Parting is Such Sweet Celebration

Let's start in the lab tonight, since the only thing on the agenda is to finish your final projects.

Current chip count, in case you're keeping score at home:
1 Doritos Spicey Sweet Chili
1 Lay's Kettle Cooked
1 Lay's Classic
1 Ruffles Original
1 Archer Farms Tortilla (insert salsa here).

Stocking Stapler

Chapbook publishers of the world, unite!

'Cause when you're fifteen and somebody tells you...

1. Personal project presentations are tonight.
2. Due to a "communication breakdown," Josh L and Kara W's chapbooks weren't available in Gayle's office until this morning.
3. After presentations, we'll head for the lab.
4. Hi, I'm Robert Plant.

Semana Catorce

Esta Noche
1. Since we have so much to finish this week (service-learning final draft and personal project first draft), let's start things off in the computer lab this week.

2. Since it is my no-longer-secret dream that you all start your own magazine or press, I want to make sure you experience mass production; therefore, you need to make catorce copies of your individual project draft to distribute for next week's peer review.

La Semana Que Viene
1. Personal project presentations/peer review

Lucky Thirteen

Dining Room
1. Service-learning presentations/peer review
2. Giblet snacks

Living Room
1. Giblit snack digestion
2. Service-learning projects due

For Next Time
1. Final project draft due

The Twelve Weeks of Eng 459

Classroom
1. Service-learning project follow-up q & a
2. Turtle doves
3. Assign final project

Computer Lab
1. Service-learning project draft due by the end of the period

For Next Time
1. Service-learning presentations/peer review (beginning of class period)
2. Service-learning projects due (end of class period)
3. French hens (sautéed with a hint of thyme & rosemary)

Most classes only go to ten...

Week 11 Agenda

Classroom
1. Discuss Lili Wright program draft
2. Re-re-re-assign service-learning project (no, really)
3. Eng 498 groveling

Lab
1. Lili Wright program due
2. Maximus dwadlus unite!
3. Service-learning project proposal due

For Next Time
1. Service-learning project draft due

Ten Spot

Classroom
1. Individual presentations conclude: Natalie (The Virginia Quarterly Review), Terri (Poetry), Josh U (Shenandoah), Jenni (Crab Orchard Review), Brandi (The Ghettysburg Review), Kristen (Zoetrope: All Story), Jason (The Missouri Review), Jamie (New England Review), Jennifer (Glimmer Train).
2. Service-learning assignment re-tooled.

Computer Lab
1. Lili Wright progam draft due
2. Literary analysis paper due date postponed until next week (11/9)
3. Max cover due.

For Next Time
1. Literary analysis paper due
2. Max wrap-up
3. Lili Wright program due.

NumbernineNumbernineNumbernineNumbernineNumbernine

Classroom
1. Begin lit mag presentations: Kara (The Paris Review), Sarah (Tin House), Josh L (Indiana Review), Breck (The Kenyon Review), Roger (Ploughshares), Casey (McSweeneys), & Mallory (Black Warrior Review).

Computer Lab
1. XX Eccentric Women program due
2. Lili Wright flyer due
3. Max printed chapbook due

For Next Time
1. Individual presentations conclude
2. Literary analysis paper due
3. Lili Wright program draft due

The Great (Week) Eight

Classroom
1. The return of Dominic Micer
2. Destination: Home's Kat Isbell
3. The New Yorker template

Laboratory
4. Eccentric Women flyer due
5. Eccentric Women program draft due
6. Lili Wright flyer draft due
7. Individual version of Max due.
8. I forget what eight was for

For Next Time
1. Begin magazine presentations: Kara, Sarah, Josh L, Breck, Natalie, Roger, Casey, Mallory
2. Printed version of Max due
3. The West Ender

Service-Learning Project Assignments

Group #1
-Kara
-Jenni M
-Jamie

Group #2
-Josh U
-Jason
-Brandi
-Jennifer R

Group #3
-Terri
-Natalie
-Kristen
-Casey

Group #4
-Breck
-Roger
-Josh L
-Mallolry

This Monkey's Gone to Seven

Opening Acts:

1. Guest baritone, Dominic Micer
2. Service learning assignment in theory
3. Literary magazine analysis in practice
4. Eccentric Women & Lili Wright flyer drafts

Main Attraction

1. Ladies & gentlemen, Max!
2. Brett Ralph program due

For Next Time

1. Complete your version of Max chapbook

Week Six

Tonight's Menu

Appetizer
1. Distribute Max and The Broken Zoo manuscripts.

Main Course
1. Discuss Casa Marina's theme and content, including individual poem selection and arrangement

Dessert
1. Quark à la mode: Brett Ralph flyer due; Brett Ralph program draft due; discuss chapbook & program layout & design.

