Do you miss me, Blogland?

I'm in Kansas City today, killing time before the cook-off opens. It's unusal that I have a day where I don't have to be at work by 9:30, so I'm enjoying the downtime. In a minute, I'm going to go sit by the pool and work on my ms. Right now, I'm on the public computer at the hotel bc I got tired of lugging my laptop around and only having five minutes to check email a day. Nobody told me that the cook-off opens at 4 here. I would have brought it if I'd know.

The pics over at Mary's (too lazy for links, you all know Mary) of the BOR Poetry Editors' meeting are making me want to cry. I'm so sick of missing all the good stuff.

So...I'm probably going to hell for this, but I may be the only person in the world who is happy about the flooding in Cedar Rapids. Don't get me wrong--my heart goes out to those who are impacted by this disaster--but it means I get a very badly needed week off. During that week off, I'll be hanging out with the family, working on poetry, and posting some pics of my crazy summer. Hopefully I'll remember to snap some of the flooding Missori river on the way home. Pretty crazy.

BOR Updates

Hey folks, lots of good stuff going on in the Owl's nest. Check it out:

• Contributor Interview # 3, with Bernadette Geyer, is up and running.
• The Masthead is growing. Welcome Adam, Tobin, John and Emily!
• And most importantly, we are now accepting submissions for BOR #2. See full guidelines here.

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In other news, I'm home for 3 whole days! I'll probably find some time during those days to write something a little more substantial.

Treading Water

I'm always glad when a semester is over, but this time, there's no peaceful break following it up. I have 9 days off before I start my whirlwind summer job and the second that slows down, I'm packing up and moving to Chicago. 9 days would be a pretty nice vacation, except it's not. Going to look for apartments next week, and trying to get some poems (and maybe a manuscript and/or a chapbook) in the mail before I start work so that I don't forget about being a poet.

There's a super exciting Barn Owl Review event tonight (check out the details over at Mary's), but for the sake of my sanity, I'm punking out. Speaking of BOR--my dear interview volunteers, I haven't forgotten you and I will be getting in touch this coming week before I start work. Bernadette Geyer is on-deck. She's been so patient and hopefully her interview will be posted by the end of next week.

So, as I mentioned above, I'm going to look for apartments next week. I'm only going to be in Chicago for a day and a half, but hopefully that's enough time to find something that A) is in my price-range and B) is not in a scary neighborhood so that I can put down a deposit. I think my stress level will drop significantly if I know I have someplace safe to live come August. I'm also a little stressed about whether or not I'm going to be in a studio or a 1 bedroom. I guess it doesn't really matter at this point, but if I'm in a studio, nephew/roommate is going to have to tap into his frat house experience and build me a loft for my bed. I'm sure I'll have photos and updates for you next week.

And as promised, here is my schedule for the summer. I know I'll be near some of my blogging buddies, and would love to see a familiar face while I'm out on the road.

May 23-26: Cleveland
May 28-31: Erie, PA
June 12-14: Winston-Salem, NC
June 20-22: Kansas City, MO
June 26-29: Cedar Rapids, Iowa
July 3-6: Naperville, IL
July 10-13: Lake in the Hills, IL
July 17-20: Des Moines, Iowa
July 24-27: Columbus, OH
August 7-10: Toledo, OH
August 29-Sept. 1: Indianapolis

Well, I think that's all. Owls, have fun tonight! Sorry I'm lame.

Gary McDowell

I've interviewed Gary McDowell for the Barn Owl Review Contributor Interview Series. Go see how brilliant he is.

Owl Updates

Hey, remember those contributor interviews I promised? The first one, with poet Jeff Newberry, is up and running.

And you probably already know about this, but BOR Editor-in-Chief, Mary B., is
Anti-'s featured poet!

It's a good day to be an owl. Not, however, a good day to dig your car out of 2' of snow.

Treats

I woke up today to find out that UA is closed. Sweet! Only problem is I had 8 hours of conferences scheduled and I am not about to reschedule them. I guess I'll make them optional.

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Saturday is the first official Barn Owl Review reading and release party. Here are the details:

Please join editors, contributors, and fans of Barn Owl Review Saturday, March 1st, for our official Cleveland release party and reading. BOR Editors-in-Chief Mary Biddinger and Jay Robinson will read with Emily Anderson (of Warbler fame), Michelle Krivanek, and Kate Sopko. Bela Dubby's is a fabulous venue, with art, coffee, and beers galore.

Saturday, March 1st
Bela Dubby's
13321 Madison Ave.
Lakewood, OH 44107

Reading starts at 9:30 pm, but swing by earlier for beer and camaraderie.

