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.