Those @#% words again

I hope you know by now that I am not a word snob. I like words (a whole lot actually) but I would never boast to know all that much about them - or know all that many of them for that matter. I'm getting ready for my interview with Bill Holm right now and reading through the press materials again.

Needless to say, I'm flummoxed by the words I am seeing there. Like:

Sere - (used especially of vegetation) having lost all moisture; "dried-up grass"; "the desert was edged with sere vegetation"; "shriveled leaves on the unwatered seedlings"; "withered vines"

Polemicist - a skilled debater in speech or writing

Flummoxed - to puzzle or confuse

MN writer Bill Holm this week!

"When Americans ask me to describe my little house in Iceland, I tell them not entirely disingenuously, that it is a series of magical windows with a few simple boards to hold them up, to protect your head from the rain while you stare out to sea."

from The Window Of Brimnes - An American in Iceland by Bill Holm

Read here for information on Bill being named the 2008 McKnight Distinguished Artist of the Year.

Be Honest

Do you ever go to bookclub without having finished the book? Do you admit it? Or do you nod alot?

The KAXE bookclub is meeting this Tuesday at 5:30 and though I'm reading a lot between today and Tuesday, it's possible I'm not going to get it done.

What should I do if I don't finish it? What have you done?

Music on this week's episode

Fairly often I get asked about the music that I include in Realgoodwords. I love the conversations I get to have with authors, but I also love the putting together of a show and finding music that to me, seems just right - in theme or tone.

Hackensaw Boys - "Suns Work Undone" from Love What You Do
Emiliana Torrini - "Sunny Road" from Fisherman's Woman
Willie Nelson - "Always Seem to Get Things Wrong" from the soundtrack to the movie "The Hottest State"
Aimee Mann "Nothing is Good Enough" from the soundtrack to the movie "Magnolia"
Adrienne Young "Room To Grow" from Room to Grow

Did you want to be a ballerina when you grew up?

Me neither! Neither did Whoopi Goldberg or the main character in her new book "Sugar Plum Ballerinas - Plum Fantastic". Alexandrea Petrakova Johnson's mother always wanted to be a ballerina and enrolls her daughter in the Nutcracker School of Ballet. Alexandrea Johnson wants to play hockey or be a speed skater.

I had the chance to talk with Whoopi recently while she was on a train from New York to Washington D.C.

Tune in for our conversation this week, Wednesday evening from 6-7pm, CST or Sundaymorning from 9-10am.

Final week of the Fall Fundraiser at KAXE!

It's the Northern Observer Fall Fundraiser at KAXE and what better way to observe the world than to read? On this week's episode you'll get to hear the conversation that John Bauer and I had with Vicky Myron about her life as a librarian with a library cat. Her book is "Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat That Touched the World". We've got copies available if you pledge your support to KAXE at $10/month - $120/year or above. You'll get "Dewey" along with your regular thank you gift of a KAXE totebag or t-shirt.

Call us 218-326-1234/1-800-662-5799 or pledge online!

You'll also hear an essay by our contributor Aaron Brown. Aaron's book, "Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range" is also available as your thank-you gift for supporting independent community radio in Northern Minnesota.

What are you reading lately? In honor of Dewey Readmore Books the library cat - here's what I'm reading:

"The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak (for the KAXE bookclub discussion on 11/11/08 at 5:30pm)
"Sugar Plum Ballerinas - Plum Fantastic" by Whoopi Goldberg (I'll be talking with Whoopi later today!)
"The Windows of Brimnes: An American in Iceland" by Bill Holm
"The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry" by Kathleen Flinn

Greasy Rider on Realgoodwords tonight!

It's the fall fundraiser.... tune in tonight from 6-7 - Dan Houg (our own Grease Monkey) joins me to talk with author Greg Melville about his book, "Greasy Rider: Two Dudes, One Fast-Food-Fueled Car, and a Cross-Country Search to a Greener Future". It's the Northern Observer Fall Fundraiser at KAXE - if you pledge your support to KAXE - an independent public radio station that brings you thoughtful, in-depth interviews - at our $10/month, $120/year - you can get a copy of Greg Melville's book as an EXTRA thank-you gift. Call us 218-326-1234/800-662-5799 or pledge online.