For Next Time

1. Read Melanie Jordan full-length manuscript, The Broken Zoo, & Ghost Season chapbook
2. Read Max full-length manuscript
3. Evaluate Max overall theme and individual poem inclusion/order for chapbook-length manuscript
4. Suggest cover art/image(s)

Week 5.0

Tonight's Menu

1. Discuss standards for SIR fiction (in reference to fall 2008 and spring 2009 issues)
2. Decide fate of short story under consideration
3. Saunter to the computer lab; discuss nontraditional approach to flyers; Ralphites have flyer draft due.

Checkout these web sites:

http://www.concertposters.com/

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaposters/highlights.html

http://vintageconcertposters.com/_main/Index.cfm?page=api/gallery/view.cfm

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/10/12/50-beautiful-movie-posters/

http://www.premiere.com/List/The-25-Best-Movie-Posters-Ever/25.-Gun-Crazy


For Next Time

1. Read Casa Marina chapbook manuscript
2. Evaluate overall theme and individual poem inclusion/order
3. Suggest cover art/image(s).

Week 4 Agenda

Tonight's the Night (to)

1. Discuss obtaining your copies of other magazines.
2. Discuss poems for fall issue (which to include and in what order)
3. Team RopeWalk assignments:
-Martinets: J-mo, Kristin A, Jason O', Kara W
-Ralphites: Mallory C-S, Natalie W, Josh U, Jennifer R
-Los Eccentricities: Teri M, Breck B, Josh L, Brandi S
-Wright-ons: Jamie G, Sara J, Casey B, Roger G
4. Off to the lab for RopeWalk Visiting Writers Reading Series poster design(s).

For Next Week

1. Contact managing editors of your magazines--This is a preliminary inquiry, not an actual interview. Start by looking at what contact info is available online: do editors have individual email addresses listed, or is there a single contact address? Basically, introduce yourself and provide a little background info as to why you're emailing, and then ask if they would be available for a future interview. The primary goal at this time is just to see if someone responds to your email...and if so, how long does it take them?
2. Read short stories in fall 08 and spring 09 SIR to establish standards of acceptance.
3. Read submitted story and decide whether to accept for publication.

Week 3

Tonight's Agenda

1. SIR web color scheme (2-3 good partners for the cerulean blue).
2. Proofread your bios (stapled to the Kyoko Mori interview, unless you picked it up before I had the chance to do so...if that’s the case, there are extra copies in my mailbox).
3. Compare Mori’s excerpt of "Cardigan’s" to the original (don’t forget I gave you specific questions to address at the end of the excerpt).
4. Mark a favorite section (think paragraph) or two from the "Cardigans" excerpt to consider for promotional purposes.
5. Proofread Mallory’s interview that will be posted on the SIR web site.
6. Head to the computer lab: http://www.sarabandebooks.org/?page_id=1053

Week One Agenda

1. Introductions and Expectations
2. Discuss Kyoko Mori assignment for next time
3. SIR web page re-design colors
4. Email a brief bio (and photo, if you have one)
5. Claim your lit mag:

o Mallory: Black Warrior Review (http://www.bwr.ua.edu/)

o Jenni: Crab Orchard Review (http://craborchardreview.siuc.edu/)

o Brandi: The Gettysburg Review (http://public.gettysburg.edu/academics/gettysburg_review)

o Jennifer: Glimmer Train (http://www.glimmertrain.com/)

o Josh L: Indiana Review (http://indianareview.org/)

o Breck: The Kenyon Review (http://www.kenyonreview.org/)

o Casey: McSweeneys (http://www.mcsweeneys.net/)

o Jason: The Missouri Review (http://www.missourireview.org/)

o Unclaimed: The Mid-American Review (http://www.bgsu.edu/studentlife/organizations/midamericanreview)

o Jamie: New England Review (http://cat.middlebury.edu/~nereview)

o Kara: The Paris Review (http://www.parisreview.com/)

o Roger: Ploughshares (http://www.pshares.org/)

o Teri: Poetry (http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/index.html)

o Unclaimed: Prairie Schooner (http://prairieschooner.unl.edu/)

o Josh: Shenandoah (http://www.wlu.edu/x31904.xml)

o Sara: Tin House (http://www.tinhouse.com/index.html)

o Natalie: The Virginia Quarterly Review (http://www.vqronline.org/)

o Kristen: Zoetrope: All Story (http://www.all-story.com/)


English 459 Weekly Schedule

Week 1
-08/31: Introductions and expectations

Week 2
-09/07: Labor Day

Week 3
-09/14: SIR nonfiction & interview (Kyoko Mori); Quark software intro

Week 4
-09/21: SIR poetry; RW Reading Series flyers; Lee Martin flyer draft due
-09/24: Lee Martin RopeWalk reading

Week 5
-09/28: SIR fiction; RW Reading Series programs; Brett Ralph flyer draft due

Week 6
-10/05: RopeWalk Press chapbook Casa Marina; Brett Ralph flyer & program draft due

Week 7
-10/12: RopeWalk Press chapbook Max; Brett Ralph program due; Eccentric Women flyer draft due
-10/15: Brett Ralph RopeWalk reading