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Speaking of BOR, my definition of "soon" and others' definition may be slightly different, but my goal is to get in touch with my interview volunteers today.

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I'm imagining life in Chicago. I'm sure I'll get mugged in the first week. Country Bumpkin, what can I say? Still waiting for 3 more, though.

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There was no PhD news in the mailbox yesterday, but I did get my first issue of Prairie Schooner and Paul Guest's Notes for My Body Double. I totally forgot I ordered them, so it was a nice surprise. Also in the mail yesterday: a reimbursement check from the insurance company for when I had my car towed. So, getting the mail may not have been exciting, but it was good.

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Hey, check that out: a post with no whining. Go, me!

And Again!

Day Late, Dollar Short

I was too busy to post yesterday, but BOR (and Adam Clay) got more love from Verse Daily! This is some kind of crazy s*it. And pretty awesome.

While I'm on BOR news, the questions are almost ready, so I'll be contacting contributors very, very soon.

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I was supposed to mail my ms out today, but I'm a day late on that, too. I'm almost done proofreading, and hopefully will be ready before the post office closes tomorrow.

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Hate to tell you this, Justin, but I got no love from the University of Utah. If you're keeping track, that's 1 yes, 1 no, and 1 paperwork glitch. 4 unknowns. that's 1 yes, 2 no's, and 1 paperwork glitch. 3 unknowns. (I won't be going to WMU either). I'm crossing my fingers for at least one more yes. I want to feel like I have a choice.

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I'm going to clean and do laundry now...and then spend the rest of the weekend grading. Fun!

Contributor Interviews - Barn Owl Review

Hey Everyone! You may have gotten word via Mary's blog about the next big thing at the Barn Owl Review blog, but in case you haven't heard, I'm going to be interviewing contributors. This is in the (very) early planning stages, but I'm going to try to get it up and running ASAP. I'd like to feature some folks who haven't published a full-length book yet, but won't exclude anyone who wants to participate.

So...if you've got work in BOR #1 and want to be interviewed, please send me an email at: st (at) barnowlreview (dot) com. If you've already emailed me at another address, or if you commented on my last post, I will be getting in touch with you soon.

I'm really looking forward to getting this up and running, and to picking your brains!

P.S. We're on Verse Daily again. Congrats Matthew!

BOR on Verse Daily!

Hey ya'll, check it out! Wayne Miller's "Street Fight" (first seen in Barn Owl Review) is on Verse Daily today!

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I'm sorry for being all cryptic, but I'm superstitious. You'll know soon enough. Especially if I'm going to see you in class on Wednesday (Amy).

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I made stroganoff in the slow cooker today. Sort of. I don't like mushrooms, and that's kind of an important part of stroganoff. Or so the cook books say. Anyway, I probably won't do it again. SOS is better.

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Last year, I complained that U of A closes for Pres. Day on Tuesday. This year, I'm psyched because Tuesday is my longest teaching day. And tomorrow night, Varley is reading in Y-town. That sounds like a good day.

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One of my students is writing a paper about what her life would be like if she was born a boy. She thinks she'd be gay. She's calling the paper "Bros before Hos."

Aah, the life of an adjunct.

Snow Day!

Yes, he's cute, but more importantly, Wayne Miller writes good poems. Check out my review of Only the Senses Sleep on the Barn Owl Review Blog. Oh, and it just so happens that this review is weather-appropriate, see: There is a chill in almost every poem, a billowing wind that makes readers want to grab the nearest sweater.

Speaking of BOR, did you get your copy yet?

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It is cold and snowy today. We got sent home from UA at 12:30. Right in time for all of us to drive through the worst of the snow. It's raining now, which makes me very, very glad to be home. It sounds like someone is throwing sand at my window.

For some reason, I felt like taking pictures of my ugly gloves. I only wear these when I'm smoking in the garage. I smoke in the garage because it's no fun smoking on the porch anymore. Oh, how I miss the summer. I suppose the easier, more logical solution would be to quit smoking, but I'm not really eager to try that again. You remember what happened last time.

Anyhow, I'm excited about my short workday today, and thinking I might get some work done tonight on my manuscript. Cross your fingers for me, because those deadlines are getting closer and closer.

Oh, and speaking of deadlines, I got a letter from one of the programs I applied to--and they're not considering my application because it was incomplete. Except I can't get a hold of anyone who can tell me what was missing. Aargh! Hopefully this is the only incomplete application out there. The waiting is taking years off my life. I'd really like to know what's going on.

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I've been a bad blogging buddy lately. Congrats to you, you, and you, and get well soon to you.

Get 'em while they're hot!

