Blogger Buddies

With Steve and Anne at the AWP dance party.

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My modem is broken. No blogging or facebook from home until Tuesday. Sigh. More then, maybe.

Blogging about AWP--from home!

There are some good things about living in the city where AWP is. For one, I don't have to share a bathroom with anyone. Also, I get to drink my own coffee instead of paying $4 for starbucks (although I probably will later). The food situation is easier too, and there's no chance I'll run out of clean underwear or socks because I packed wrong.

On the down-side, I'm probably going to be dropping $20 on a cab every night because I don't do public transportation late at night by myself, and no one lives in my neighborhood. And today, I have a meeting with my advisor and a lecture to go to on campus, so I won't even really get to do the AWP thing today. I might swing by the bookfair for an hour before I go to my meeting, but I haven't decided yet. I will certainly be around tonight, though. Need to find some dinner plans.

Yesterday, I met up with one of my thesis committee members and a couple of former classmates for beer, then headed to Giordanos for pizza with a huge crowd of NEOMFAers. We spent the remainder of the evening at a little dive bar around the corner from the Hilton. Although I was hoping to do some people watching at the Hilton bar, I decided I was too tired and it would have to wait. Tonight, for sure! And yes, in case you're wondering, I skipped class. The first time I've ever skipped a UIC class, btw, so I think I earned it.

The camera never made it out of my purse yesterday. I'll try to do better today.

AWP eve

First things first: when I finish updating my blog, I'm going to Target. I can't risk wearing the same outfit I wore last year, so I have to buy all new clothes. Okay, I may have bought a few new items in the last 12 months. Maybe I only need to buy one new outfit. And definitely new shoes.

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I am not planning out my schedule, but you will definitely be able to find me at the Barn Owl Review table (#724, Hilton Chicago, Southwest Hall, lower level) on Friday (3-close) and Saturday (12-3). I will not be around on Thursday afternoon or Friday morning due to school obligations (don't even get me started on how mad I am that I have to continue participating in my regular life while there are spazzy poets and cranky fiction writers scurrying around the loop).

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Somehow I forgot to tell you: I have a poem forthcoming in Anti-!

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There are too many books I want to list them here. Hopefully I remember what they are when I'm wandering the bookfair.

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I am not going to be shy and starstruck this year. But still, it will be easier if you say "hi" first.

Also on my resolution list: 1) I will not spill anyone else's wine on them because I talk with my hands. 2) I will not be rude when introduced to other bloggers and will also not ask them to stop speaking other languages that I don't understand. 3) (and this should prevent #1 and #2) I will not have too much to drink at the Saturday night dance party (off site events are another story).

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Well, since I still have to teach and go to class tomorrow, I should probably quit AWP-dreaming and start getting some stuff done. Sigh.

Updates

Oops. No "What I'm Reading" this week. #2 and #3 will be posted together on Tuesday. Blame it on Obama. Anyway, here's a teaser:


Q: Your prose seems to demonstrate a healthy loathing for dullness. Poetry readings these days often tend to be shockingly dull events. What would be your idea of a truly entertaining poetry reading?

A: A beautiful, naked 25 year old woman reading "Tintern Abbey" exquisitely well and in a Northumbrian accent.


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I'm on a mission to eat more fruits and vegetables. For some reason, I never manage to buy the right amount of fresh versus frozen/canned. Something always goes bad. This week--about 1/3 a crate of clementines.

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I'm very glad we're finally going to learn why Izzy can see/talk to/sleep with her dead ex-fiance. Jeffrey Dean Morgan is a beautiful man and a pretty good actor, but I'm not a fan of characters coming back from the dead. Unless the show is called Supernatural, in which case, people coming back from the dead is perfectly understandable. Which reminds me--how did this guy get such a bum deal? Two parts on two networks on the same night at the same time and both characters get killed? He should fire his agent.

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I'm getting very excited about AWP. I need to buy some shoes.

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I'm about to watch The Holiday. I hope it's good. Which reminds me. I am dying to see Revolutionary Road. Or maybe I should just read it.

Hopeful

I know I've been quite the downer around blogland the last few months, but things may be turning around a bit. I know it's only week one, but Spring 09 is shaping up to be 1000 times better than Fall 08. Here's why:

1. Instead of taking Teaching College Writing, I'm teaching college writing. Teaching isn't my #1 calling, but I think I'm getting better, more comfortable, and because UIC requires the second semester of comp to be theme-based, I'm teaching a subject I like (instead of straight-up argumentation). The topic: work and class identity. Sound familiar?
2. I'm taking a class on politics and rhetoric (instead of politics and aesthetics like last semester) and while I still hate talking about politics, I think this class is going to be bearable because a) we're reading about political economy, which could, theoretically, have an impact on my poetry--or at least my exam lists, and b) the prof this semester is much more interested in TEACHING than the prof was last semester. He seems totally okay with the fact that I start to twitch when I hear names like Foucault and Derrida, and wants to know if it takes me too long to do the homework.
3. The Past Decade. This is my contemporary poetry class and there's zero overlap of anything I've read before, on my own or for another class. Shows how much poetry is getting published these days... But more importantly, the prof here focuses much more on poetic movements than I'm used to, and this is good because I don't know crap about them. Also, there are some 4th and 5th year PhD students auditing the class and they are so smart! I feel a little like I did when I was an 8th grader in high school marching band. The seniors were so grown up, so cool, and I just couldn't wait to be like them.
4. Although I would, much to my dismay, still rather be in Akron, I don't hate Chicago anymore. Although I would prefer to see my boyfriend and my family more than once a month or every six weeks, I have people here that I can count on now. And there's so much to do, instead of crying I can just distract myself with annotated bibliographies and color coding my files! Plus, in just a couple of weeks, practically everyone I know is coming to Chicago for AWP. It'll be like transplanting Akron.

