@Jamie I see you're up too. LOL I really am going back to bed, but I want to respond to your post.
It sounds like we're on the same page - or at least in the same chapter on "the geniuses".
Re" fame and attention, Annie Proulx speaks of it as annoying. She says that at first it's affirming, but after so much of it, she believes it comes form people who attach themselves to the rising star and the awards are no longer about her or her works, but about the market. I am paraphrasing. If you need me to find where I read or heard that, I'll look it up later. (I think I can find the source where she speaks on this.)
Sahaider, There is nothing to keep up with. Nobody has heard anything from Texas State yet (other than a bunch - 3 or 4 by my count - of letters in the mail about various things besides admissions decisions), but we might this coming week or the week after, if they're on a similar schedule to that of the last few years.
@ Sam N. and Sarah - I also should mention that I really appreciated/sympathized/grooved on both your posts on the rejection question, and that's why I was moved to post my monster spiel.
@ Mostly Swell - That's a cool Proux story, and sounds like her, so I believe it, even unattributed.
And I love the Lear discussion! What a great distraction. I think we're saying roughly the same thing about Lear's character. Though if I were to sit down w the text, I would probably be more inclined to read political motives into it.
I am with your old college professor. I am the world's worst actor, but I did drama including several Shakespeare plays in college, and got to work with some actors and directors who were pretty good. What's fun about Shakespearean drama is you just get in a text, rip it up, cut up whole scenes. And if you're acting, you have to write a story for your character. As a director, you can create a back story by setting the play in a certain context (or decontextualizing it too). Of course, people have done this brilliantly and terribly over the years.
You see how the text is not complete but rather incredibly open and interactive, participatory.
Also, re the modernity of the characters, I heard a contention that Shakespeare literally invented modern English (perhaps him + King James bible), so the modernity and the sense of full character expression might be a function of the language used.
Finally, maybe lay off The Scottish Play to get more rest! (A little Shakespeare geek humor ;-) ).
I'm on the fiction waitlist at Minnesota. Notified via email on whatever day they notified acceptees. No idea if that means they're done with the waitlist or not.
Does anyone know when we can expect some of these rejections to come?? I hate this idea of an "assumed rejection," I want closure! I can't imagine not getting anything final until April. When?? WHEN?!!!
@Jamie - Fun to read. And I feel the same way about Shakespeare. Although I slightly resented having to sit through him in high school (mostly because my teachers were boring, I think), he's now my favorite writer. No one even comes close (although Joyce made a good effort).
Shakespeare's inventiveness of language and phrase is mind-boggling. I often wonder if it was easier or harder to be so creative at a time when the English language was much more fluid. Usually I think it would be easier. On the other hand, much of his greatest genius (both in character and turn of phrase) is overlooked now (at least in my opinion) because what he was creating at the time has now become part of our cultural/literary/psychological vocabulary and seems familiar.
You've probably read Bloom's book on Shakespeare. If not, I bet you'd find it interesting. Like most critics, he seems completely comfortable repeating himself until it gets tiring, but I enjoy most of his insights into Shakespearean characters. You're take on Lear's motivation brought it to mind.
@everyone else - Sorry to go on so long. :/
I hope everyone gets good new this week!!!
I seem to be the last to hear about everything (for instance, haven't even received my rejection letter from Iowa yet). Officially, I'm 0-2 (bye, bye WashU and Wyoming!) with a handful of presumed rejections. So I always find out the deal here long before I'm ever informed by the schools. :D
Wait, Frankish, I don't think anyone's received their Iowa rejection *yet.* I don't know when they'll arrive, hence my previous question begging for information, but I don't think anyone's been rejected from Iowa yet.
I really, really want to call Iowa and just get over with it. I don't want to annoy them, though. Are they done notifying the lucky ones? Should I just move on already?
@kaybay - I might be mistaken (the posts do come fast and furious when something happens, so I have trouble keeping up), but I think a number of people have reported receiving Iowa rejections in the mail (and maybe even wait list notifications...I'd have to check.
Kaybay, I don't know!! I think there are quite a few schools that do not send rejections out right away because they want to create an official waitlist or end up with too short of a waitlist and run out of people. If that makes sense. Until they have yeses from their entire class, they may not want to make those decisions official. So it could be 80 years before we hear.
In other, more detailed words: Iowa Writer's Workshop hasn't sent out rejections yet as far as anybody knows. However, Iowa's Nonfiction Writing Program sent out snail mail rejections and waitlists last week. Tada!
I seem to remember that my two rejections from last year (IWW, Cornell) came about three weeks after people posted about acceptances. Both were via snail mail. The one thing that cheered me up was that I got a call from Irvine at roughly the same time. Remember, a lot of schools also notify by email, or even that ridiculously impersonal "check your status on our website" email. So I would think one would receive the BNE within a week or two of acceptances going out. Also remember that many schools on the east coast and especially here in the mid-Atlantic are behind in their notifications because of weather.
Hey guys I just got back from Mexico and got a letter inviting me to New School for an interview and Chair Weekend for play writing. Looks like I got the e-mail on Friday.
I'm actually from Ireland, so it's a quick 1-hour flight over, and usually fairly cheap - I'm often back and forth as a result, especially in the Spring when it's a little warmer in the south of England than it is where I live (right on the north coast of Ireland).
Thanks for the congratulations - I'm just waiting for financial information to come through just to make sure that it's all feasible.
@ Franny: Aww thanks lady! I just finished your sample. I *loved* Nightmare, Older Bodies, and Adaptations. You should send me more!
And that's awesome you worked at 826 Valencia. I've been in there a few times (to the shop) mainly to show it off to people visiting SF for the first time.
Wait, so you only applied to 4 schools? What made you choose Houston? (asks the stupefied Texan)
@Stranger -- re. notifying on Sundays. I seem to recall some people from last year who were notified on Sunday but I can't remember which poster and which school. I was notified via email on Sunday for a VT phone interview on a Sunday, if that counts.
In my opinion, this is a decision made by a faculty member and not necessarily a school policy. If he/she wants to notify you on Sunday, he/she will. However, I believe most people want to take Sundays off, you know, to sleep in, drink coffee, play with the kids, watch sports on TV, write a little, and generally recharge their batteries in preparation from the drudgery that is Monday.
@Sam N., Jamie, beedeecee, Mostly Swell, and anyone else I am forgetting,
Thank you for your responses, really helps a lot! Sam N., you're right, I tend react that way too (resign myself to something that has not yet occurred)...So maybe it's too early to entirely lose hope, still have 6 schools to hear back from.
Best of luck to all of you, and thanks again for your encouragement/sympathy/support!
New poster, off/on lurker and international applicant...two rejections. Wisconsin-Madison and Washington University (St Louis). Judging by one of the posters stating Michigan's notified and I haven't received anything, I'm assuming that's my rejection.
I applied to 10 places. So that's three down. I'm hoping one of the remaining 7 take me, sigh.
Congrats to everyone who's heard good news so far, though! :)
Just wanted to say thanks everyone and to franny, that's awfully kind of you to offer. I will definitely take you up on that! Best of luck to all waiting, and a hearty congrats to those with acceptances, waitlists, and GNEs to their name!
