Elinor Nauen

As the middle of 5 kids, with us 3 in the middle very close in age, there wasn't a lot of alone time with either parent. That's one reason that I loved to go vote with my dad. We'd go up the block to our polling place at Sioux Falls College Read More 

The laws of Rosh Hashanah come down to one: You must hear the sound of the shofar. The blasts of the shofar are intended to wake us from (spiritual) sleep, reconnect us to our religion and loved ones, and drive us to recommit to our better selves.

Blowing is a big responsibility: you are doing it on behalf of the entire congregation. There are many rules for them, such as no yawning or talking, because it is essential that they hear every sound. The blower has to have the proper intentions, and I spend a lot of time preparing to perform this mitzvah (commandment). It's not hard to get the sounds out but it's very hard to stay in the right mind. I guess that's true about everything worthwhile, no?  Read More 

A fun thing in Sioux Falls was to go to the airport, Joe Foss Field (named after the WWII flying ace, American Football League commissioner, former governor, and possibly South Dakota’s most famous native son), and watch the plane take off or land. I’d say planes, but it wasn’t exactly a  Read More 

Just found this Work o' Genius, circa 1990. Can't seem to get the rest of it up.

Along with some others in my family, I have what you might call an anti–foot fetish. We can't stand seeing people touch their feet and find those toe shoes that are all the rage nauseating. Herewith, some FootFacts as I try to replace disgust with fascination):
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Peaceful & healthy New Year, everybody.
Back on Sunday

What is so appealing about shabby? I hid on the flat roof of our garage to read. To be left alone.

Got the chance last night to see Kevin Baggott's new movie, Why do you smell like the ocean?, in an intimate setting (his apartment). Mysterious, beautiful, disturbing. The main character, a cop named Bobby Tierney (played by Kevin) isn't attractive or likeable, but you can't help but empathize with him, maybe even root for him. In a discussion afterwards, Kevin quoted James Cagney, who said either a character pets the dog or kicks the dog, and that's how you feel about him. Johnny said, in this case Tierney tried to kick the dog but missed.  Read More 

Late to the party, I’ve been catching up with Treme. Its post-Katrina New Orleans hits close, when I think about September 11 and last fall’s Superstorm Sandy. NOLA had it so much worse, but the East Village knew what it was like to be Little North Korea, cut off from services and concern.  Read More 

On the first of the month, you say Rabbits (or Rabbit, Rabbit) to ensure good luck all month. My mother is from Lancashire, where this superstition originates. My siblings, cousins and I have spread it in lots of non-English areas.

My favorite novel is Parade's End, by Ford Madox Ford. I re-read it every couple of years and about it occasionally. Even though we own 3 copies, Johnny got the Everyman edition out of the library, with an intro by Malcom Bradbury. He mentions several WWI novels, most of which I'd never heard of, among them Futility by William Gerhardie, Disenchantment by C.E. Montague, R.H. Mottram's Spanish Farm trilogy, Death of a Hero by Richard Aldington, Middle Parts of Fortune by Frederic Manning (originally published in 1929 by "Private 19022," so incendiary was it), and Read More 

I’m wearing an orange watch with a T-rex face that a young poet who was in my 2011 workshop gave me. A good poet with odd & brilliant synapses. Neither of us can figure out how to set the time.

"No one had any money left. X kept coming to see me all the time, I noticed—and then, one day, he stalled more than an hour until finally he told me what was on his mind: he would offer me his wife in exchange for ten Gauloise cigarettes." —The Last Kings of Thule, Jean Malaurie Read More 

I wanted this blog to be the means of encouraging myself to do stuff like go to the theater and look at paintings. How'd that work out? I missed the entire Fringe Festival this month both here & in Scotland, where I was invited by my cousin Meg—who is from Aberystwyth, Wales, but lives  Read More 

How much do cats vary in personality? I've been close to two in recent years, one who loved only me and one who only loves food. Are they as simple as guys?

The one who loved me

I was born & raised in South Dakota, and am a big booster for the state to this day. Since there are so few people who live there (half as many as in Manhattan alone), I suppose I feel SoDak needs me on her side. Otherwise, people tend to assume it's still a Wild West: Did you have electricity growing up, I've been asked. My husband grew up in Manhattan and calls himself a "New York provincial," saying being a kid trumps being a kid in any particular place. Read More 

I already almost couldn't walk for the last two days, thanks to intermittent bum knee(s), but my brilliant, wonderful, skilled, supportive trainer Jill—who is her own best advertisement, wow—got me through an hour of mostly upper body stuff. What fun to work out down at the track on the East River, on one of the nicest days imaginable. Just hope I get stronger & not break into a million pieces.  Read More 

One little thing. Another little thing. And then everything is totally different.

Maybe when you compliment a person for being tolerant, it’s just that his prejudices don’t clash with yours. —March 11, 1969

I've lived at the Pound since January of 1977; Maggie since the fall of '79. We named it because all those pretentious buildings had names—the Van Gogh, the Burgoyne—why not our tenement? The Ezra Pound because we like saying we live at the Pound. The Pound now has a Wall of Fame on the top floor, to honor its famous and infamous residents. A lot of artists have lived there and a few ne'er-do-wells. Not Ezra Pound, however.  Read More 

In high school, I wrote a column, called NauenThen, for the school newspaper, the Orange & Black. My two-years-younger brother went on to write NauenAgain, and my youngest sister didn’t write NauenForever. Forty years later, it occurs to me to revive that rubric for a more frequent outpouring. I’ve been wanting a deadline, to take a stand, to be interesting. Let’s see how it goes.  Read More