A Long Good Day

8 May 2012
I was up amazingly early considering my night owl tendencies. I wrote a poem, not a great poem, but a better poem than I've written in a while. The stress of being a grad student, working on my thesis (which is poetry), and a teaching assistantship burned me out in the worst way. It felt good to write that poem.

Even though I'm gutless about publishing, with all else I'm pretty ruthless. And I made much progress on my application to a PhD program, and I have happened on the most perfect job opening, so I'm scrambling to apply for that, as well. I won't be able to do both, but if the job happens, then I'll look for other, more creative, ways to get my PhD. I want a PhD in English with an emphasis in creative writing in which I would complete a creative thesis, but I haven't found many universities that offer that. So, if anyone knows of one, I'd appreciate the tip.

I spent the afternoon taking care of my sick 2-year-old grandson. He was so pitiful before his nap, snuggling into my neck and whimpering, but he woke up pretty chipper, so I took him to see Mommy at work on our way to pick up his prescriptions. My daughter, who goes to college during the day and works nights, calls me the "graycare." I may never forgive her. Thankfully, she's off tomorrow, and I'll be able to grade the last of my students' essays and finish the semester.

I'm excited to have time to read. I usually read several things concurrently (A skill I learned as a graduate student). I focus better if I have variety, but I have to watch that I'm not reading two books that are too similar or I'll mix them up. This has happened in my courses, and I've made a fool of myself more than once, having to say, "Wait, I'm sorry, I have [charater x] confused with [character y] from my other class." At which point, I wish I could dissolve into the floor, leaving my dusty remains for them to sweep up later. I started re-reading Atwood's Lady Oracle. I'd breezed through it for a course, but was so focused on key elements, I didn't have time to savor the story, and the story was one I wanted to spend time with. Undergraduate reading is the best because you have time to get the key elements and savor the story. I actually had time to read my assignments more than once. Graduate reading is hell. That's all I can say about it. I'm re-reading Hahn's The Narrow Road to the Interior, too, but I read poetry over and over and over as a matter of course. And, on deck, I'm about to start Ellis's Founding Brothers. It's a book my dad recommended, and he doesn't recommend many so I thought I'd check it out. I'll start it right after I finish reading my new issue of The New Yorker, which I finally have time to read. I finally have an ahhh... moment.