I really, really hope I keep feeling good about this, because doubting major life decisions is no fun.

A *Real* Post About AWP

And by real, I mean with complete sentences.

NYC was totally overwhelming. Totally clausterphobia-enducing. But totally amazing, too. I won't rush back--I'd rather spend my travel money on wide open spaces--but I'm glad I can circle it on my map of places I've been. (Yes, I really have a map.)

OMG! I am so glad I hung on Mary's coat-tails for the travel part of things. I would have been all kinds of lost from the second I got off the plane. We stopped long enough to buy a couple of sandwhiches and by the time we got to baggage claim, neither of our giant blue suitcases were anywhere in sight (okay, this is getting creepy. First our handwriting (eerily similar), then our clothes (black tights and Mary Janes, anyone?), then blue suitcases). Luckily, we found them in the office and got the taxi...another kind of craziness I'll be perfectly happy to avoid for the rest of my life. Is it not illegal to pass on the right in NYC, or does no one follow the rules?

The blog-stalking turned real-life stalking started almost as soon as we got to the Hilton, since Oliver was in the P-S line while I was in the T-Z line at check-in, but the silly, unnecessary shyness started then, too. Next year, I'll say hello to everyone I only know in cyberland, I swear.

Wednesday, we had dinner at a place called Playwrites (or something like that) with Brandi and Daniela and the NEO-crew, then drinks with the pedagogy guys (right: Joshua and Gary with Mary).

Thursday, Jay and I opened the Barn Owl table, and while Jay was away finding coffee, Adam was the first to pick up a contributor copy. I also met Gary and Mathias during my shift. Then I skipped the panels for the afternoon in favor of checking out MoMa with Jen and Jay.

Thursday night we were here. We took a taxi, and even though Mary told me never to get in an unmarked cab, I did. Dimitri drove an Escalade, listened to classic rock, and seemed to think going to a poetry reading was absolutely the coolest thing you could do in NYC on a Thursday night. Then we went here. I had the pollo saltado. You already saw the picture.

I'm reluctant to admit that I played hookie all day on Friday. Didn't set foot into the Hilton until late that night. Wait. I almost forgot. I did the pedagogy forum first. But that was in the Sheraton. It was raining (pouring!) all day, but we toughed it out and wandered Greenwhich Village. Checked out a couple cool vintage shops, took my first subway ride, and was soaking wet when we stumbled back to Midtown in time to get in another taxi (a real one this time!) to go to the 11th Street Bar with Mary and the other Jay.

Sadly, I didn't get to hear the Switchback/Sarabande/Red Morning/etc. folks because the place was packed and we got there late. But I still had fun. And got to hang out with Steve (if you ask when he's not around, I will tell you he's cute).

Saturday, I did my shift at the NEOMFA table, then went to the Blockheads (Prose Poem) panel, which was moderated by Corn Shake (another person I geeked out and didn't say hello to), then held down the BOR fort for the last leg of the bookfair. I didn't manage to make many rounds myself, so only got to take home the free stuff people handed me as I walked by. Wish I would have made more time for swag.

Then there was the dance party. Adam introduced me to Eduardo, but it was so loud and I was so distracted that I didn't realize he was the Eduardo until Adam was like, "dude, don't you know who that is?" and then I felt like a giant ass. But I think he forgave me...unlike Adam, who is probably still pretty mad that I spilled his wine on his shirt. I saw John for a split second, and then it was time to crash.

Now that it's over, I am wishing that AWP could be broken into two weekends; one for panels, one for parties. I didn't get to meet/talk to everyone that I wanted and I didn't get to hear as many people read as I would have liked either. I suppose it is impossible to find the 70-or so people you know in a sea of 7000, and I suppose it is inevitable that you will miss some cool panels/readings when there are 30 choices for every hour, but I'm a little bummed that I didn't manage my time better. Next year. Yeah.

Starstruck

So, I feel funny about seeing people in real life after blog-stalking them for months/years. Here are some folks I spotted but didn't say hello to:

Oliver De La Paz
C. Dale Young
Aimee Nez
Wayne Miller
Reb Livingston
Charles Jensen
Kim Addonizio
Paul Guest
Adam Clay

I'm such a dork!

AWP Pics

First night in NYC with Brandi, Jay, & Mary

At Pio Pio Riko in Brooklyn with Jay, Emily, Tobin, and Jen

Pollo Saltado. Yes, there are French fries mixed in with the chicken and tomatoes.