Week 8
-10/19: Individual versions of Max due; Eccentric Women flyer & program draft due; Lili Wright flyer draft due

Week 9
-10/26: Individual lit-mag presentations begin; Eccentric Women program due; Lili Wright flyer due
-10/29: Eccentric Women RopeWalk reading

Week 10
-11/02: Individual lit-mag presentations conclude; Lili Wright program draft due; Max cover due

Week 11
-11/09: Literary magazine analysis paper due; Lili Wright program due; service-learning project proposal due
-11/12: Lili Wright RopeWalk Reading

Week 12
-11/16: Service-learning project draft due; final project assigned

Week 13
-11/23: Service-learning project presentations/peer review; service-learning project due

Week 14
-11/30: Final project draft due

Week 15
-12/07: Final project presentations/peer review

Week 16 (Finals Week)
-12/14: Final project due

Keep Pilin' it on Why Don't Ya?

I hate the end of the semester because nearly every professor seems to get it into his or her head that his/her class is the only class every student is taking and it's the student's responsibility to make up all the work that the professor failed to assign the rest of the semester. It would be great if these professors would keep things in perspective; it'd make both their lives and the lives of their students a lot easier. We wouldn't have as much work to do and they wouldn't have as much half-baked work to grade.

On a semi-related note, grad school is really scaring me. I don't apply for another two years, but this next fall I have to take my GRE, which means I'll be studying for it all summer (as well as taking Cognitive Psychology while I'm in Germany, visiting parents, and studying Lifespan Development when I get back). I took a practice one a few weeks ago and got an 1100 altogether, which isn't bad at all for someone who just walked into it without studying. It wasn't a full test though, nor was it on the computer, so I definitely have some things to look over.

I'm also questioning what I want to go into. Part of me so loves literature and writing that I want to teach English for the rest of my life, but another part of me has found a new love--psychological research. I find research fascinating, and I'd love to do it for a living, especially since that would more than likely mean I get to teach Psychology as well, which would be fun. I have until the spring of next year to figure it out; otherwise I will probably have to take both the English GRE Subject Test as well as the Psychology one... just in case.

Tomorrow I need to make Ron a scroll bar today for the new SIR issue. I told him I'd do it today but I was really absent-minded. If I still had Photoshop on my computer, I would have been able to do it at home, but alas.

I can't wait for summer.

Two weeks before this semester is over, and I don't know how I feel about that, exactly. On one hand, HOORAY!, the semseter's nearly over! This means that the majority of my stress will be gone and all I have to worry about is work. On the other hand, it also means I have only two weeks to finish all my term papers that are due (and there are SEVERAL) and undergo the agony of finals. I just want it all to be over, but now is not the time to daydream about the end; now is the time to get focused and crank out the papers and cram for the tests. It's the last big battle, and I intend to come out victorious. Maybe a little bruised and exhausted, but that makes it all the more impressive. It's time to prepare for the big finale.
Another rather thrilling viewpoint on this semester's end is that it marks the end of April, which means that I have only to wait two and a half more months before I get to once again embrace my fiance. It will have been a year in July that he's been gone overseas and I have been anxious for his return and more than ready to finally have him home to stay. I have to say, this semester has kept me so busy that I was forced to concentrate more on my numerous obligations and less on the emptiness I felt. Having dated since we were freshmen in high school, the sudden separation was not an easy one, despite the fact that we knew it was coming nearly a year prior. It will be another crowning victory to have survived this long year and yet to have also grown in our relationship in leaps and bounds. Alas, the wedding date is still not set....something about financial security...I don't know. Seems a trifle to me but they say it matters.
On a more intern-ish note, there has been a steady flow of submissions for the SIR and I have to say it is exciting to open the envelopes and prepare your submissions for the readers. I often wish I received such bulging envelopes from my fiance...
Everybody on campus seems to be caught in the frenzy of last-minute cramming; I'm glad not to be the only one. Plenty of late nights await, as well as energy drinks, snacks, and books piled high around the computer, all in aid of the completion of the dreaded term papers. Wish us luck. Wish us inspiration. Wish us determination.

Wrapping up the semester!

We are wrapping up the semester and it's about time. This semester seems to have been a drag for everyone, students and faculty. You can see it on their exhausted faces. Although it was full of excitement for the interns (AWP, RopeWalk readings, MCM winner interviews, etc.) it has been difficult to get all of us interns together to collaborate on projects, but we appear to have made it into a clearing. Congratulations to Adrienne on her acceptance into Carbondale. It's going to be rough without her because she is a great help but it is time for bigger and better things.

The rest of us here are moving on to better things as well. There is a new class being offered next semester: ENG 459, a course in editing and publishing. Why it hasn't been created before is beyond me, but to have the opportunity to take the class my last semester at USI is exciting. It will be nice to work with a larger group to help smooth out the editing/publishing "problems" (this may be to strong a word) that we encountered as a smaller group. The class is filled already which is a great sign. Who knew we had so many people interested in a course like this. Most students weren't aware of the English internship opportunity and now they have the chance to prepare for it. The internship has been a great experience for me in these last couple years and I count even count the number of things I have learned.

