I'm a Back-a-Laureate

Or so quipped one of my friends when I came home from the hospital after back surgery. I had, as I like to call it, a back-lift. Much swankier than a face-lift, more long-lasting and more conducive to a youthful middle age.

One of the benefits of undergoing back surgery is that you have a long recuperation period. Months, actually. That's a golden ticket to a lot of time. I am actually encouraged to spend my surplus energy (whatever's not needed by that internal knitting bee that's incessantly creating a newly fused vertebra where two used to be) in reading, writing and a little gentle blogging. Really, anything recreational.

So today I surfed and made a discovery: Didi Menendez's marvelous American Poet Portraits. Ever wondered what your favorite poet really looks like, that is, when not posing in that oh-so-studious head shot for the back cover? Didi's portraits have the spontaneity of people about to say something interesting. They don't look like they're taken from the posed studio shots. I wonder where Didi finds the photos to work from -- or does she work from actual life? In which case she has met more poets than I could dream of. A multi-talent.

And not only are there fascinating pictures, but a great soundtrack. Check it out.