a bit busy, but I did get around to the California Poem

I have been so crazy busy since the semester began, and taking a little trip to Maui didn't exactly help.

I am now knee-deep in the kind of reading I really should have done more of this summer. And I'm nearly done with Sikelianos' California Poem, which is even more fascinating than I expected. Now I know why people have been telling me for the past year: "You have to read the California Poem!"

For one thing, it's like the work I've been doing on Butte County writ large and covering the entire state. Definitely with a lean towards Southern California, though. It's a big state, and my focus on Northern California and on farming does set me apart. Stylistically there are differences, too.

I'm glad I didn't read it until 9 or 10 months into the Valley/Ridge project. Otherwise I might feel I was being too heavily influenced by her work. As it is, I can tell she has been thinking about a lot of the issues of localism and activism that have been weighing on me for the past year.