Did you run out of money at AWP? Did you miss it all together?

Never fear! Barn Owl Review Issue #1 is available via PayPal. Go get one!

Because I'm bad at making decisions...

I'm just going to follow Mary around for most of AWP.

One exception--I'm holding down the BOR fort with Jay on Thursday from 8:30-2. Here are the details:

Barn Owl Review #1 will make its debut at the AWP bookfair, table 406, Americas Hall II, access from the third floor. Fabulous books from the Akron Series in Poetry, and information on the Akron Poetry Prize, will also be available at our table.

I'll also be at the NEOMFA table for a little while on Saturday (I think), representing for my alma mater. (How weird!)

Hopefully I will not forget to take pictures.

Insert catchy title here

Still bummed about Heath Ledger. Kind of sickened by the media circus (which I am, in a way, feeding), which surprises me because I'm usually all about random celebrity stalking. Maybe it's because Ledger wasn't usually in the tabloids much, so this seems unusual.

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AWP is 7 days away. I'm not ready. It seems too soon. I'm not even adjusted to the semester yet.

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I'm having to be more of a disciplinarian in my classes this semester than I have in the past. Strange to hear myself yelling (to be heard over all the errant talking, not because I'm mad).

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Borrowed this (Eric W. says it's the best book he's read in ages) and this today. Yesterday, I read this. Hopefully I'll have time to post something literary soon.

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I've been a bad, bad associate editor. I didn't tell you we got issue 1 back from the printers. Then again, most of you read Mary's blog, too, so you already knew.

I bet you want a copy real bad. I think you should pick it up next Thursday morning when I'm working the table. Don't wait around for Mary to show up in the afternoon.

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That's all. Time for bed.

Whitey's Booze'n'Burgers

Went to Whitey's last night for a friend's 30th birthday, but spent most of the evening catching up with those three (above), some of my closest friends from high school. High School was a rough time for my friends and I--a bunch of misfits who spent too much time thinking and listening to sad music. Not much has changed. On the way home, we were singing along to the oldies station, which is something we used to do back when Mike was the only one of us with a car. The biggest difference? Back in the day, we were all on the straight and narrow--no smoking, no drinking, just good Christian kids eating french fries at Eat'n'Park after youth group meetings on Wednesday nights. Hard to believe, I know.

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So school starts tomorrow, and I'm still not ready. Well, I'm ready enough. Got my Tylenol PM so I don't stay up until 2 in the morning like I have been over break. I'll be up before sunrise tomorrow morning and that is not a pleasant thought.

My first class starts at 9:55...which makes it seem like I won't need to be up all that early, but I am a victim of the Tracey curse: Just because I'm out of bed and walking around doesn't mean I'm awake. I need at least 2 hours to get the cobwebs out. It's a good thing I will never have an on-call sort of job, because I'd probably sleep through my pager.

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Did you see the Barn Owl Review proof over at Mary's place? Are you as psyched as I am to have a copy all to yourself? Just a couple more weeks.

Slipping

Uh-oh. Last Friday, I was all caught up, so I kind of took the weekend off. (You may have noticed that from my previous posts.) So far this week, I have not done a very good job of staying caught up or building back my momentum. Yesterday, I did two loads of laundry and graded about five papers, but didn't get to cross much else off my to do list. I did get to see the folks, though, and that was a very good thing.

Today will be busy. I still have to write a poem with a foreign language, a musical instrument, and some sort of romance. I also have to finalize my lesson plan (which includes reading Philip Levine's "What Work Is" and discussing how he uses description to analyze the situation ...exactly what I'm trying to teach my students to do in their second essay). Once those things are done, well, it's hard to say what to pick up next. Next week's homework or the GRE study guide? Work on my thesis or grade papers? Research PhD programs or BOR submissions? I have very little planned for the rest of the week, so hopefully there will be time for all of it. But for some reason, I don't think there will be.

Yesterday it was almost 90 degrees, but today feels like fall. I keep saying, "this may be the last warm day of the year," and then it gets warmer. I guess that's good. If summer keeps holding on, does that mean winter will be shorter? Ha! I've lived in Ohio long enough to know that winter is always 6 months long! If it doesn't start until January, it'll still be cold in June. (Allright, there may be a slight hyperbole in that last sentence, but it feels like six months!)

Hey, did you hear? There's a new list of contributors up at the Barn Owl Review blog.

The Beans

Mary spilled 'em. My exciting news is that I have joined the editorial staff of Barn Owl Review. I'm so happy to be a part of this awesome new journal. (I'm a little nervous about my upcoming editorial interview, though!)

I need to update my bio and links, but right now, I have to go to my sister's for dinner.