As for the remainder of the semester, the RopeWalk Anthology is coming to a completion and the new SIR issue is on a roll. I can't wait to see how it turns out.

I guess it wouldn't be prudent to post all 20 something photos...

So I actually ended up going to Carbondale on Saturday. My parents, sister, and I loaded up and headed out to SIU to look at the campus. Luckily, they were having an orientation day for undergrads so I was able to grab one of the leaders and have her teach me the complicated method used for navigating Faner Hall. Actually, she didn't know and had to call for help, but I was able to find the English Department anyway.

The Student Center is glorious and filled with all manner of tasty, fattening things for me to enjoy and is conveniently located right next to Faner Hall so I don't have to worry about getting lost on my way to lunch during those first few days of the semester. This trashcan, by far, was the greatest thing about the Student Center:

We kept finding random Easter eggs all over campus with jokes inside. A joke: Why was the little cookie so sad? Because his mother was a wafer so long. Har har har...

I also had some appointments to check out appartments. I found the one I want (not the one I thought I'd want going by websites) and though I haven't yet, I will pay the deposit and it will be mine. It's not too far from campus, so I am excited.

The Last Reading

Norman Minnick came to USI yesterday. He attended our Poetry Workshop class, taught by none other than Matthew Graham, and gave us advice about the writing process, and, more pressing, graduate school and what to expect. He seemed like a pretty chill guy, if I must use slang, and I was pretty excited about the reading.

After I went to Poetry Workshop and Psychology of Gender, I immediately went to my friend Jenn's place where she cut and colored my hair for $5. I'm not a really picky person, so I just said, "Keep it shoulder length or longer," and let her have her way. I like the way it turned out, and got a couple compliments while at the reception. At first, it seemed the professors were going to hog all our Norman Minnick time, but he was able to make his way over to us sooner or later and we had some pretty fun discussions.

The reading itself was wonderful. Minnick has a great personality; he was very funny and I found myself laughing most of the time. I really enjoyed hearing his poetry read aloud. His poetry is very simplistic but beautiful. He lets us know exactly what we're looking at in our imagination, but invites us to see below the surface. I borrowed some money from Ron to buy a book (I grabbed all the cash I had in my room but that was only like seven dollars... Poor college student is poor) and asked him to sign it. He wrote me a very nice message on the inside. It said, "To Crystal, and the author who will blossom and continue to blossom." Reading that made me smile.

On a side note, I had chosen "Her Image" as the poem to go on the poster, and I was surprised to learn that he saw it as a sad poem. I believe he even called himself a "jerk" for not playing with his daughter.Basically what happens in the poem is that his daughter is playing with a spoon, looking at her image in it and flipping it over and back as if she's trying to trick the spoon. The last line of the poem is "Eat, I tell her." I saw it as a funny and cute picture of his daughter, and the last line elicited more of a lighthearted laugh than scorn. To each his or her own, I suppose.

In any case, I imagine that since the Ropewalk Reading Series has come to an end (for the semester anyway), most of our work will be focused on working on the next issue of SIR, logging submissions, and making sure stuff goes to the right place. That really doesn't sound too bad, though this is the time of the semester where everyone starts freaking out about final projects (thank you, Research Methods and Statistics I), papers (thank you, 20th Century Poetry), tests (thank you, German 204 and Psychology of Gender), portfolios (thank you, Poetry Workshop), and finals (thank you, Research Methods and Statistics, German 204, and Psychology of Gender). We can manage, I'm sure. We're college students; we don't need sleep!

Oh and blogging. We have to do some of that too.

SIUC

So, I made my choice about which grad school to go to. After being accepted by Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Minnesota State University Mankato, and University of Memphis, I've decided to go to SIUC. Their program is ideal for my needs and goals and the funding package is great. I have yet to hear from University of North Carolina Greensboro and Bowling Green State, but an acceptance from either one of these programs, great though they are, will not change my decision. I've gotten used to the idea of living there.

I was going to visit this weekend at attend part of the first Little Grassy Fesitival, but various things came up and I ended up not going.

So I simulated my own visit:

-Read a ridiculous chunk of their website and reviewed the list of course offerings for MFA students.

-Googled photos of the campus and looked at the map.

-E-mailed a current student and asked various questions.

-Reread a story by Pinkney Benedict from New Stories From the South and read all the poetry by the faculty that I could find on the internet.

- Checked out Craigslist and carbondalerent.com to check out apartments and cost of living in the area.

-Had my dad look at the atlas and show me how to get there in the fastest way possible for when I am able to visit.

I am pretty excited about all of this, I tell you what.