Belated congratulations to Arna, SerpentSleeping, Ben, Mickey, somebody miller (?) and anyone one I else I didn't mention by name! Hard to keep up with the good news.
@amanda: Thank you so much!! I'll happily post some more. I really appreciate that coming from you.
826 is so cool and such a great place to bring visitors.
I chose Houston because I love Nick Flynn and Tony Hoagland, but also because I could *stomach* living there better than so many other lame places. I regret not applying to some other programs. I may have to do it again next year anyway!
@ Sahaider: I certainly know of Houston. It was one of the schools I applied to in my last MFA app cycle. A friend of mine was in the program many years ago and dropped out. I have heard rumblings about it more recently though, enough to convince me not to try for it again. I was curious especially with Franny, since she applied to so few schools, if there was something specifically that made it so appealing to her.
I asked Mark Doty years ago at a reading in NYC how he managed to stay inspired to write in Houston. He said that in the years that he'd been living and teaching there half-time, he'd only written one poem.
(Also, my mom is from a town outside of Houston and I grew up spending a fair amount of time in the area.)
@Dolores: My pleasure! I assume most people haven't visited Fort Collins and I know I'm curious about some of the campuses and places I've applied (or may apply in the future!). When you're thinking about setting up a life somewhere, it's nice to know certain specifics about it. I love coffee, for example, and I would have to know where to find the best coffee in a given city. Cheers! And good luck in making your big decisions!
@amanda: That's interesting. I'm not crazy about Houston, but MFAs are so often in strange places. I didn't apply to Iowa not because I'm a defeatist, but because I just can't envision this urban girl in Iowa City.
I don't imagine Houston is a very inspiring environment, though. Well, it's not as if it's a real consideration so far. They'd have to accept me and that's unlikely (probability-wise).
For some reason, I'm coming around to the idea that I could thrive in some smaller college towns. I sort of wish I'd applied to Indiana and UMass, for instance.
Iowa City (and Iowa in general) might surprise you. I've lived in large cities all my life and ended up LOVING Iowa when I did my undergrad. The people in Iowa are ridiculously nice, very liberal (for the midwest), and there are alcoves of general weirdness/cultural curiosities throughout the state (i.e. a Vedic Village where you can actually use rupees, the Field of Dreams baseball field, Captain Kirk's fictional birthplace, the giant twin domes for Yogic Flying in Fairfield etc.) that are always good for the occasional road trip. And of course, Iowa City being one of the most literary cities in the country (not to mention a pretty vibrant music scene. Also, an hour away is my alma mater - Grinnell College - and there are always people crashing concerts there (sometimes even from neighboring states) since the college has one of the largest liberal arts college endowments in the country which translates into incredibly awesome performers/musicians/artists visiting.
Oh, and if you think all the farmers are just salt of the earth types, you'd be surprised as well. I got to know a lot of the local farmers and a good number of them are former lawyers, PHDs, California hippies etc. Some of them are writer/farmers and some are retired professors. Needless to say, if you are a vegetarian for political/moral reasons, you can find a lot of farmers that give their animals a pretty darn good life.
@Wandering Tree: Thanks for info. I should give it more of a chance. My opinions are not terribly well-informed anyway. I might have my chance to apply to Iowa yet ;). The music part if also appealing to me. I'd miss Denver's music scene (which is also, maybe surprisingly, great).
@ Franny: That's right! I totally forgot Nick Flynn was there. He's one of my absolute favorite poets. I also adore Tony Hoagland.
I chose my schools last time based solely on the faculty and that was the reason I chose UH then. (Seriously, I went to the library several times, getting books from every poet at every one of the 15-20 schools I was considering and camped out, reading their work and circling the ones whom I thought spectacular. Then turned that into the basis for my choices.) This time around though I chose almost solely based on funding and location, with presence of good journals and outreach as my secondary determinants.
I definitely understand your location concern. That's why I didn't reapply to some places or omitted the more well funded (SIUC, Notre Dame, Purdue, Illinois). After being in Santa Cruz for 2 1/2 years, I definitely am hoping to get back into more of a city than this aging hippie/surfer/college town.
I've only been to Santa Cruz a couple of times and not to be New Agey, but it has strange energy. The weather is better than SF and the beaches are nice, but I couldn't get over this strange feeling I had there. UCSC is a great school, though, for certain things.
To answer your question on the group, I was in SF for almost 3 years and LOVED it. Cost of living is outrageous, but there are so many amazing things happening there. GREAT food, WORLD CLASS coffee, warm people, great shopping and very high quality of life. In this economy, it's hard to sustain SF without a very secure foot in some kind of door. It's a tough place to just up and move to.
I wish I wanted to apply to Illinois and so on. I'm just not 18-22 any more. I don't get excited about the prospect of uprooting myself for some podunk, unknown place. You hear that, Colorado schools?? It would be nice to hear from you!!
Location, funding and journals are just as sound to go by. It would be great if SFSU had some money to fund its MFAs, but SF is too good to be true. Everyone and their dumpy-ass mom would apply there if they funded their students.
@Franny -- re. Houston vs. "so many other lame places" HAHAHA! Funny. It's true some MFA programs are stationed in undesirable places, but I think most are fine. Come on...Austin, Madison, Fort Collins, Eugene, Charlottesville, etc.
Bittersweet news. Received a phone call from U Washington, Seattle that I have been accepted for Poetry. However, I was told that they have no funding to offer. I was a bit bummed...planning to further check into that. Good luck, all!
Ugh! I know. I actually really wanted to apply to SF State but just couldn't justify it without funding, even with _really_ low tuition for in-state people.
Santa Cruz does have the beaches, and I love going for walks along West Cliff and the wharf/harbor. But you're right about the energy. Coming from Austin, too, it's difficult being somewhere that tries to pass itself off as more liberal than it really is. And the violence here has gotten out of control. Five people have been killed in shootings or stabbings in the last 3 months really close to where I live. The live-and-let-live facade doesn't quite hold.
And I love Austin. Truly. I don't know if I'll ever be able to not consider it my home. Ultimately, though, there were two things that drove me away: the weather and the traffic. I couldn't stand to go outside for 4-5 months of the year. And driving in that city is *awful*. I was rear ended three times in the year before I moved. And the road rage can get ridiculous.
But, holy lord, do I miss the music, art, coffee shops, great bar scene, and restaurants. Sigh.
Oh Austin. I can't stand that place. I feel like I am very much in the minority here, but it must be said: Austin is a suffocatingly hip city. I would much rather not be around that scene.
Congrats Kate, and sorry to hear about funding. You've still got UMass, though, no??
Now, the selfish questions that I hate to ask: When did the call come? And do you happen to have any inkling to whether they're wrapping up with calling the poets?
@kate -- I feel for you. This is actually an interesting issue. What if you get into School A (your dream school) who offers little to no funding and School B (not your dream school) who offers full funding. To me, as far as dream schools are concerned, once you set foot on campus and get into the grind of classes/workshops/TA-ing, they're no different from every other school.
When I was in high school, I turned down my dream college (Princeton) for another one due to $$$ but I ended up having a great experience at my non-dream college. Of course, my GPA suffered for the experience. LOL!
If it is worth anything, I spend the majority of my time farming organic stuff (including organic meat ;P ...in Northern Wisconsin) and I’ve never met a single farmer who is this abstract “salt of the earth type.”
