what i felt while cooped up inside today

oh perfect spring day
wouldst thou to stay
if i had my way
or better, a genie—
golden and whimsical
light and ephemeral—
t'would wish you to tarry,
to snooze and to dally,
since i can't come play 
whilst under the grind,
and this pile of reading
to keep up the grades
and get through the ivy.
please stick around,
until graduation day.

love,
me.

spring doth commence

...with a bowl of spring-colored peanut m&m's

...which i nearly ate all of, all by myself.

Because it seems that spring is the season for new beginnings — and because my hormones are going crazy and it seems like my hair will never have another good day again — i went out and got myself a haircut today, which, though it may not work wonders, probably makes everyone who looks at me a little happier that they no longer have to see my fuzzy, damaged ends. so, mission accomplished. also, i thought my day would get a little more cheerful if i snagged these colorful bites of crunchy heaven and what do you know, i was right. maybe a little too right, as i ended up eating probably half of them while watching some fill-in online tv (suburgatory is kind of funny, right?), while waiting for my lasagna (why yes, i am a super housewife goddess! or i could be if i could just get my degree already!) to cook. Actually, i'm quite proud of that lasagna, since i didn't have to buy a thing to make it and managed to use up all our leftovers, too. it possibly has penne noodles instead of lasagna noodles on the insides, but who really notices the insides, anyways. pasta tastes like pasta. am i right?  

You may be wondering at this point if all i do is run around shopping and cooking and having my hair done. i wish. but no, i did get up before ten and slave away on my manuscript. ooo, i love saying that. my manuscript. makes me feel all writerly. which, by the way, is WAY overrated. if you ever have the itch to write a book, do yourself a favor and just squelch it right there in its tracks. that's right. like a bug. stomp on it before it ever sees the light of the living day. or else. 

So, i did do some writing today, even though it's my 'break.'  and maybe that accounts for my bad mood the rest of the day. huummmpff. and then it was off to see the wizard behind the macy's glass counter, where i found a perfectly lovely watch that begged me to take it home, but alas, twas not to be. maybe tomorrow though.

All of that to say that today was somewhat better than bad, but certainly worse than good. if you know what i mean. the best part was watching this (i'm obsessed) with the hub, while enjoying some savory not-lasagna.

Happy First Day of Spring!

good news

45 hour review passed!!!!

after a 2 hour review/presentation of the past

year's worth of writing and the essay i wrote

last week, i have been deemed ready to continue

working toward my mfa in writing.

now all i have to worry about is my thesis ;o/ :)

(and a few more classes).

and i was so relieved/inspired that i went

home and actually worked on my story!

this is real life

an itty bitty byline in Atlanta magazine!

so here's the thing. i got my undergraduate degree

in journalism and i thought i didn't want to do that. 

but then here i am again, doing it, and i'm starting to

think that i didn't really know what i want. and probably

 i never will. cause yesterday i was thinking  

a phd in history! yeah! 

seriously. who am i kidding? i obviously just

need to get the heck out of school and write.

:)

atleast there was no mic.

reading tonight at MODA

for one of their exhibitions,

a podcast i wrote and recorded last year

for another class. 

yes, yes, i'm such an experienced

reader now.

does someone maybe want to hire me
to give readings when i graduate? ;)

my new motto. ha!

today i was reminded how nice it is to be in school,

even though i spend most of the time stressed out 

about this or that project...it's been nice to just

go into the library the past couples of days and 

get work done. 

also, if i'm this distracted with a dog, i'm so glad

i'm not going back to school with kids! 

although i'm sure that without either i'd still

find plenty of ways to procrastinate.

:)

four on the floor

lars reads a few good books: 

ursula le guin's novella the new atlantis

and j.m. coetzee's waiting for the barbarians. 

 both really good, i might add.

 

he's helping me write my 45 hour review research essay

(or so i wish). 

who am i?

favorite quote of the day:

Education is about finding out what form of work for you is close to being
play—work you do so easily that it restores you as you go.
Society has a cornucopia of resources to encourage you in doing what
society needs done but that you don't much like doing and are not cut out to
do. To ease your grief, society offers alcohol, television, drugs, divorce,
and buying, buying, buying what you don't need.
If you advance in the direction of someone else's dreams, if you want to live
someone else's life rather than yours, then get a TV for every room, buy
yourself a lifetime supply of your favorite quaff, crank up the porn
channel, and groove away.

  — Mark Edmundson from "Who Are You and What Are You Doing Here?"

 

 

obviously sort of cobbled together,

and not quite as coherent as the original

article, but what i took away is this - 

education is the time to figure out what

you want to do. not the time to just do what

society, your parents, even you yourself

have decided you should do. i did that many times

over and it never worked. hopefully this time

i am figuring it out a little bit more. and i

am so grateful for the time and opportunity

to do that. and i hope i can give my kids

that gift, too. 