Molly Giles Reading

Molly Giles visited USI today to do her Ropewalk reading. I have to admit I wasn't familiar with her work, but she was a very personable... person... and I enjoyed talking to her during the reception. Her reading was excellent; I especially liked her poem about Noah's daughter-in-law and the short short of the father discussing the family dog with his son. The short story she read was very good as well. I was talking to Dr. Kearns after the reading and he said he was surprised at how dead-pan her expression was when she was reading, seeing as she had a lot of irony and other funny material in her pieces. I had noticed that too, and I don't think I would have been able to do that.

Um, I don't really know what else to talk about. My life, personally (which I'm sure you all care about), has been really hectic: this week I had to finish the Molly Giles program handed out during the reading and last week I installed software on the new Mac (yay for being an adaptable computer nerd!). Most of the stuff I have to do is related to being a resident assistant: Monday I had a program start (It's called The Water Challenge, see more information here), as well as census (making sure people still live there) and health and safety checks (basically making sure no one has screwed up the room so far). I also have a staff meeting to go to today, and a program tomorrow. I also have a meeting with the Housing Director and some other RAs on Friday. School-wise I'm just as busy. I was supposed to have two tests and a paper due today, but thankfully one test was moved to Friday and the due date for the paper has been moved to Monday. I also have a bunch of homework to do, Relay For Life and a practice GRE exam on Saturday, and the Honors Symposium on Sunday. Basically, my life is an eternal black hole in which all free time is devoured, never to return again, even in the form of regurgitation, also known as naps.

Okay maybe that metaphor was too heavy. Cut me some slack; it's been a long day.

Jumbled Mess

So in the SIR office we have a metal cabinet right above this computer. It has a lot of word magnets on it. Various words that I don't have the patience to list for you. But interns before me have created sentences, traditional or not, that I thought were interesting enough to share. One says, "blushing boys will bleed from the poison of blazing desires." The alliteration is cool and the meaning actually makes sense. But then there is one that says, "pierce the eye of a waking fool." And it makes me realize that maybe Gertrude Stein was right. Words don't mean a thing. Each word can be torn apart to nothing or everything at the same time and who the judge is, no one knows. 

Because I am a vain writer like so many I know, I'll share my random concoction with you. "celebrate ferocious dazzle, you child of angels." 

Take what you want, oh, judger of words. 

    Spring Break is only exciting for those who have time and money: the two things I never have enough of.  I didn't even bother to make any plans.  The secret life of this college student is mostly filled with the mundane and obligatory routines of work, school, and sleep. Not so much of the latter these days.  Needless to say I worked and studied my way through spring break. 

    I don't know why I was so anxious about going back to my classes, but I was.  I thought it would be difficult to get back into the swing of things.  Turns out, some things take more than a week to lose their swing.  And so I returned, sans renewed vigor.  

   This has been an easy semester class-wise, but very difficult in just about every other aspect.  Lots of demands for my attentions from every angle.  I'm staying on top of things now, but there is little room for relaxing, sleeping in, or slacking.  If I got behind, I'd probably never catch up.  

     Let's see, did anything exciting happen during my spring break? Mmm, no.  Just the usual.  Oh, wait!  I celebrated my twenty-second birthday. I suppose I should be happy I made it this far, what with my propensity for car accidents.  I went home to visit my parents for my birthday. When did their home become a haven?  I can remember feeling like a prisoner in that house, now it's one of those places I want to run to just to get away from everything else.  I spent time with my mother, my sister, and her three year old little girl during the day, then Mom made supper when my dad got home and then there was cake afterward. When the dishes were cleared we watched a movie; everyone was attempting to sit on the couch, including the two large dogs.  We managed to fit five people and two dogs on a couch that is supposed to only seat three. We're a close family.  As usual, Dad falls asleep on the first half-hour, Mom and my sister chat throughout the movie, and the dogs jam bony elbows and knees into our laps trying to get comfortable. It was familiar, comforting, and refreshing.  I stayed the night and left early the next day for work. Back to the grind.  

   In the meantime, I think of the future, elusive though it seems.  I plan my wedding, I write resumes in my head, I schedule next semester's classes.  Eventually, it will all get done. And then there will be more to do.  There is always more to do. 

   

    

      

Some good news for me

So, after months of waiting and more rejections than I'd like to think about, I've finally gotten some good news.

This past week I was accepted to the MFA programs at both Minnesota State University Mankato and Southern Illinois University Carbondale for fiction. I got the email from MSU and before I was even done freaking out I got the letter from SIUC. It was completely amazing and I still haven't really gotten used to the idea that not only am I lucky enough to attend an MFA program next year, I get to choose a program and funding situation that's best for me.

I haven't heard anything from MSU about funding yet, but at SIUC, as per usual, I received a teaching assistantship which gives me a tuition waiver, a nice monthly stipend, and two sections of undergrad English a year. There are many things about this program that I'm excited about. It's three years long, relatively small, gives you an opportunity to work with the Crab Orchard Review, and requires that you take at least one workshop in a different genre than you are working on.