Also, I actually attended CSU’s MFA program for a semester. Dan (Beachy-Quick) wrote one of my rec. letters this time around. I highly recommend the program to anyone who gets in. Despite being a “drop out” I have nothing but positive things to say about the program. I left for reasons completely unattached to the program’s quality. If anyone has any questions feel free to e-mail me as well [aaronaapps [at] yahoo.com], or I’m sure one of the students currently in the program would be happy to talk to you. It really is a welcoming community and Ft. Collins is a wonderful place to live.
Can someone explain what is so terrible about being "salt of the earth"? Everyone is making it sound like they should be avoided. Its my understanding that they are the best company. Humble and unpretentious people? Yes, please.
Franny/Amanda, re: Santa Cruz, I agree that SC is in some strange downward spiral...or sideways spiral away from its liberal/hippy roots. While I was there for undergrad, you could definitely sense a change in the vibe of the city from 2000 through to 2004. I don't think this was spurred by more violence but there were other things such as famous buildings being torn down, massive corporate entities moving in. The uni letting in what seemed like an unlimited amount of undergrads (I think we ballooned from something like 14k students to close to 20k in less than 4 years, or at least something ridiculous like that) and just a general change in the type of person attracted to the town and the college; maybe my classmates are responsible for it all. It's sad to say that as much as I loved my undergrad days, the town and everything, I still now have little to no desire to visit. Kind of sad.
@Amanda, Jason J: It's hard to put your finger on what I dislike about Santa Cruz, but it's palpable.
I didn't really realize that about Austin's traffic. My sister lived there for a while and I loved visiting.
@Woon: It's true that some MFA towns are ok, but so many are not for me. With age, my scope narrows. Also, I have terrible circulation (my fingers blanch and go completely numb once the weather is below 50 degrees), so the midwest and northeast are almost out of the question. Holy shit. I sound like an old lady.
Slightly random--but does anyone know if there is a correlation between when you submit your application and when you are contacted about admission decisions? I know they don't start reading anything until after the deadline, but do the apps submitted first get read first and vice versa?
sahaider, every time i hear someone use the term 'salt of the earth' it's in this overly-romanticised notion of people who are just authentic or more 'real' in some intangible way that the speaker wishes were accessible to him/her but the speaker has surpassed that exit some time ago ...
but i've never, ever heard anyone at all refer to themselves as salt of the earth.
and i am immensely suspicious of any term that gets applied to others and not to oneself.
really? i would never call myself humble but i would use it to describe someone else. That logic somehow seems flawed to me.
And the meaning of "salt of the earth" is humble and unpretentious, in my opinion. I'm wondering why people are looking to avoid those kinds of people in places like the midwest. I for one would gladly welcome that kind of company. Whats wrong with farmers who are just farmers. Someone mentioned that like it was a bad thing. Farmers who happened to be professors, PHd holders, etc. How pretentious.
@ Morgan and Woon Thank you for the kind words! :) He didn't mention how far they were in their calls, or how they were calling genres. He made it clear that the program has lost a lot of funding. I'm not sure how they're going to go about TA positions for students, but I do know that I did not receive one.
Good luck everyone! USPS is up and running again tomorrow! :)
I think my contention is with the fact that someone used "salt of the earth" to mean simple. Just a simple farmer. Whereas the preference is someone who happens to be educated like a lawyer,PhD,writer, etc. Does that not strike anyone else as ridiculous and condescending? If not, I'm not sure I want to be in an MFA anymore.
Whenever I hear "salt of the earth" I think of the scene from Blazing Saddles when Jim is consoling Bart about being hated by the townspeople because he's black:
'You've got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know, morons."
@sahaider, there's a difference between being uneducated in the sense of not holding a degree(s) and anti-intellectual.
i personally find close-minded people of any sort a turn-off. so anti-intellectuals and i have little to nothing to talk about. but there are plenty of people without degrees who are fascinated by the world, try to learn more ... but surely those people are neither 'simple' nor are they 'salt of teh earth' .... they're curious purveyors of the world, actively educating themselves even if not at Dartmouth or whichever Ivy this blog seems to be talking aout today.
@Kate -- I remember looking into the U. of Washington and the funding (or lack thereof) issue. Too bad. Beautiful area (despite the overcast gray).
Funding or no funding, I don't sincerely believe one school is "better" than another school. Faculty members are fungible to me; that is, you can mix-n-match and unless they're absolute terrible teachers, I will learn a lot from whoever is there. The best creative writing teacher I ever had is someone who is unknown and whose work I don't particularly like (even though he's a good writer). But he's an absolutely fabulous teacher. I'll take that over a Pulitzer (or Booker) Award-winning famous writer any day.
Wee - not that I expect an acceptance or waitlist at Iowa, but I would wait until mid-week or even later to see if they are finished notifying. They accept a lot of people and may not get to all of them quickly, even with the weekend. I'm not running off inside info though, so take it for what it's worth :)
When you refer to farmers as “just farmers,” or romanticize what they do I get the same bad taste in my mouth I get from the idea of a “noble savage” (not to say that they are at all the same thing, but the impulse behind both of them may very well be the same type of abstraction).
While you guys were arguing about an abstract notion of what a farmer should or shouldn’t be, I was out doing farm chores and taking the dogs for a walk down our fence line. What I was saying, simply, was that most of the farmers that I interact with one a daily basis have their own set of complex goings and cares. You can look down on them from suburbia (or wherever), or idealize them in some absurd way as you imagine Walden’s Pond, but, eh, whatever.
& anti-intellectual is the only way to be. Abstracted reasoning and analytical objectivity are trite reductions that don’t particularly agree with the complex variegation in my bowels. =D
Pretty sure there is definitely a correlation between application submission and notification for programs that have rolling admissions. Not sure how many traditional programs fall under that bracket, but there are definitely some low-residency programs that notify as they go. These programs usually list some sort of time frame on their website.
aaron, I think you're misunderstanding what I meant when I said I preferred the company of someone who was "just a farmer" instead of farmers who happened to have PhDs and be lawyers, writers, doctors, whatever. I meant that it seems preposterous to me that someone who is a farmer should be deemed intelligent or worthwhile company only if they have some sort of "educated" background.
I just don't understand how the people on this blog are reducing anyone who isn't an intellectual to some sort of inferior person. That is disgusting to me.
Hi Sahaider I'm not sure what was meant by the comment. I know we've had other stereotypes come up, and folks opened up to acknowledge their ignorance and incorporate fresh information. I'm remembering several posts on the south. It seems the offense here is in assuming that farmers are rednecks. Or that residents of rural areas are prejudiced and tend to be responsible for oppressive politics. I know that's not the case, especially with regards to Iowa and your state, Wisconsin. I don't know if you are aware, but many people across the nation were surprised when Iowa came out in favor of gay marriage. The surprise, I think, came out of this very stereotype or image that you are upset about.
This blog is much bigger than the issue at hand - and I think everyone, really, everyone, gets your point.
I can say that my experience in a small town in Illinois for my senior year in HS was the absolute most miserable year of my life. I had just moved there from Pittsburgh. Kids labeled me queer and actually picked fights with me, and teachers turned their backs. I hadn't come out and was shocked that people would hate me for being gay, even if it were true. (Which it turned out to be.) I also had some fabulous teachers who basically carried me on their backs throughout that year. But it this sort of experience that sours people to rural environments.
