Bad Blogger

Written by Meghan Daum | 23 June 2010

Forgive me. It's been 21 days since my last blog post. Clearly, I'm not a natural at this. I'm too fussy, too neurotic. I guess I approach blogging the way I approach a column, which is to say I stew about it and put it off until I've nearly missed my deadline, at which point I get cracking. And since this thing has no deadline, well . . .

But cut me some slack. I've been on a whirlwind trip to Nebraska.

In Omaha, I did a reading at The Bookworm and then was feted by my dear friend Anna Monardo (a wonderful novelist whose books you should read!) who threw a book party for me at her house. We had such a good time that we forgot to take photos

Then on to Lincoln. As many people know too well, I lived there between 1999 and 2003. For the last three summers I've had the privilege and pleasure of teaching nonfiction at the Nebraska Summer Writers Conference. This conference is beautifully and efficiently run by Timothy Schaffert and Emily Danforth and this year offered instructors like Sigrid Nunez, Harley Jane Kozak, Kate Bernheimer, Benjamin Percy, and (also in her third year) Curtis Sittenfeld.

I had eleven students in my class. All women. All working on different styles and forms of nonfiction. They were just divine.

Here are a handful of us.

In Lincoln, I also had  stupendous fun visiting the  book club I belonged to when I lived there. They call themselves The Crows of the Cornfield. Back in 2001, they had me as a guest when their selection was My Misspent Youth. I had such a good time I joined. Later, of course, they read The Quality of Life Report (I still lived there, so they kind of had no choice.) But today, seven years after I left, they read Life Would Be Perfect If I Lived In That House and had me back as a guest. They even had the evening catered with amazing vegetarian munchies. It was a great, great night. I'm so proud to remain a crow!

below: The Crows of the Cornfield. In Laurie's backyard

below: public art in downtown Lincoln. Shades of Parks and Recreation?

below: the little house on the prairie where I lived for . . . three years? And where I wrote The Quality of Life Report.

I never get tired of that sky.

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