It has taken most of the summer for the reality of what's about to happen to sink in. I'm moving over a thousand miles away from my home of six years and my boyfriend of three years. The office is empty around me, except for impressions of the furniture in the carpet and an anxious spider on an exodus for cover. I just started packing but I'm almost done already--maybe the next four days won't be as hurried and busy as I anticipated. Which could be good or bad. Andy has finals this week, so we won't have much time together either way, not until Friday, when we'll start the twenty seven-hour drive.
It's been a tough summer--it's not a good time to be waiting tables. I'm thrilled that I only have two or three more shifts to work and then I get a year-long hiatus. Plus, with Andy taking Organic Chemistry and working a lot, we haven't had much time together in general. I do feel like we're doing well with what time we have, though. We're always hungry for each other, as though extra cuddling now will make up for physical absence later. When I start to think about being away from Andy at all, let alone for days, weeks, and months at a time, I hyperventilate a little. We haven't been apart for more than two weeks at a time since we met. I really don't know how we'll cope with it, both individually and as a couple. He claims to fall a little more in love with me every day--and as cheesy as it is, I feel the same way. We've had our ups and downs, but we're in such a solid place now. It's a shame that everything has to change.
However, I am also very excited for what lies ahead. I intend to make the most of these three years. I would hate to find myself heading off the podium at graduation with nothing but a degree. I want to make significant progress in my writing. I want to have some publications by the time I leave. I want to have a solid idea of what kind of career I want to pursue. I want to develop strong habits of writing regularly. I have so much hope for this degree, so many expectations. Not so many for Tuscaloosa (since the other grad students call it "Tuscalooserville.") I'm always one to like new places, but I find that if I keep my expectations low, I'm more likely to be pleasantly surprised. I await the large insects and intense humidity with apprehension.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
More News
Okay... updating that list is becoming depressing/boring/inconvenient. Here's where I'm at right now:
Accepted:
Alabama (full funding)
Hollins (partial funding)
MIA:
Virginia
Rejected:
We do not speak of these schools. These schools are dead to me. Oh! Except for Johns Hopkins. What gives, Johns Hopkins? I thought we were friends at least, but now we're not talking? Talk about bipolar.
***UPDATE: We're really coming down to it! I think once I hear from Virginia I'll be able to make my decision.***
Accepted:
Alabama (full funding)
Hollins (partial funding)
MIA:
Virginia
Rejected:
We do not speak of these schools. These schools are dead to me. Oh! Except for Johns Hopkins. What gives, Johns Hopkins? I thought we were friends at least, but now we're not talking? Talk about bipolar.
***UPDATE: We're really coming down to it! I think once I hear from Virginia I'll be able to make my decision.***
Friday, January 16, 2009
The Official List
Since all I can think about right now are grad school notifications, I might as well blog about it. Here's the official list, to be updated as I receive news from each of the schools.
I applied for an MFA in Fiction to the following:
Alabama- Accepted
Brown- Denied
California-Irvine
Hollins
Johns Hopkins- Denied
North Carolina-Greensboro- Acceptance reported 1/25. :(
Notre Dame
Oregon
Syracuse
Texas-Austin- Denied
Utah (BA to PhD track)- Denied
Virginia
Washington U-St. Louis- Denied
The acceptances should start to trickle down to the lucky candidates over the next six weeks, but most of them will hit during the first two weeks of March. Wish me luck.
I applied for an MFA in Fiction to the following:
Alabama- Accepted
Brown- Denied
California-Irvine
Hollins
Johns Hopkins- Denied
North Carolina-Greensboro- Acceptance reported 1/25. :(
Notre Dame
Oregon
Syracuse
Texas-Austin- Denied
Utah (BA to PhD track)- Denied
Virginia
Washington U-St. Louis- Denied
The acceptances should start to trickle down to the lucky candidates over the next six weeks, but most of them will hit during the first two weeks of March. Wish me luck.
Friday, December 12, 2008
The Belated "Who killed Amanda?" Post
Every now and then, I get really excited by an artist. Like when Sarah Silverman says "his brisket is beyond...beyond." Like that. I get beyond...beyond. Last year around this time, it was Regina Specter. Still quite happy about her (especially since moving from "Begin to Hope" to "Soviet Kitsch") but I've found a new love.
So I was at Amanda Palmer's concert at the Avalon, which first of all... have you ever been to the Avalon? The first act was all right, I think--and by 'I think,' I mean 'I have no effing clue,' because it sounded like they were being piped through a long tunnel lined with half-empty tuna cans.
Speaking of tuna cans, I was there with my boyfriend's boyfriend Bradley Giuliani, who gave me a sound verbal beating for whining about the cold which we waited in unnecessarily for nearly an hour before the doors opened. The venue never filled quite to capacity, unless the capacity limit heralds back to the theatre's movie days--back when Charlie Chaplin rolled his eyes up and smiled sweetly through that darling mustache.
But I digress. Venue: cold, windy, large, modestly populated. Acoustics: miserable. Opening act: ??? I do remember cracking jokes with Brad on hearing such lyrics as "I'm going down in the black elevator of death..." or something like that. Hard core emo dressed up as indie/alternative. What fun.