There's also a sense that if one is a "city" person, it's easier to relate to someone who's got a law degree or whatever. Again, a misconception.
It might be against my better judgment to say anything here, but I am anyway. I hope you take it in good spirit. Kindness is my intent. You're right. And I think people see that.
MostlySwell, thank you. I really appreciate the time you took to write that. I just felt that I was being misunderstood and having a small crisis of how this issue might reflect itself in the MFA community. If this is representative of my peers, I was worried that I was going to be at odds with most. Silly thinking. But there it is.
@Mostly Swell -- you said "This blog is much bigger than the issue at hand." Didn't you mean to say that this issue is much bigger than the blog? I can't believe this blog is bigger than any issue. Or maybe I'm wrong. Maybe this blog is really really big and I fail to see it.
And I meant to tell you earlier that I hope your pup is OK. I have a rescue pitbull that I've raised for almost a year and a half and know how much he means to you. He (or she?) is a cutie.
Frankish, I think most of the "big name" schools will be notifying in early March. I sure hope some schools notify next week (UNCG, maybe?), but I think many of them are March people. Stupid March people.
no worries. or, it's all good, or whatever the phrase is theze daysz.
I had a meltdown on this blog last Friday, and someone came in and helped out. Just extending the favor.
It's a very stressful time for all of us. Tomorrow is gonna be rough here on this here blog. ya know??? yikes.
Hng in there. I really must put a blues playlist together. I'm workin' on it, actually. I think, while not exactly blues, Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" should be our theme song. I like his amped down version, just him and a guitar, on the No Direction Home soundtrack. And my favorite cover is from Susan Tedeschi. wow. yes.
Ain't no use to sit and wonder why if you don't know by now...
when your rooster crows at the break of dawn look out your window and I'll be gone You're the reason I'm travelin' on Don't think twice It's alright.
@Woon No, I meant the blog is bigger than the issue.
I think we are all, collectively, bigger, or able to encompass, much more than some misunderstandings. I suppose it's all in how you look at it. I've found that overall, the folks on this blog have risen to every occasion we've encountered. And there have been some really hard ones.
But, I think I know what you mean. And I just didn't clarify what I meant by "big" - I meant supercool, enlightened, able to handle anything that comes our way. HA! lol
I'd take anything right now!! I'd even take a bottom of the barrel waitlist!
You know what else I hate? All the action heats up at the end of the week. That's bull! I want Monday news! I want Tuesday news! I don't want to be fidgety all week waiting for the end of it! I do that already 'cause I hate my job so much I just want the weekend to come, I don't need that exacerbated!
Sorry, I felt the need to go Elaine from Seinfeld there with all the exclamation points (top of the morning, TO YOU!) ;)
Thanks Sahaider. Potter (he) remains low key. He's eating his "bland" diet of chicken and rice (which is actually a divine meal if you're a Labrador.) lol
I'm really not sure. I'll call the vet tomorrow and check in. They thought they might want to do labs if he's not better - but I'm not sure how well they expected him to be. So we'll see. Thanks for asking. And to everyone else. I appreciate your support.
Mostly Swell - does your lab have a tendency to eat household items? I took one of my dogs to vet and had to laugh (yes, it was kind of cold of me) at the lab who needed surgery because he couldn't stop eating socks. His owner said it was his fifth sock already! Expensive habit...
@ kaybay, I hear you! And I still don't understand the loooooong notification process. Are these adcoms in committee and one by one voting on their must-haves?! And then they make a call. And then they argue over the next offer . . . I just don't get it. But maybe if IA is on a roll, we'll have news Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday etc.
@kaybay lol No, Potz doesn't get into things. But as the snow melts, the winter kill start to surface. That's pretty irresistable. So he may have gotten into something on the trail. I think i would have known that, because he stays pretty close, and he usually won't drop his frisbee or tennis ball for anything. He'll take a ball over a treat. So, it's a mystery. And he's getting old, so it could be any terrible scary thing (like cancer in his belly or pancreatitis or ya know, anything.) I'll see what my vet says tomorrow.
I meant, he doesn't get into things around the house. And he rarely gets into things on the trail. But he is a Labrador, and winter kill is tasty stuff, I guess. His older sister, RIP, used to roll in it. yech!!!!! Potter has always been such a good boy and never had such nasty habits. (I guess you'd have to know Annie to get my humor, sorry. Rolling in smelly things made her the happiest. lol And I have always been grateful that they didn't both do that.)
oh, and on the lab talk...i lost my beloved kaya (yellow lab) four years ago and it still pains me today...those crazy labs! she ate through drywall, closed doors, and several of my hats!! she was a terminator!!
I hate the cancer scares :( I have an English bulldog who eleven, old for his breed. They are known for a variety of medical problems, but Hudson has generally been healthy (except for skin problems and an exceptionally stink that rears it's ugly head in burps, farts, and general panting), except that last month I found a growth coming out of his eye (!) and another growth on his foot (!). I rushed him the vet. Aside from the $600 for surgery, which came right after paying for app fees, it was non-cancerous and everything was okay. But I was totally scared that I was going to have to watch him go through cancer or even *does the sign of the cross* have to put him down. That's so sad :(
hell yes! i haven't been watching as much of the olympics as usual, but it seems that every time i flip it on, it's some sort of ice dancing/figure skating extravaganza which don't exactly ring my bell!
I'll certainly be heartbroken when it's Potter's time to go. But, also, he's up there, and I've been trying on the idea of him leaving in the next year or so. he had a bout of pneumonia last Fall that lasted 2 1/2 months. But then that picture you've all seen was taken after that. And look how spry he was. He's had a great life. Would that any or all of us had such a life!!! And now, I have to stop talking about this. But I want to be clear that I really do appreciate everyone's support - and that you know what this is like and care. I really feel that and thank you.
Hahaha kaybay my parents are watching ice dancing in the next room over right now. About an hour ago one of the pairs was doing their thing, and the announcer was giving his little bio of them, and he said that they were students at Michigan. And of course, I wondered if they knew anything about the MFA program.
And, oh my God, I would never get that close to my brother! We barely hug! And it always involves a "pat" because we can't hold it for too long. Haha...
*fyi, the skaters on TV right now are brother and sister and are getting their "parts" are getting a little close for comfort*
@kaybay, I thought ice dancing was completely ridiculous until I made friends in college with a former competitive ice dancer (I meanwhile, was an EMT, and my boyfriend is a competitive bridge player... I know people with oddball hobbies). Anyway, it actually takes a tremendous amount of athleticism - those guys (and ladies) are terrifically strong and have amazing stamina.
Yes, the Scots. God bless 'em, they must have a strong relationship...
I think it takes athleticism, but it's kind of ridiculous looking. One of the couples mimicked smoking a cigarette while dancing to French music and the commentator said something like "we all know the French love their cigarettes." I believe my face scrunched up.
They are talking about the authenticity of one couple's aboriginal costumes! Wowzers...
@Cratty If you're out there, I just added "Love Me Or Leave Me" to the MFA Blues Playlist.