 

just the beginning

writing.

this semester is quite unlike the previous 

semesters in that i have no formal classes. 

besides my internship, i'm doing an indepedent

study with one of my professors, and i've decided

to write a piece of fiction (which i'm hoping will

be good enough for my thesis). maybe you remember

that i started working on a writing project this

summer. my goal was to write everyday for

90 days and actually finish the story. it didn't happen,

but i'm trying not to beat myself up about it. 

i do, at least, have a start. and that's something.

now, i'm just trying to pick it back up.

it's quite tough. 

some days i wonder why i chose to study 

writing. i wonder why i didn't want to do something

in the medical field (esp. since nearly everyone

i know does), or why i couldn't have done something

more physical, like painting or cleaning houses. 

sometimes, physical labor sounds just so easy 

compared to writing. i know it really isn't,

and i'm sure i'd get tired of it. but sometimes, 

i'd rather do anything other than sit at my computer/

notebook and try to string together two words.

anyhow, here i am. plugging away. maybe, i'll share

some of my insights/struggles along the way (if i'm

not already worn out with the putting of the words

together;). i have no inspiration today, so if you have

any extra, feel free to send some my way!

the essentials.

saved by the bell

the end of summer quarter,

but not the end of summer yet.

i'm still looking forward to a trip

down to florida for a conference, 

a few more days of having a bedroom

separate from the living room, my first 5k,

a visit from a dear friend, nightly cricket symphonies,

reading (just) for pleasure and waking up late.

do i get a cookie?

another of my friends is starting a PhD program,

but today i'm just thankful for finishing my 

art history research paper. 

that's still good, right?

this is where i'll be...

Atlanta magazine.

where i'm going to be interning this fall.

i'm so excited! i can't believe i get to intern at 

such a cool magazine. i always thought 

magazines were much too competitive and

elusive for the likes of me...

way to go class!

launch party!

last quarter i was in a class that collaborated with

local publication, Atlanta INtown, to produce their

july issue, you may remember me talking about that. 

well, tonight we had a little launch party for the 

issue. it looks beautiful, thanks to another

SCAD student who did the cover illustration. 

and i'm proud to say that i have my name

in print in a real-life, bonafide newspaper. 

yessiree, folks. better get your autographs now.

they might be worth something someday. ;)

i want to take a moment to express my frustration 

at trying to take pictures at an event i'm also 

attending. i do such a bad job of it, and it's because

i'm so awkward. contrary to popular belief that you can "hide"

behind a camera, i find it actually makes you more conspicuous,

to wander around with a camera up to your face, instead

of mixing and mingling (which i'm also awkward at).

and so i take a few pictures really quickly, trying to make

it as unnoticeable as possible, 

feeling so rushed and awkward. and then i 

get home and wonder why i don't have better pictures.

ugh. 

not what you think ... or maybe it is

back to school with jack black. 

 

 

 

 

 no, that's not star wars. 

it's jack black as georgie from the film adaption 

of the short story "emergency" by denis johnson. 

because, 

for one of my classes this summer we're

reading a bunch of books and watching

the film adaptations. terrible, huh?

i know. it's just torture. ;)

sayanara spring quarter!

school's out!

for (three weeks)

which is not the same as for summer, 

but i'll take what i can get. 

i think this is the first day i've woken up 

happy, all quarter.  

seriously. i'm happy. ;)

 

southern writing

Garden & Gun magazine.

reading a new (to me) magazine today, 

for a class presentation. 

i think the name is hilarious, but

it's a beautiful magazine, full of

so many inspiring photos and articles:

i got sunshine...

friendly encouragement.

awhile back i celebrated compliment day,

and i got some really, really nice compliments

today from some totally awesome classmates, 

and i just have to say, they made my day. 

and that's huge for me right now. 

i can't thank Sydia and Krystal enough, 

for being so positive, encouraging and

inspiring. they're also going to be pretty famous

on tv someday. i'm sure of it.

aren't they adorable/beautiful/so cool:

Sydia Bell

Krystal Roberts

*photos stolen from their Facebook pages:)

i am ze vindow vasher...

Drakoola.

(that's how it sounds in my head)

heard of it? amazing book. 

i first heard it last fall on librivox,

and then we watched the movie. 

oh the disappointment! 

if you don't know, it's nothing like the book.

but what was i expecting? 

hollywood always gets it wrong. 

but that's okay. that's why we have books, no?

i love books.

publishing

SCAN launch party. 

Our quarterly magazine, for which I do copy editing, 

had its first real launch party tonight for our new issue. 

It was, in Rob's words, a "rousing success."

I couldn't have said it better. 

There was lots of chocolate, lots of picture-taking,

and some good conversations, which I really needed.

A&E editor, and baker extraordinaire, Malee.

Spring Issue 2011.

Amazing fellow writing grad students, Krystal & Sydia, who made my night.

where i stand up in front of people

SCAD writing competition.

in which i had to, yes, 

read in front of people, again,

for SCAD's Just Write It competition,

for which i got to write some fiction!
it was pretty cool to be recognized
alongside some other very talented writers! 

warning: blurry photos