Christmas Letter 2014

New Things I Love - 2014

 . The Quiet Compere

 . Woodstock Poetry Festival, reading at a pub on the last night

 . Albion Beatnik Bookstore

 . Trying Dean Kayam's 5R classes at Lake Street

 . Friends of the Hall Writers' Forum

 . Crewing for Catherine Llewellyn's 5R workshops

 . Oxfam Online Bookshop volunteering

 + The Saison Poetry Library on the South Bank

 + Back Room Poets, Thursday nights in Oxford

 + Our Arabic Film Club, such a long list of films to see

 + Reuters News Oratorio by Jude Montague

 + Gardening weekends at Lower Shaw Farm

 + Swindon Poetry Festival, staying at a festival is the best thing

 + Unexpected and compelling short films in various art galleries,(go to TateShots)

 + Being read to in Arabic, even though I don't understand much

 ; Volunteer gardening at the Sutton Courtenay Environmental Education Centre

 ; Having my mother to stay, taking her to be welcomed at the cafe

 ; The Royal Sun Pub, Begbroke, welcoming on days of terrible traffic
 ; The Stare's Nest, poetry blog-zine, edited by Judi Sutherland and Cathy Dreyer

 ; Volunteering at No Two Things in Didcot

 ; IOWA How Writers Write Poetry online course

 ; Department of Continuing Education Oxford, Arabic classes 

 : iamnotasilentpoet, new poetry blog-zine edited by Reuben Woolley

 : Obsessed With Pipework - poetry magazine, I'm in there next August

 : ModPoPlus, Al Filreis's extension of ModPo

 : 52 Facebook group, based on this weekly prompts and fantastic poems blog

 : Robert Pinsky's The Art of Poetry online course
 : My brother arriving to visit, sharing food, heading to the pub
 : Wantage Poetry Festival, reading upstairs at a pub on the Market Place
 : Al-Saqi and Arthur Probsthain/SOAS book shops in London

Best of all: 2 new babies in my family.

Invitation: Join Slant 2015 before membership reaches 400 and it is closed

...

H has been reading jokes out to me:

Q: Why did the chicken cross the möbius strip? 
A: To get to the same side.

and

Helium walks into a bar and asks for a drink. The bartender says, "Sorry, we don't serve noble gases here." Helium doesn't react.