My decision will ultimately be based on funding, I think. Though I have yet to get my funding info right from MSU and have yet to hear from five schools, I'm leaning pretty heavily toward SIUC. I think it's going to work best for me and my needs and interests, plus I'm excited about the faculty. It's going to be hard to turn down a program, but I feel good that someone from the waitlist wherever I choose not to go will get a spot. I know how hard it is to wait.

AWP was amazing, instead of details I present you with the food we ate.

The First of Many

Hello, All.
I travelled the vast, (remarkably flat) expanse of northern Indiana and crossed into the unknown of Illinois. I'd never been to Chicago or seen it even from a distance. When I did though, I looked like a little kid, bouncing around in the back of the school van, leaning over people in the annoying way everybody hates but I did it anyway because I wanted to see EVERYTHING that I could and commit it to memory. Little did I know that later I would change my mind about that.
By now the other interns will have regaled to our readers the awesome places we ate and all the different ways we managed to spend money, even though we tried not to....or at least I did. So I'll tell you about my personal experience, and hope that I do not offend or seem as small-town as I most probably am.
We entered city limits after six hours of the close, confined quarters of the van and everybody perked up and stared out the windows. I got stuck in the middle; in hindsight I should have aimed for a window seat. I was stunned by the fantastic view of the Chicago skyline rearing up before me. I stared, trying to make it seem real to me and not just another image from a movie. Movies had made this city seem familiar to me, yet it was utterly foreign.
We pulled up to our hotel and I got out and stared-straight up- there was no other direction my eyes could go. Everything was up! My eyes were used to staring out at the open fields and valleys of the South, and here the scope was more narrow, like I was looking through a rectangular tunnel towards the sky. The "L" train terrified me the first time it roared past. I squealed, but luckily no one heard me over the noise. I realized quickly that the intersections were deathtraps, the people were not exactly 'friendly conversationalists', and that I had to adapt quickly lest I be eaten for breakfast at one of the many corner bakeries.
I did, surprisingly, adapt to the pace quickly enough. Or maybe it just pulled me along. Either way, I went. I wasn't afraid to go out at night by myself and find something sweet to eat when the urge struck. I had only to cross the street anyhow. Everything was right there. Maybe there was danger and I was oblivious. I would not doubt that. There were so many windows peeking out at me as I walked through the streets. In my mind I knew that not every window had a happy scene on the other side. That's the city, I guess, and I got used to the concept rather fast. I don't think it would be hard to lose your humanity in the city. There are so many people with needs unmet, it becomes overwhelming to the point you just look away and try to ignore it all. I'd never seen a beggar in the street until now.
I had so many first experiences, I may have to blog several times this week to get it all out. I like to keep things short and interesting. If only more things were that way....like class.
The next time I blog, I'll share some more "firsts" with you and, perhaps, attempt a lighter subject than homeless people. You just don't see them in the fields of Southern Indiana, at least, not when the corn grows tall.

No infants were harmed in the writing of this blog.

I never thought so much chaos could be so much fun. Chicago is a huge change of pace from southern Indiana and I'm glad to learn that my life isn't so hectic after all. A lot of good things happened in Chicago. We gave away a lot of Spring 2008 issues of SIR in an attempt to get the word out. A lot of people also grabbed up our submission guidelines, brochures for Ropewalk, and pretended to know where Evansville was.

The volunteer work for AWP was crazy. Some of the other interns and I were placed behind the counter that contained nametags for everyone attending the conference/book fair. We're talking thousands of people. I had L-O.

Some cool people that were there: Allison Joseph, Holly Goddard Jones, Gary Fincke (though I'm upset that I never saw him), Ben Percy, Nickole Brown, and Michael Martone. Most of them stopped by our table to say hello and some were tracked down by the stalkers we are. :)

Other things that are not as literary connected: We ate at Giradono's, Miller's Pub, Tamarin, and India Grill. We didn't get to shop because most of us took taxis everywhere and ran out of money really fast. I did at least.

*Footnote regarding title: Towards the end of our ride there (6 hours with the same genious/borderline-insane people) resulted into a slip up of words--or acronym I should say. STDs was replaced with SIDS. I don't think I should explain past that.

Crystal's Perspective on the AWP Conference

After I updated all my friend details for friends on Facebook (that's 218 people, and yes I had it down to 100 but I gave up... too many people know me) my dearest cousin Sydnie reminded me I hadn't yet posted about Chicago. So here I am, posting.

