There's lots going on out there…

The LBC kicks off Elizabeth Poliner week. Check out Booksquare's lively entry on Mutual Life & Casualty. If you're reading along at home, stop in and join the literary fun and games. Poliner is slated to show up this week to answer some questions and talk about her book. Have a question about ML&C or for Poliner? Send it to us at the address listed above and we'll see that she gets it. (You can read our review of ML&C here. )

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere…

• TEV takes Almond's vitriol in stride. With just the right mix of dignity, astonishment and a sense of humor, Mark proves he's a class act all the way.

• Soft Skull press officially joined the blogworld. Personally, we're looking forward to the "Shameless Hussying" category.

• Kidlit meets Vidlit as Scholastic gets in on the animated action. Jeff Smith's graphic novel series BONE is the first to get the streaming video treatment. Check it out here.

• And while you're in the mood for watching cartoons, here's a few Judaica reels from my inbox: Gordon Weinberger wishes us a Happy New Year. (Word is that he's coming to Bravo Television—apparently they couldn't get by with just showing West Wing marathons and Celebrity Poker Showdown.) And Shofar Idol, for those who haven't seen it yet.

And finally, some Mary Oliver poetry I thought I would share for the New Year: 

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.