I also have "Dark Was The Night, Cold Was the Ground" by Blind Willie Johnson. That one got sent out into space back in the 70's. There some capsule of 20th century Earth floating out there for another intelligent life form to discover (and save us from ourselves???) Don't worry, you'll like it. It's way cool.
Now that there's been a Will Ferrel reference on this blog, I can honestly say it is my favorite blog ever.
Honestly though, figure skating, though requiring tremendous athleticism, is just boring (to me) to watch. I'm highly suspicious of 'judged' sports. Give me xc skiing or speed skating any day. First to the finish...
And is the new style of every male figure skater Adam Lambert-inspire?
I'd gold medal the shit out of snowball fighting! Actually, I probably wouldn't. I think I cried the last time I got a snowball in the face. Again, by my brother... maybe that's why we pat when we hug??
I should clarify - "Love Me Or Leave Me" is a Nina Simone tune. I'm not at all worried about whether Cratty loves me. That was not an ultimatum, Cratty.
Jason J, can you tell me how to upload a playlist? Or give me the url? I know how to convert to mp3, I just don't know the ins and outs of sharing tunes with a select audience, such as you did.
Best Olympic event: the old-school pentathlon. Originally conceived as a test of "the perfect soldier," it included pistol shooting, fencing, and "riding a strange horse."
Does anyone broadly know what kind of writing Iowa /fiction looks for?? What kind of profile do they seek? I just thought maybe we can ask those who got in to get an idea?? And compare it to the manuscript we sent in...
And once again,is Iowa still notifying acceptances or are they done???
For those waiting for responses...at least you didn't forget to send in a TAship application to one of your schools...yeah...just caught that last night while looking at the school's page. I'm gonna send it anyways, I guess...but it will be over a week late. Balls.
You don't realize that it's still really early in the application process until you look ahead to the next school you'll be hearing from and realize it's weeks from now.
Fingers crossed for hearing (something, whatever it is) from Michigan tomorrow! Then more of the waiting game!
OH, and you guys were talking about dogs before (your lab sounds awesome, Mostly Swell).
I woke up this morning and heard my dog screaming and freaking out...through my bedroom window. Ran downstairs in my undies, and my wife was carrying our puppy into the yard. She was OK, but she had peed all over herself and my wife. What happened? My neighbors two houses down were hanging on their porch with their big ass shepard mix and their dog bum rushed mine and tried to maul her (my Gussy is a 5 month old, 27 lb mutt...tri color, floppy ears). Somehow, my wife pulled Gus out from under the dog and got her away. As she speeding off, she heard the neighbor girl say, "come here, rover" or something like that. Even better: my dad is a vet and the neighbor girl's aunt grooms for my dad. And she was just going to let her dog eat mine. I saw her later this afternoon and she didn't say shit about it. So I wrote a poem entitled, "I'll plunge this broken rake into your beating heart." And I dedicated it to that dog. I'm not a violent person, but I was ready to commit heinous acts until my wife calmed me down. Instead, we gave Gus a bath cause she was making our house smell like pee.
Yeah. That was a long story. No work tomorrow so I'm up late.
@Lucas - That sucks. Glad your pup is okay! Although I am sure they are great dogs (at least that's what I hear), I can't stand German shepherds. When I was five or six, I was mauled by one when walking to school. Luckily, some man walking by on the street saw it and pulled the dog off. The owners never did dick about it. :/
My only consolation (although I realize it is misplaced and probably psychically unhealthy) is that my dog now can sense that I'm afraid of shepherds and bucks up whenever one comes down the street while we're walking. Lucky is a 100-pound pitbull, so the other dogs and owners always cross the street long before they reach us. Heh. :D
In response to an earlier post, my doggy is getting old, too. He's twelve and a half now and has definitely slowed down. Last year we had five tumors removed, but none were malignant (or definitively so). I hope everyone's dogs stay healthy!!!
My dad has colorful things to say about pits, but I've met plenty of cool ones. My other neighbors, however, have a young pit (probably sixty pounds or so) and they always ask if he can come over and play with Gus and I'm like, "Uhh...yeah, about that..." I like Striker (the neighbor's pit), but I'm hella paranoid about my dog.
Oh, and I've been bit by a shepard before...not a big fan. I'm scared shitless of dobermans, for some reason. Actually, I'm scared of most big dogs...and I grew up around dogs at my dad's clinic. Oh well. Gus and I are BFF times a million, though. She's chewing on my shoe lace as I type.
@Lucas SHIT!!!! Great poem. Poor puppy. Potter was attacked on the trail when he was a puppy. The owner was not apologetic - said her dog's never done that before. I'm like all pissed and scared. Not good when someone attacks our dogs - or lets their dog attack. You need to move. I hope you get into an mfa somewhere else.
@frankish 100 lb pitbull??? What's your insurance premium?? (homeowners/renters) Or tell them it's a shelter dog, lab mix, right? lol I'm with you on the German Shepard fear. I had to walk by a neighbors guard shepherd to get home when I was a kid. It never attacked me, but scared the shit out of me. And, ya know, I had to stay calm, if I walked fast or let on that I was afraid, it would run at me. geez. But I've met people with shepherds who get so pissed at the people who teach their dogs to attack or guard. German shepherds are really loyal and kind/friendly when their owners treat them as if they are Labradors.
Does anyone know how international students are informed? People here are talking about calls, but I'm guessing that doesn't apply to international students?
@Ryan: I've heard absolutely nothing from my programs (and some have at least begun notifications).
@Woon, Mostly Swell, Aaron, sahaider, koru and so on:
What a strange sequence of events that brought us to all too precious images of the American farmer, pretentiousness and critical thinking in the rural U.S.
Just to be clear, I didn't mean that Iowa City isn't for me because I assume everyone is illiterate or podunk! I'm sure it's a nice community. I'm also sure the city is not without charm. The decidedly intellectual tone of a city is not a requirement for me. Also, I think there are many types of "intelligence" and one is not better than the other.
My concern is this: I like cities. I like choices, options. I like shopping. I like good vegetarian food and good coffee. I like the occasional opportunity to feel very anonymous. On the other hand, community is very important to me, so it's possible I'd make concessions on a vibrant urban center if I felt comfortable and happy in a certain "scene".
All that said, the only Iowa graduates I know speak coarsely of the "cutthroat" environment and boredom. So, yeah.
I love all animals, but Germans freak me out, too. In my experience, they can be really menacing and unpredictable. My friend has one and I can describe his personality as nothing but antagonistic. He does shit just to get in your way, scare you or try to intimidate you. It's so bizarre! I've never been someone who's afraid of dogs, but he makes me uncomfortable.