Wednesday was a pretty crappy day. I woke up to it absolutely pouring outside, so I decided to drive my stuff down to the South Annex. I did so, and asked Ron where I could park my car without getting a ticket, and he said in front of the fleet, and that he was emailing Security about whose car was there and everything so they wouldn't give us tickets. So I parked in front of the fleet and went to the library to check my email before German. I got an email from Amy Price saying I needed to fill out some paperwork so I can be rehired as an RA. I figured I might as well do that before German and went back to my parking space (it was raining horizontally by this point) and what do I find when I get to my car? A ticket. Sighing, I went to Residence Life and filled out my paperwork and figured it'd probably be best for me to drive to the Parking Office and take care of my ticket, despite the fact that this would make me miss German. I went to the Parking Office, where the lady very offhandedly told me to fill out an appeal form. I was peeved, but I filled it out anyway. I then went to park my car back by my apartment, on the way realizing that I hadn't turned in my paper for Kearns' class; it was in the South Annex. I thought about printing off another copy when I got to my apartment, but then I realized that my laptop was -also- in the South Annex, so I'd have to go back anyway. I parked my car, hopped on the bus, soaking wet, and went back to campus. I decided that I should try to take my Research Methods and Statistics I test early before I went to turn in my paper, but Dr. Schuster had some stuff to do so I couldn't really do that. I went down to the SA and grabbed my paper and went to turn it in. I glanced at the paper and realized I had titled it "Paper One." Thank you, Crystal, for being a moron and forgetting to retitle your paper before turning it in. I turned in the paper and took my test (which I ended up with a 96% on).

Anyway, the trip up there was pretty funny. Ron Mitchell, Matthew Graham were the professors, and Adrienne, Marielle, Jenni, Whitney, Tristin, and I were the interns. I'm sure Ron and Matt were absolutely thrilled to be with six girls on the trip (that's sarcasm, in case you're not familiar with my writing). We drove up to Chicago, which took about six hours, and stopped at a Chinese place on the way. Somehow the lady lost the order form for us and was freaking out, saying she'd have to pay for our food if she didn't find it or something, I don't know. I mean we weren't charged extra but it was really weird. Anyway, we got there and we stayed at the Palmer House Hilton. Ron stayed at Hilton Chicago and I don't know where Graham stayed. I roomed with Marielle and Whitney.

Thursday was the first day of the AWP Conference. This was a new experience for Tristin, Whitney, and I. I think the other three had been to something like this before. Anyway, basically our job as the interns was to sit at the book fair in two hour shifts, and I took the first one. Graham stopped by every once in a while and I sat with Whitney for most of it. Then I went to help with Pre-Registration (doing that would make registration free) and when I was done I walked around the book fair for a while and got some free stuff and submission guidelines.At 7 the group went to eat some deep dish pizza. That night I stayed in the room, took a nice relaxing bath, and called Michael.

Friday I was late for my book fair shift because Marielle and (mostly) Whitney took so long to get ready, and then we went to try to find this breakfast place that ended up not existing. After my shift I went to this seminar on creating online literary communities, and then I went to a seminar with Adrienne and Jenni about writing across multiple genres. Marielle ended up not feeling well, which made me sad. That night Jenni, Adrienne, Whitney, and I ate at Miller's Pub and then Jenni, Adrienne, and I went to a reading by ZZ Packer and Joe Meno (which was amazing!) prefaced by Mucca Pazza, the punk marching band. Then we went to a flash fiction slam and Tristin joined us. The flash fiction slam was really fun, despite the fact Gertrude Stein managed to sneak up during one of the readings (not the actual Gertrude Stein, someone did a reading that was much like hers, except infinitely better) and the fact that the first guy who read made me think he was going to kill us all in our sleep. We went to the dance party that was being held a floor up, but it was boring so we left.

I actually ended up throwing up when we got back; I think it was the food at Miller's Pub. You can't tell me that it's not suspicious that Jenni's burger, Whitney's pulled pork, Adrienne's fish, and my shrimp all came out at the same time, and I mean like ten or fifteen minutes after we ordered it. We didn't think anything about it after time, but the fact that I was so violently sick makes me think that I had food poisoning. That actually lasted throughout Saturday. I tried to tough it out and go to the book fair to sit a shift, but after about thirty minutes of just sitting there I was felt really sick, so I went back. The taxi driver on the way back talked way too much and was very political, but I didn't care as long as I got back. I actually felt better near the evening, but then I ate and it came back, and gave up on trying to feel better. The girls tried to invite me to eat Indian food with them, but I think that would have had a worse effect on me than the McDonalds I ate (hey, food at the hotel would have been like 20 bucks and that was the closest thing there).

Sunday we went back; I was still feeling pretty ill after eating brunch at Maxwell's on the way back, so Ron and Graham were kind enough to give me their spot (they were switching back and forth with driving). I got dropped off at my place and then I basically just went to bed after studying for the Psychology of Gender test I had to make up yesterday (and got an 88% on). Today I had to make up the German test I missed; it didn't take very long but I hope I didn't make any stupid mistakes.

And that's Chicago. I really enjoyed going and seeing everything, even though I got sick. It was nice meeting some established writers. I've organized my submission guidelines and maybe sometime soon I'll start sending stuff out. Wish me luck!

Yay, AWP!

It's AWP time! Tomorrow Ron, Graham, and all of us interns are piling into a van (can we fit all that luggage?) and driving to Chicago. I am so excited! Things are kind of crazy in the office right now as we all try to get last minute projects rolling and ready for the conference. I think I'm finished with everything I needed to do (save this blog) and now it's time to pack. Lightly, of course. No trash bags full of shoes this year. I think it's going to be a lot of fun. I'm a little nervous about volunteering to help out with registration, but it's only a few hours of my time and it's well worth the waived registration fee that comes along with it.

