Though I definitely feel too old for it, I’m extra grateful for spring break this year. A solid two weeks off class at just the right time – seems like everybody’s feeling the burn this time around. I’m going back to home to metro Detroit in just a couple hours, to see family, recoup, and read Infinite Jest – again. Yeah, yeah, yeah; roll your eyes, see if I care! Bet you couldn’t even get past the first two hundred pages. It’s become something of a tradition for me to read it on *extended* visits (read: 5-9 days) to my childhood home.: no WiFi and no readily available car means quite a bit of downtime, and I’m feeling fit to finally bury D.F.W. in my mind’s eye. I’ve liked him too much for too long, and I’m going to find seams in this strange space ship even if it bores me blind.

Besides all that reading, on Friday I’ll be going to visit some folks at Detroit’s own publishing outfits DittoDitto  (a small art book publisher) and Salt & Cedar (a letterpress studio) both located in the Eastern Market, and see about potentially interning at their shops over the summer. My plan’s always been to come back to Detroit after the MFA – might as well start laying the foundation now. But S & C is especially interesting, at least to me, because Matvei Yankelevich (co-founder of Brooklyn’s Ugly Duckling Presse) is currently the resident director and principal of the collaboration between UDP and S & C, cleverly titled UDP:D.

 

Leads are tough to come by, but I’m glad to have them even if they might take me somewhere unexpected. I’ve got a few irons in the fire in Brooklyn… but I’d be a liar if I said I didn’t hear Detroit calling my name.