@Mostly Swell & Lucas - I have to admit I was a bit sheltered as a kid. I didn't even know what a pitbull really looked like (part of that is that they weren't as common on the East Coast back then either). Twelve years ago, on the day I was moving into my first house in LA, this stray got run over on the street in front of my house. I took him in, he was about 40lbs and looked fully grown. Little did I know he was only 5-6 months. :P
Anyway, I've had dogs my whole life (border collies and standard poodles) and my neighbors always had labs and golden retrievers...and Lucky is sweetest dog I've ever met. He doesn't like squirrels or coyotes and chases cats if they come in our yard, but that's just part of being a terrier (a jack russell would probably do the same). He's never bitten anyone and never gone after a dog that didn't bite him first (and even then he really only runs to the end of his leash and stops, like a bear fake-charging). :D
I can't speak for all pits and certainly understand the problems people have. They are very loyal and trainable (which can be good or bad) and incredibly strong. So having one means you have to be a responsible. When well trained and of good dispositions, they are awesome dogs. When abused or trained to be aggressive, a big pit is more dangerous than a pack of shepherds. :/
Here it is folks. Hopefully something for everyone. I'm generous with my definition of "Blues" but it doesn't include electronica. Hope this works. I'm feelin' younger and younger - yo, a techno head!!! lol
MFA Blues Playlist 01 Don't Think Twice, It's Alright - Susan Tedeschi 04:34 02 Takin' It All To Vegas - Debbie Davies 03:15 03 Love Me Or Leave Me - Nina Simone 04:07 04 I'd Rather Be Blind, Crippled And Crazy - The Derek Trucks Band 04:34 05 Free Drinks For 50 (Interlude) - Dana Leong 01:19 06 Best Of All Possible Worlds - The Little Willies 03:11 07 People Grinnin' in Your Face - Ruthie Foster 03:22 08 Love 'Em & Forgive 'Em - Candye Kane 04:34 09 The Man Who Couldn't Cry - Johnny Cash 05:01 10 Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground - Blind Willie Johnson 03:21 11 Marooned On Earth Blues Part II - Joe West 01:18 12 Lonesome Wind - Toni Price 02:40 13 Eugene - Greg Brown 05:58 14 Riverside - Ollabelle 03:52 15 Come On In My Kitchen - Chris Thomas King 04:23 16 See That My Grave Is Kept Clean - Mavis Staples 04:04 17 Walk Away - Tom Waits 02:43 18 The Cape - Eric Bibb 03:24
@frankish I forgot to thanks you for your comments and rec. for the Bloom book. I'm gonna look into that. Today's seminar was a little easier to manage. I jumped right in and said "from a writer's perspective..." and went on to talk about Aristotle's Poetics. Not that I know all that much, but they finally listened to me. It's so nice to discuss stuff on this blog and I so want to be in an mfa program so's I can have these discussion face-to-face on a regular basis. It'll happen though. Even if not by MFA. I think I'm moving either way.
I better try to get some sleep. I have some stuff due soon. I meant to also talk to you about online workshops. Remind me, if I don't return to the subject in the next few days, OK? I've been taking online courses through UCLA for two years now. The one you enrolled in sounds great. Later.
@Lucas about your late TA app, i wouldn't worry about it too much and just do it and send it in. I was SUCH a mess with my applications, with a billion papers all over my desk etc, losing track of everything, and I sent in late TA apps for two schools, both of which didn't seem to give it a second thought. I just called and asked if I could email it, and to please add it to my file, and they said sure. good luck!
I'm moved by how open, honest and brave everyone is here. I got rejected from Michener (top choice) on Friday and felt humiliated; couldn't even tell anyone for two days.
I'm back to baseline, for now, though I currently have no acceptances in the bag and am frantically coming up with a Plan B I can live with should nothing work out.
Anyway, just wanted to voice admiration and gratitude for your openness, and to Tom et al for providing the forum. Rejection plus isolation is a dangerous cocktail. I hope to meet some of you some day. Good luck in the meantime.
Here's hoping that Michigan really didn't finish notifying on Friday, or that I can find out for sure if I was or wasn't accepted. This "assumed rejection" stuff is the worst.
@Jim, I'm still waiting for rejections and I too went through the curve of despair but I'm not going to wallow in self pity. I am going to try and send my work out to reviews and maybe take some workshops. Real life winners are those who don't give up and fight in the face of adversity that's what really makes the difference - so that's what we should all do....
Here we go. Good luck to everyone this week. Time to find out whether or not Michigan was full of it last Friday - still not sure I understand the "we're done notifying acceptances, but if you didn't get notified it doesn't mean you're rejected" logic.
Many congratulations to those that did make it in!
There are two people I have some info. for, but I can't even remember the name of one, and although I posted the info for the second, I have no idea if they got it because I tried to read through all the posts since my post, but I just couldn't get through all of them. So, if you happen to be the person who was asking about what it's like to live in MINNEAPOLIS -- I think you said you got into UMINN, feel free to email me at similesamATgmail.
Also, I posted some info about UMIAMI for someone named Ryan -- if you can't find the post, feel free to email me as well and I'll tell you what I know.
'Same for anyone who wants to swap info about any of these schools (Poetry track) VA TECH WVU JOHNS HOPKINS SIUC (SOUTHERN ILLINOIS) MIAMI LSU
We (and by that I mean Columbus, Oh) got lucky this time around and it's all rain.
I've never been so happy to see rain in my life. That four degree difference between 32 and 36 is saving me at least 6 hours of commute time this week.
Accepted at Maryland for poetry on February 21, 2010 via e-mail.
Michael Collier says that they are behind on reading applications because of a snowstorm that closed the school for a week, but that they should have the rest of the acceptances sorted out this week.
We're in siberia here today ... snow on the ground, and the boilers went out in my tower block sometime yesterday, so no heat or hot water for any of the flats til they can get someone in to fix them. I'm off to go find a warm coffeeshop for the rest of the day!
So sorry to hear about the boiler! That's the worst. Luckily, we still have power and heat. I'm toasty warm and considering taking a mid-morning nap. Haha. I love snow days!
2,428 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 801 – 1000 of 2428 Newer› Newest»@Jamie
I see you're up too. LOL I really am going back to bed, but I want to respond to your post.
It sounds like we're on the same page - or at least in the same chapter on "the geniuses".
Re" fame and attention, Annie Proulx speaks of it as annoying. She says that at first it's affirming, but after so much of it, she believes it comes form people who attach themselves to the rising star and the awards are no longer about her or her works, but about the market. I am paraphrasing. If you need me to find where I read or heard that, I'll look it up later. (I think I can find the source where she speaks on this.)
@Mostly Swell: Cute Pup, hope it feels better!
=)
Thanks for the smoke alarm suggestions, guys. We are taking steps to fix the annoying (and dangerous) problem.
Sahaider,
There is nothing to keep up with. Nobody has heard anything from Texas State yet (other than a bunch - 3 or 4 by my count - of letters in the mail about various things besides admissions decisions), but we might this coming week or the week after, if they're on a similar schedule to that of the last few years.
@ Sam N. and Sarah - I also should mention that I really appreciated/sympathized/grooved on both your posts on the rejection question, and that's why I was moved to post my monster spiel.
@ Mostly Swell - That's a cool Proux story, and sounds like her, so I believe it, even unattributed.
And I love the Lear discussion! What a great distraction. I think we're saying roughly the same thing about Lear's character. Though if I were to sit down w the text, I would probably be more inclined to read political motives into it.
I am with your old college professor. I am the world's worst actor, but I did drama including several Shakespeare plays in college, and got to work with some actors and directors who were pretty good. What's fun about Shakespearean drama is you just get in a text, rip it up, cut up whole scenes. And if you're acting, you have to write a story for your character. As a director, you can create a back story by setting the play in a certain context (or decontextualizing it too). Of course, people have done this brilliantly and terribly over the years.