I want to attend the following sessions in addition to the book fair:

R132. Multi-Genre Mentorship.

R154. Bob Hope, Joey Ramone, the Wolf Man, and Me: The Use of Pop Culture in Fiction.

R187. This is the Midwest? Landscape in Narrative.*

F138. The Duty of a Writer.

S117. Rising from the Cornfields: (Re)vising the Midwest. *

S143. Midwest Confidential. *

S173. The Steady Gaze: Writing Frankly about Sex and Sexuality in Fiction.

AND most importantly:

S193. Twenty Years in Utopia: The RopeWalk Writers Retreat Aniversary Reading. **


Sidenote: This conference coincides with the official opening of response season for MFA applicants, however, and I will be away from my mailbox, email, and I can't really answer my cell phone while working or watching a presentation. It's very frustrating. Also, many of the programs I applied to will have booths at the conference and it will be very hard for me to walk nonchalantly by and refrain from shaking the collar of the poor sap manning the thing, demanding acceptance into the program. Oh well. It will be easier to see and visit these booths still believing I have a shot at getting in than it would be to see them knowing I'd been rejected.



* I seem to be drawn to these Midwest writing sessions.
** If any of you are going to be there, please attend our session! It's sure to be amazing.

Breaking Out of the Matchbox

Okay so, I'm new at this whole blogging thing. That is my disclaimer in case I do something wrong. I've been interning at SIR since the start of this semester, so about four weeks. This is my first intern job, my first experience in the production of a publication of any sort. These days we're gearing up for a trip to Chicago to attend the AWP conference. I've never been. I've always wanted to go to Chicago; I'm a museum kind of girl and I know there are plenty of those there. However, most of my friends are not, and everytime I tried to organize a trip they were all suspiciously busy. What else is there to do? My parents were the ones who informed me of Chicago's attractions so I'm guessing they only filled me in on the things a biology teacher and an art teacher would appreciate. I'm thinking they left out a lot.
I'm told I need to layer my sweaters- we're going to Chicago in the dead of winter. I hate the cold, but it's Chicago. Need I say more? I might, actually. Or someone does. Since I've never been, I could be grossly over-estimating the city. It doesn't take much to impress me;I gape at everything when I go to Indianapolis. I probably seem very naive to those of you who know Chicago and think it's small potatoes. If so, then pretend your world was the size of a matchbox. Now imagine you were painfully aware of the confines you lived in. That's me. My parents travelled the world. I've only been to Florida. I'm embarrassed by that truth. So next week I will broaden my horizons just a little bit more, and report back to you as one who can give an interesting first impression of her first trip to the famed city of Chicago.

Well, the power's back...

You never truly appreciate the little things like taking a hot shower or sleeping in a warm bed until they get taken away. I honestly had a little bit of fun with the blackout. I felt like I was roughing it...I gathered around candles with a bunch of people and made the best of a bad situation. However, it really made me think not only about how much we take for granted, but also how dependent we've become on technology to communicate with each other. I think people were freaking out about not having charged cellphones and laptops more than not having heat! I think that says something interested and kind of sad about how, in the modern world, the devices that we base our lives around can betray us in a second...and most of us are so used to having them available that we don't have a backup plan. Well, that's all the deep thinking I've got in me for now. Oh, I am officially accepting cash donations to replace all of my food that went rotten when my fridge stopped working. I also take Visa, MaterCard and American Express. Think about it.

Busy Weeks Ahead

These past couple weeks have been sort of a blur in this office. The interns have spent several hours logging submissions to The Southern Indiana Review, Marielle and I are working on Lee K. Abbott's poster, and Tristan and Whitney have been working on the program for his Ropewalk Reading on January 29. Ron, Jenni, and Adrienne have been getting things set up for the The Association of Writers & Writing Programs (commonly known as AWP) conference in early February.

I am really excited about the coming weeks. Yes, they'll be insanely busy, but man will they be fun. I have never been to a writers' conference before, nor have I had an internship, so this entire semester is going to be filled with new experiences. I look forward to working with Ron and the other interns. We're going to have a blast.

New Semester

Well, it's the start of a new semester, coincidentally, my last here at USI. From here I will hopefully be going to graduate school and not back home to my cats (who I love very much but... grad school...).

SIR has a whole bunch of new interns this semester (Tristin, Marielle, Crystal, and Whitney), who I am sure will be introducing themselves and blogging later and it's shaping up to be a good semester. We have three great authors coming for the RopeWalk Reading Series: Lee K. Abbot, Molly Giles, and Norman Minnick. I've had a chance to pick up a book by each and can't wait to read them.

In other news, we're all excited about AWP in February and have signed up to work as volunteers. None of us have gone before so it's going to be an education experience for us all, plus it's in CHICAGO. If anyone reading our blog is going, we hope to see you at our table!