A non-hobbit photo of me and Mary. That's Steve hiding in the background.

Simone and her furry hat (and me)

Getting up-close and personal with Jay R. And why didn't anybody tell me my eyeliner was taking over the world?

And a blurry, rain-soaked photo of St. Marks Ave

Blue Suitcase

I bought a new suitcase for AWP. It's huuuugggggeee, so there's lots of room for all the journals and books I'll be bringing home.

See you in New York!

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.

AWP forecast

Okay, I know 10-day forecasts are notoriously unreliable, but as of right now, "they" are predicting a high of 50 for next Saturday in NYC. I have been seriously worried that we would be in New York during a raging blizzard or 10 below wind chills, but that may not be the case.

Yay! It's so much easier to wear cute skirts when it's not snowing.

Quickies

Check it out - Hobble Creek Review is all new and shiny. Good work, Justin!

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What is going on with AWP? If you did get a pass, make sure you visit me and Mary and Jay and Jay at the Barn Owl Review table, and all of us at the NEOMFA reception on Saturday night.

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I just finished reading Nickel and Dimed, which didn't tell me much I didn't already know, but brought back some unpleasant memories. Ehrenreich did her little experiment durning the same year that I did mine (ha! I wish it was an experiment, but unlike our author, I did not have stock options and a savings account waiting for me in "real" life.) One thing I forgot until I started reading--the constant, and I mean constant, job hunting. You never want to accept that this job is the best you can get, so you keep looking. I started at least four jobs in two months. Fun!

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Had coffee with Jennifer and Jay yesterday. It was good to talk poetry, theses, life in general. Funny how much I miss my classmates during breaks.

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Doing better with the reading list this week. I also finished Boomer Girls, an anthology of women poets born between 1946 and 1964, which is apparently kind of hard to get your hands on (I got it from a UA used book sale). Lots of familiar names in that one: Kim Addonizio, Cathy Song, Jan Beatty, Rita Dove... and a lot of good poems (I only rolled my eyes a couple times). So, where's the next generation's anthology (let's say 1965 to 1980 or so)? I'm imagining a list of poets I'd solicit if it were my project, but who would you include?

Sunday, Bloody Sunday

You know, my blog titles make absolutely no sense sometimes.

I just submitted my pedagogy paper. I would usually ask someone to read something like this before I submit it, but I decided to trust myself this time. We'll see how that works out. I'm already getting excited/nervous about my first trip to NYC. I'm such a country bumpkin, I don't know what I'm going to do with myself in a city that big. Chicago made me want to pee my pants the first time I was there...I'm sure NYC will be somewhat the same.

Next up, working on my Winter Wheat presentation.

I got a lot of little things done yesterday, but not near as much as I was hoping. And I still need to write those damn poems floating around in my head. There's never enough time! Gotta leave for dinner at my sister's soon, and I'm usually there way longer than I plan to be, so once again, my weekend to do list is going to roll over into my Monday to do list. Hrumph. At least there's Tuesday...a very un-busy day to catch up.

Do you ever wonder how much of what you write isn't really yours? I was reading Drift of the Hunt the other day, which I haven't looked at for about a year, and I realized that one of Craig's lines ended up in one of my poems. I didn't do it on purpose. Luckily, Craig believes in poetic cannibalism, so I know he won't be upset. Besides, he's read the poem and he didn't notice either. (At least not that he told me.)

Enough of this mindless rambling. Back to work.

A week without blogging...

is like a week without, well, nothing much really. I didn't even notice it had been that long. I've been really busy getting ready for school and such.

I read Jeannine Hall Gailey's Becoming the Villainess and Simone Muench's Lampblack & Ash this week (thanks to Mary's great reading list for Poetry of the Body). Really enjoyed both books, and I've started picking up on how other poets write narratives without sounding prosey (my biggest problem--I think), so hopefully this means as I embark on my thesis writing, I'll be writing less prosey narrative poems, and lots of 'em!

There are 25 kids signed up for my Comp class this semester. Last semester, I had 16. I'm a little intimidated by this number. And bummed out, because I think my super-cool, high-tech classroom may be too small for this many students. We'll see on Wednesday, when they're packed in like sardines and sitting in the aisles between desks. I don't want to give up my plethora of white boards and fancy-schmancy projector/AV system, though, so I'm going to be mean and try to get half of them to drop (insert maniacal laugh here).

I'm excited for AWP. Some friends and I are going down early to explore Hotlanta and surely get into trouble. I hope we can find Virginia Highlands and the cool Irish pub I went to the last time I was down there...but it was a few years ago and I am directionally challenged, so we'll see. Luckily, if I do get into any trouble, my cousin is on the Atlanta PD, so maybe he'll keep me out of jail.

I must, must get my submissions out on Tuesday (why does Monday have to be a holiday? I need the post office!) or I will put them off again until it's too late. 2007 must be the year of publishing for me, or my future will start looking a little bleak.

I'll be updating to the new blogger soon. Seems I'm the last one and I can't comment on anyone's blog anymore. Means you all probably can't comment on mine. Wish me luck.