You see how the text is not complete but rather incredibly open and interactive, participatory.
Also, re the modernity of the characters, I heard a contention that Shakespeare literally invented modern English (perhaps him + King James bible), so the modernity and the sense of full character expression might be a function of the language used.
Finally, maybe lay off The Scottish Play to get more rest! (A little Shakespeare geek humor ;-) ).
@who ever asked
I'm on the fiction waitlist at Minnesota. Notified via email on whatever day they notified acceptees. No idea if that means they're done with the waitlist or not.
Does anyone know when we can expect some of these rejections to come?? I hate this idea of an "assumed rejection," I want closure! I can't imagine not getting anything final until April. When?? WHEN?!!!
@Jamie - Fun to read. And I feel the same way about Shakespeare. Although I slightly resented having to sit through him in high school (mostly because my teachers were boring, I think), he's now my favorite writer. No one even comes close (although Joyce made a good effort).
Shakespeare's inventiveness of language and phrase is mind-boggling. I often wonder if it was easier or harder to be so creative at a time when the English language was much more fluid. Usually I think it would be easier. On the other hand, much of his greatest genius (both in character and turn of phrase) is overlooked now (at least in my opinion) because what he was creating at the time has now become part of our cultural/literary/psychological vocabulary and seems familiar.
You've probably read Bloom's book on Shakespeare. If not, I bet you'd find it interesting. Like most critics, he seems completely comfortable repeating himself until it gets tiring, but I enjoy most of his insights into Shakespearean characters. You're take on Lear's motivation brought it to mind.
@everyone else - Sorry to go on so long. :/
I hope everyone gets good new this week!!!
I seem to be the last to hear about everything (for instance, haven't even received my rejection letter from Iowa yet). Officially, I'm 0-2 (bye, bye WashU and Wyoming!) with a handful of presumed rejections. So I always find out the deal here long before I'm ever informed by the schools. :D
Cheers!
That first part should have been:
@Mostly Swell & Jamie -
Clearly it's time for that first cup of coffee....
Wait, Frankish, I don't think anyone's received their Iowa rejection *yet.* I don't know when they'll arrive, hence my previous question begging for information, but I don't think anyone's been rejected from Iowa yet.
I really, really want to call Iowa and just get over with it. I don't want to annoy them, though. Are they done notifying the lucky ones? Should I just move on already?
@kaybay - I might be mistaken (the posts do come fast and furious when something happens, so I have trouble keeping up), but I think a number of people have reported receiving Iowa rejections in the mail (and maybe even wait list notifications...I'd have to check.
Iowa rejections only went out for CNF.
Kaybay,
I don't know!! I think there are quite a few schools that do not send rejections out right away because they want to create an official waitlist or end up with too short of a waitlist and run out of people. If that makes sense. Until they have yeses from their entire class, they may not want to make those decisions official. So it could be 80 years before we hear.
And I'm an international student, so I doubt they'd send me my rejection by mail. Perhaps email?
I think the Iowa rejections are for CNF. Am I wrong?
Hi, All, I recently called Iowa and Illinois re: fiction acceptances. Neither school is done handing them out. Just thought I'd share.
In other, more detailed words: Iowa Writer's Workshop hasn't sent out rejections yet as far as anybody knows. However, Iowa's Nonfiction Writing Program sent out snail mail rejections and waitlists last week. Tada!
Kaybay
I seem to remember that my two rejections from last year (IWW, Cornell) came about three weeks after people posted about acceptances. Both were via snail mail. The one thing that cheered me up was that I got a call from Irvine at roughly the same time. Remember, a lot of schools also notify by email, or even that ridiculously impersonal "check your status on our website" email. So I would think one would receive the BNE within a week or two of acceptances going out. Also remember that many schools on the east coast and especially here in the mid-Atlantic are behind in their notifications because of weather.
Thanks Sara!! I'm going to dare to hope a little bit more.
@all - Thanks for clearing that up. My bad.
I guess I saw the reports of Iowa fiction and poetry acceptance calls juxtaposed with non-fiction snail mail and got confused. :/
Cheers!
Hey guys I just got back from Mexico and got a letter inviting me to New School for an interview and Chair Weekend for play writing. Looks like I got the e-mail on Friday.
sorry not a letter an e-mail. I also got a call, but I don't know when that came in.
@ Sara, YOU ROCK!
Congratulations to everybody who got an acceptance or waitlist over the last few days.
I've been in England doing some research, but am back now and ready to...contribute.
@Wrecking Light: I liked your subtle "I was in England doing research", as if that's commonplace.
I kid.
Congrats on Iowa!
@Franny.
I'm actually from Ireland, so it's a quick 1-hour flight over, and usually fairly cheap - I'm often back and forth as a result, especially in the Spring when it's a little warmer in the south of England than it is where I live (right on the north coast of Ireland).
Thanks for the congratulations - I'm just waiting for financial information to come through just to make sure that it's all feasible.
Do schools notify on Sundays?
Does anyone know about the Notre Dame PhD? I can't find information about it anywhere. I saw it on the Driftless House site for response times.
@ Franny: Aww thanks lady! I just finished your sample. I *loved* Nightmare, Older Bodies, and Adaptations. You should send me more!
And that's awesome you worked at 826 Valencia. I've been in there a few times (to the shop) mainly to show it off to people visiting SF for the first time.
Wait, so you only applied to 4 schools? What made you choose Houston? (asks the stupefied Texan)
Stranger,
I don't think most schools notify on Sunday, but my phone's fully charged anyway...
@Stranger -- re. notifying on Sundays. I seem to recall some people from last year who were notified on Sunday but I can't remember which poster and which school. I was notified via email on Sunday for a VT phone interview on a Sunday, if that counts.
In my opinion, this is a decision made by a faculty member and not necessarily a school policy. If he/she wants to notify you on Sunday, he/she will. However, I believe most people want to take Sundays off, you know, to sleep in, drink coffee, play with the kids, watch sports on TV, write a little, and generally recharge their batteries in preparation from the drudgery that is Monday.
Schools have notified on Sunday before so it's not impossible. I think it's far less common, though.
Re: MFA Blues/ Coping with rejection
@Sam N., Jamie, beedeecee, Mostly Swell, and anyone else I am forgetting,
Thank you for your responses, really helps a lot! Sam N., you're right, I tend react that way too (resign myself to something that has not yet occurred)...So maybe it's too early to entirely lose hope, still have 6 schools to hear back from.
Best of luck to all of you, and thanks again for your encouragement/sympathy/support!
New poster, off/on lurker and international applicant...two rejections. Wisconsin-Madison and Washington University (St Louis). Judging by one of the posters stating Michigan's notified and I haven't received anything, I'm assuming that's my rejection.
I applied to 10 places. So that's three down. I'm hoping one of the remaining 7 take me, sigh.
Congrats to everyone who's heard good news so far, though! :)
Just wanted to say thanks everyone and to franny, that's awfully kind of you to offer. I will definitely take you up on that! Best of luck to all waiting, and a hearty congrats to those with acceptances, waitlists, and GNEs to their name!
Belated congratulations to Arna, SerpentSleeping, Ben, Mickey, somebody miller (?) and anyone one I else I didn't mention by name! Hard to keep up with the good news.
