probably Crap But Better Than Expected.

Hauraki Murikami

Edna O'Brien








Walter Mosley






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