oh hey, guys! i say "guys" on the off chance that there is more than one person still checking this abandoned wasteland of a blog. if there's only one person checking it, then... hey, you! how ya doin', champ?
i just put a chicken in the oven. this is the first chicken i've roasted in many, many moons, and it feels nice to do something properly domestic. so let's play catch-up a bit while i wait for the first basting, shall we?
my last post of substance was in july. JULY. yikes. it feels like a lot has happened since then, and also like everything is exactly the same. lets put things under headings, shall we? because i want to, that's why.
i learned cool things!
between august and december, most of my spare time was taken up by school. (does it count as spare time if it's not actually spare?) i took a creative nonfiction writing class at one of the local universities. it was absolutely amazing. i signed up for it because my mentor/friend/professor Laura, from whom i took introduction to writing in the spring, told me i absolutely had to take a class from the professor who was teaching the class. it was actually an advanced class, but i got in even though i hadn't taken the intermediate class. it's all about who you know, right? (also, it helped that i already have an english degree.)
let it be known that i am freakishly, freakishly shy when i'm out of my element, so the people who in my class probably barely even knew i was actually there, but i was there! and i learned! and i am in awe of some of the things that i got to read when i was in that class. creative nonfiction is such an interesting genre to study, because i not only got to read beautifully-written pieces, but i also got to learn more about my fellow writers through the true stories they wrote about. goodness, people are amazing. also, my professor, Karin, was so amazing and so forgiving of my awkwardness. it took me months to actually talk to her because i was just in awe of her knowledge and her talent and her general aura of awesomeness. i'm so glad i got to take her class and learn from her. i'm also glad that i got to write about some of my personal experiences. i wrote some crazy, experimental stuff in that class, and it felt really, really good to play with language. i write so much that sometimes i forget to enjoy it.
i helped other people learn cool things!
i also got to act as a teaching assistant for my mentor/friend/professor Laura. (what do i call her? "mentor" seems cheesy, but it's really the most accurate title, i think.) it was in an intermediate poetry writing class, and i was not shy in that class. it was a really cool experience to be able to work with students and help them refine their writing styles. i got to answer questions and talk about my own writing and read some really incredible things. some of those students are going to be published frequently, i guarantee it. i have some of their poems squirreled away, just so i can have the pleasure of coming across them later and reading them again. amazing stuff, i tell you what. and i'm not going to make this all glitter and roses-- some students were difficult to work with. i won't lie. but it's weirdly easy to forget the bad parts when i look back at it. this experience actually made me think that i really could be a professor, which wasn't something i'd thought very seriously about before.
i applied to a kajillion graduate programs!
i'm so afraid to actually admit this, because i have this crippling fear that i'm not actually going to be accepted by any of them. but this took up a rather hefty portion of my free time. my writing style has changed pretty dramatically over the past year or so, so i needed to create some new portfolio pieces. i also did a lot of research trying to figure out which programs to apply to, and then there was the application process itself. yikes. and now i'm just waiting, waiting, waiting. if i don't get accepted anywhere, i'm probably just going to tell everyone that i did and go live in the woods and eat squirrels.
i was accepted to present at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research!
yep! i'm doing two presentations. one is a presentation about my experiences as an undergraduate teaching assistant. the other is a reading and discussion of my own works-- specifically poetry. yikes. YIKES. remember that part where i told you i am freakishly shy? yeaaaaah. good times. i'll get through it, though! maybe no one will come to my presentations. that would be nice. i'll just stand there and talk to myself-- ask myself the really tough questions.
i learned a new hobby!
but... i can't tell you what it is, because it's related to some people's belated christmas presents, and there is a chance those people will read this. but it's fun! yay!
and now it is time to go baste my chicken. but i'm determined to revive this here weblog, as well as my other blog-- books and biscuits. i know... the best laid plans blah blah. but i'm determined, dang it!
now stop distracting me. my chicken's going to dry out.
i just put a chicken in the oven. this is the first chicken i've roasted in many, many moons, and it feels nice to do something properly domestic. so let's play catch-up a bit while i wait for the first basting, shall we?
my last post of substance was in july. JULY. yikes. it feels like a lot has happened since then, and also like everything is exactly the same. lets put things under headings, shall we? because i want to, that's why.
i learned cool things!
between august and december, most of my spare time was taken up by school. (does it count as spare time if it's not actually spare?) i took a creative nonfiction writing class at one of the local universities. it was absolutely amazing. i signed up for it because my mentor/friend/professor Laura, from whom i took introduction to writing in the spring, told me i absolutely had to take a class from the professor who was teaching the class. it was actually an advanced class, but i got in even though i hadn't taken the intermediate class. it's all about who you know, right? (also, it helped that i already have an english degree.)
let it be known that i am freakishly, freakishly shy when i'm out of my element, so the people who in my class probably barely even knew i was actually there, but i was there! and i learned! and i am in awe of some of the things that i got to read when i was in that class. creative nonfiction is such an interesting genre to study, because i not only got to read beautifully-written pieces, but i also got to learn more about my fellow writers through the true stories they wrote about. goodness, people are amazing. also, my professor, Karin, was so amazing and so forgiving of my awkwardness. it took me months to actually talk to her because i was just in awe of her knowledge and her talent and her general aura of awesomeness. i'm so glad i got to take her class and learn from her. i'm also glad that i got to write about some of my personal experiences. i wrote some crazy, experimental stuff in that class, and it felt really, really good to play with language. i write so much that sometimes i forget to enjoy it.
i helped other people learn cool things!
i also got to act as a teaching assistant for my mentor/friend/professor Laura. (what do i call her? "mentor" seems cheesy, but it's really the most accurate title, i think.) it was in an intermediate poetry writing class, and i was not shy in that class. it was a really cool experience to be able to work with students and help them refine their writing styles. i got to answer questions and talk about my own writing and read some really incredible things. some of those students are going to be published frequently, i guarantee it. i have some of their poems squirreled away, just so i can have the pleasure of coming across them later and reading them again. amazing stuff, i tell you what. and i'm not going to make this all glitter and roses-- some students were difficult to work with. i won't lie. but it's weirdly easy to forget the bad parts when i look back at it. this experience actually made me think that i really could be a professor, which wasn't something i'd thought very seriously about before.
i applied to a kajillion graduate programs!
i'm so afraid to actually admit this, because i have this crippling fear that i'm not actually going to be accepted by any of them. but this took up a rather hefty portion of my free time. my writing style has changed pretty dramatically over the past year or so, so i needed to create some new portfolio pieces. i also did a lot of research trying to figure out which programs to apply to, and then there was the application process itself. yikes. and now i'm just waiting, waiting, waiting. if i don't get accepted anywhere, i'm probably just going to tell everyone that i did and go live in the woods and eat squirrels.
i was accepted to present at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research!
yep! i'm doing two presentations. one is a presentation about my experiences as an undergraduate teaching assistant. the other is a reading and discussion of my own works-- specifically poetry. yikes. YIKES. remember that part where i told you i am freakishly shy? yeaaaaah. good times. i'll get through it, though! maybe no one will come to my presentations. that would be nice. i'll just stand there and talk to myself-- ask myself the really tough questions.
i learned a new hobby!
but... i can't tell you what it is, because it's related to some people's belated christmas presents, and there is a chance those people will read this. but it's fun! yay!
and now it is time to go baste my chicken. but i'm determined to revive this here weblog, as well as my other blog-- books and biscuits. i know... the best laid plans blah blah. but i'm determined, dang it!
now stop distracting me. my chicken's going to dry out.
