Herbed Cream Cheese on Ritz Cracker
By Gary Russo   August 2023
 
“Despise not the day of small things”
said Zechariah, the biblical prophet
So, we will take a humble, yet perfect, Ritz cracker
and add something artful to top off it
 
Verily, verily, chopped finely,
fresh basil, marjoram, and dill,
character, color, intrigue, and flavor
in our simple canape instill
 
Only the finest cream cheese will do,
please pardon my insistency
Place cold in a bowl and with a handheld mixer
beat with the herbs just enough for a piping consistency
 
In everything simple there are always nuances,
the piping bag should not be more than half filled,
and don’t pipe too close to the edge of the cracker
or your soiled-fingered guests will be less than thrilled
 
Remove the tops and the bottoms of red and yellow bell peppers
Lay skin-side down, deseed, and remove the membrane
with a sharp slicer knife and, for perfection,
carefully, accurately, evenly plane 
 
Cut them into strips about one inch wide
and then into handsome spear-like decorations
This little extra step will help to ensure that
you exceed everyone’s expectations
 

     As almost nobody is visiting this website, and I have not received a single comment in over a month, I write these lines for myself, to read sometime in the future. I still have no idea what the reaction to this collection, if any, is going to be. I had promised to provide another "glimpse" at the poems today, so here it is. I will not do any more as it is obviously pointless. This is the illustration accompanying We Are The Blockheads. It is generative AI by Adriana entitled Portrait of a Pit Bulldog dressed in a formal business suit. Watermarks do not appear in the book.

    Notes from Oblivion has stumbled coming out of the gate. As I have said, it will probably be the middle of November before the price becomes more reasonable. At that point I will relaunch the book. It is a mischievous, amusing, and provocative collection and I am sure it will eventually become popular, if not despised. In the meantime, I'll give you a glimpse of the poems. I'll do another of these next Friday. Here is the art accompanying the poem The Debutante (opening stanza below). It is generative AI entitled Tropical elegant pink flamingo and beautiful young woman concept by Uncanny Valley. Like many of the images, I found it at the excellent online resource Adobe Stock. The watermarks do not appear in the book.

      It is going to take some time and expense to adjust the list prices for my book. I don't expect any changes for at least a month. I never thought Notes from Oblivion would have wide appeal, but the total lack of response is very challenging.

     I am taking steps to have the cost of my book at Amazon, etc. reduced. I have clearly miscalculated in my pricing of the book. I would like to get the price of a hardback down to about twenty-five dollars. I don't know how long this will take, but hopefully it will be a matter of days. Meanwhile, if you have any suggestions on how I can improve my website I would appreciate them.

A week has passed since the publication of Notes from Oblivion. I have reached out to a few of the image creators and BC Bookworld to inform them, but after several days no response. Not a single sale nor any comments. It's very early days and I'm sure things will improve.

There seems to be no interest in my book.

Notes from Oblivion has been published and is available for sale at the Friesen Press online bookstore! Here is the link: https://books.friesenpress.com/store/title/119734000354492195
It will be available at all major online booksellers within a month. I am absolutely delighted and energized. The last month has been boring and a little depressing. I couldn't bring myself to do any promotional work for something that didn't exist. But now I am going to do what I can to inform people. Except for my publisher, no one has as yet seen this book! Therefore - I am nervous:) I very much look forward to hearing from readers, assuming there will be some.

Yesterday I received, and today I have approved, the Print Ready Files for Notes from Oblivion. The book will now enter the publication queue and be available for sale next week. 

I am pleased to announce that Notes from Oblivion has  been added to the "Coming Soon" section of the Friesen Press Bookstore website. Here is the link:
https://books.friesenpress.com/store/title/119734000354492195
From this point on, I will be posting as the situation develops, rather than strictly on Tuesdays.