Afoot at Lake Waramaug

Kumo, Hamden

Kumo in Hamden is one of the most reliable traditional sushi restaurants around. Of course, if I want something new and crazy I will go to Miya's Sushi in New Haven. But for rolls and sushi of the 'traditional' or rather the 20th century variety, I will go to Kumo every time, despite having a dozen or more sushi options in Hamden alone. It is interesting that we have so much Japanese food here in Connecticut, and so little Chinese (relatively). Does anyone know the reason for this switch of the usual ratio?

Future Authors of America

Here are some of the future novelists and poets of America - some of our creative writing majors at the University of Bridgeport. We have dozens more, and we're growing all the time.

Left to right - Michelle Calero, Michael Doran, and James Novoa.

At the annual poetry slam and literary journal release party - James Novoa giving one of his excellent readings of his long poems, which don't seem long at all when he reads them out loud...

Hot Tongue Sandwich at Katz's Deli

One of my favorite sandwiches of all time is the hot tongue sandwich at Katz's Deli in Woodbridge. No mustard, no mayo, nothing but rye bread and hot shaved beef tongue. It just melts in my mouth - the perfect lunch after a morning workout. Keep up the good work, Katz's!

At Hamden Library this Wednesday

Hope to see you this Wednesday night, April 16 at 7 pm at the Hamden Senior Center (attached to the library) where I'll be talking about Becoming Tom Thumb: Charles Stratton, P.T. Barnum, and the Dawn of American Celebrity.

After Making Love to Lord Byron

My wife's poem "After Making Love to Lord Byron on the Morning of My Thirty-Seventh Birthday" from Garbanzo, read for the epic Garbanzofest in Bethel, Connecticut.

Becoming Tom Thumb wins its First Award

Becoming Tom Thumb has won its first award, the 2014 Henry Russell Hitchcock Prize from the Victorian Society in America.

They write:

“Deeply humane and splendidly researched, we believe that Becoming Tom Thumb is the first to do justice to Charles Stratton...It shows him to be a charming and dynamic entrepreneur who shrewdly exploited his international celebrity, by no means a hapless victim, and it does so with great insight and sympathy.”

         —The Victorian Society in America, awarding the 2014 Henry Russell Hitchcock Award