Second act was clearly gorgeous but obviously warped by the insufficient speakers. Zoe Keating, cellist of amazing talent who overlays her own performance aided by the marvels of modern music technology, was sufficiently amazing to make me hate the much younger audience (-than me, definitely -than Brad) when they lost patience and started talking during the second and third songs. No such restlessness was displayed later in the night, however. Oh, no.
Fortunately things seemed to go better sound-wise when AFP made her highly impossible appearance (we were assured many times that she had, in fact, died), elbowed her way through the crowd (at least that's the way Brad tells it) threw off her shroud and attacked the piano in a way that made me a bit lustful.
The Danger Ensemble, an Australian improv? troupe, illuminated her text with at times pitch-perfect performances: disturbing, delightful animatronica for "Coin Operated Boy" and crazed, coordinated fans for "Guitar Hero" (I was cynically amused to see members of the audience around me picking up on some of the moves and dancing along), sometimes bordering on melodramatic (showering fake snow on a tortured Blake for "Blake Says" and falling to the ground slow-mo for the Columbine tribute "Strength Through Music") but definitely adding to the show.
It was basically a kick-ass show. Couldn't have made me love her music more, I almost NEED it (I don't need it, I don't need it, Amanda, I swear...) but it was a great experience and left me with a different impression of the artiste than I got from the music alone, and very different than I got from the multiple music videos, all of which are available on youtube. Thank you once again Bradley (*smirk*). As always your contributions are vital.
So I was at Amanda Palmer's concert at the Avalon, which first of all... have you ever been to the Avalon? The first act was all right, I think--and by 'I think,' I mean 'I have no effing clue,' because it sounded like they were being piped through a long tunnel lined with half-empty tuna cans.
Speaking of tuna cans, I was there with my boyfriend's boyfriend Bradley Giuliani, who gave me a sound verbal beating for whining about the cold which we waited in unnecessarily for nearly an hour before the doors opened. The venue never filled quite to capacity, unless the capacity limit heralds back to the theatre's movie days--back when Charlie Chaplin rolled his eyes up and smiled sweetly through that darling mustache.
But I digress. Venue: cold, windy, large, modestly populated. Acoustics: miserable. Opening act: ??? I do remember cracking jokes with Brad on hearing such lyrics as "I'm going down in the black elevator of death..." or something like that. Hard core emo dressed up as indie/alternative. What fun.
Second act was clearly gorgeous but obviously warped by the insufficient speakers. Zoe Keating, cellist of amazing talent who overlays her own performance aided by the marvels of modern music technology, was sufficiently amazing to make me hate the much younger audience (-than me, definitely -than Brad) when they lost patience and started talking during the second and third songs. No such restlessness was displayed later in the night, however. Oh, no.
Fortunately things seemed to go better sound-wise when AFP made her highly impossible appearance (we were assured many times that she had, in fact, died), elbowed her way through the crowd (at least that's the way Brad tells it) threw off her shroud and attacked the piano in a way that made me a bit lustful.
The Danger Ensemble, an Australian improv? troupe, illuminated her text with at times pitch-perfect performances: disturbing, delightful animatronica for "Coin Operated Boy" and crazed, coordinated fans for "Guitar Hero" (I was cynically amused to see members of the audience around me picking up on some of the moves and dancing along), sometimes bordering on melodramatic (showering fake snow on a tortured Blake for "Blake Says" and falling to the ground slow-mo for the Columbine tribute "Strength Through Music") but definitely adding to the show.
It was basically a kick-ass show. Couldn't have made me love her music more, I almost NEED it (I don't need it, I don't need it, Amanda, I swear...) but it was a great experience and left me with a different impression of the artiste than I got from the music alone, and very different than I got from the multiple music videos, all of which are available on youtube. Thank you once again Bradley (*smirk*). As always your contributions are vital.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Friday, November 7, 2008
Can't we all just get along?
Okay. Here's my thinking on the gay marriage issue.
Marriage is clearly a social construct. I think everyone can agree on that, since everyone is fighting to decide what KIND of social construct it is, i.e. who can participate. Why don't we acknowledge that in our laws? As a good friend is suggesting, why don't we completely take away the right of the government to marry couples, and instead give our government the mandate to create domestic partnerships for any and all who want them?
I'm going to take his idea a step further, though. Once government-ordained marriages are illegal and a simple contract/rights package is substituted, the only ones who will continue giving "marriage certificates" are churches. And guess what? Churches can give these to/refuse these from anyone they want.
Shouldn't that make everyone happy? No church is forced to acknowledge the marriage of/perform a marriage for anyone. On the same token, everyone's partnership is acknowledged/respected by every government body. Marriage remains intact, rights remain intact. EVERYBODY WINS.
Marriage is clearly a social construct. I think everyone can agree on that, since everyone is fighting to decide what KIND of social construct it is, i.e. who can participate. Why don't we acknowledge that in our laws? As a good friend is suggesting, why don't we completely take away the right of the government to marry couples, and instead give our government the mandate to create domestic partnerships for any and all who want them?
I'm going to take his idea a step further, though. Once government-ordained marriages are illegal and a simple contract/rights package is substituted, the only ones who will continue giving "marriage certificates" are churches. And guess what? Churches can give these to/refuse these from anyone they want.
Shouldn't that make everyone happy? No church is forced to acknowledge the marriage of/perform a marriage for anyone. On the same token, everyone's partnership is acknowledged/respected by every government body. Marriage remains intact, rights remain intact. EVERYBODY WINS.
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