That's who I forgot -- Dolores Humbert!!! Yay, Dolores!
@amanda Houston is one of the better programs out there. Excellent city too. Sorry I know you weren't asking me, but I felt compelled to defend it.
@amanda: Thank you so much!! I'll happily post some more. I really appreciate that coming from you.
826 is so cool and such a great place to bring visitors.
I chose Houston because I love Nick Flynn and Tony Hoagland, but also because I could *stomach* living there better than so many other lame places. I regret not applying to some other programs. I may have to do it again next year anyway!
@ Sahaider: I certainly know of Houston. It was one of the schools I applied to in my last MFA app cycle. A friend of mine was in the program many years ago and dropped out. I have heard rumblings about it more recently though, enough to convince me not to try for it again. I was curious especially with Franny, since she applied to so few schools, if there was something specifically that made it so appealing to her.
I asked Mark Doty years ago at a reading in NYC how he managed to stay inspired to write in Houston. He said that in the years that he'd been living and teaching there half-time, he'd only written one poem.
(Also, my mom is from a town outside of Houston and I grew up spending a fair amount of time in the area.)
@Dolores: My pleasure! I assume most people haven't visited Fort Collins and I know I'm curious about some of the campuses and places I've applied (or may apply in the future!). When you're thinking about setting up a life somewhere, it's nice to know certain specifics about it. I love coffee, for example, and I would have to know where to find the best coffee in a given city. Cheers! And good luck in making your big decisions!
@amanda: That's interesting. I'm not crazy about Houston, but MFAs are so often in strange places. I didn't apply to Iowa not because I'm a defeatist, but because I just can't envision this urban girl in Iowa City.
I don't imagine Houston is a very inspiring environment, though. Well, it's not as if it's a real consideration so far. They'd have to accept me and that's unlikely (probability-wise).
For some reason, I'm coming around to the idea that I could thrive in some smaller college towns. I sort of wish I'd applied to Indiana and UMass, for instance.
@Franny
Tony Hoagland is excellent! I just started reading him. Makes me wish I had applied to Houston for poetry instead of fiction :)
Franny,
Iowa City (and Iowa in general) might surprise you. I've lived in large cities all my life and ended up LOVING Iowa when I did my undergrad. The people in Iowa are ridiculously nice, very liberal (for the midwest), and there are alcoves of general weirdness/cultural curiosities throughout the state (i.e. a Vedic Village where you can actually use rupees, the Field of Dreams baseball field, Captain Kirk's fictional birthplace, the giant twin domes for Yogic Flying in Fairfield etc.) that are always good for the occasional road trip. And of course, Iowa City being one of the most literary cities in the country (not to mention a pretty vibrant music scene. Also, an hour away is my alma mater - Grinnell College - and there are always people crashing concerts there (sometimes even from neighboring states) since the college has one of the largest liberal arts college endowments in the country which translates into incredibly awesome performers/musicians/artists visiting.
Oh, and if you think all the farmers are just salt of the earth types, you'd be surprised as well. I got to know a lot of the local farmers and a good number of them are former lawyers, PHDs, California hippies etc. Some of them are writer/farmers and some are retired professors. Needless to say, if you are a vegetarian for political/moral reasons, you can find a lot of farmers that give their animals a pretty darn good life.
@Wandering Tree: Thanks for info. I should give it more of a chance. My opinions are not terribly well-informed anyway. I might have my chance to apply to Iowa yet ;). The music part if also appealing to me. I'd miss Denver's music scene (which is also, maybe surprisingly, great).
Also, I AM vegetarian. I liked that part of the story :).
@ Franny: That's right! I totally forgot Nick Flynn was there. He's one of my absolute favorite poets. I also adore Tony Hoagland.
I chose my schools last time based solely on the faculty and that was the reason I chose UH then. (Seriously, I went to the library several times, getting books from every poet at every one of the 15-20 schools I was considering and camped out, reading their work and circling the ones whom I thought spectacular. Then turned that into the basis for my choices.) This time around though I chose almost solely based on funding and location, with presence of good journals and outreach as my secondary determinants.
I definitely understand your location concern. That's why I didn't reapply to some places or omitted the more well funded (SIUC, Notre Dame, Purdue, Illinois). After being in Santa Cruz for 2 1/2 years, I definitely am hoping to get back into more of a city than this aging hippie/surfer/college town.
@Amanda,
I've only been to Santa Cruz a couple of times and not to be New Agey, but it has strange energy. The weather is better than SF and the beaches are nice, but I couldn't get over this strange feeling I had there. UCSC is a great school, though, for certain things.
To answer your question on the group, I was in SF for almost 3 years and LOVED it. Cost of living is outrageous, but there are so many amazing things happening there. GREAT food, WORLD CLASS coffee, warm people, great shopping and very high quality of life. In this economy, it's hard to sustain SF without a very secure foot in some kind of door. It's a tough place to just up and move to.
I wish I wanted to apply to Illinois and so on. I'm just not 18-22 any more. I don't get excited about the prospect of uprooting myself for some podunk, unknown place. You hear that, Colorado schools?? It would be nice to hear from you!!
Location, funding and journals are just as sound to go by. It would be great if SFSU had some money to fund its MFAs, but SF is too good to be true. Everyone and their dumpy-ass mom would apply there if they funded their students.
P.s. Did you love Austin?? That's a great city. If acceptance wasn't as elusive as a unicorn, I'd have finished my application there. What a dream!
@Franny -- re. Houston vs. "so many other lame places" HAHAHA! Funny. It's true some MFA programs are stationed in undesirable places, but I think most are fine. Come on...Austin, Madison, Fort Collins, Eugene, Charlottesville, etc.
Bittersweet news. Received a phone call from U Washington, Seattle that I have been accepted for Poetry. However, I was told that they have no funding to offer. I was a bit bummed...planning to further check into that. Good luck, all!
Ugh! I know. I actually really wanted to apply to SF State but just couldn't justify it without funding, even with _really_ low tuition for in-state people.
Santa Cruz does have the beaches, and I love going for walks along West Cliff and the wharf/harbor. But you're right about the energy. Coming from Austin, too, it's difficult being somewhere that tries to pass itself off as more liberal than it really is. And the violence here has gotten out of control. Five people have been killed in shootings or stabbings in the last 3 months really close to where I live. The live-and-let-live facade doesn't quite hold.
And I love Austin. Truly. I don't know if I'll ever be able to not consider it my home. Ultimately, though, there were two things that drove me away: the weather and the traffic. I couldn't stand to go outside for 4-5 months of the year. And driving in that city is *awful*. I was rear ended three times in the year before I moved. And the road rage can get ridiculous.
But, holy lord, do I miss the music, art, coffee shops, great bar scene, and restaurants. Sigh.
Oh Austin. I can't stand that place. I feel like I am very much in the minority here, but it must be said: Austin is a suffocatingly hip city. I would much rather not be around that scene.
Congrats Kate, and sorry to hear about funding. You've still got UMass, though, no??
Now, the selfish questions that I hate to ask: When did the call come? And do you happen to have any inkling to whether they're wrapping up with calling the poets?
@kate -- I feel for you. This is actually an interesting issue. What if you get into School A (your dream school) who offers little to no funding and School B (not your dream school) who offers full funding. To me, as far as dream schools are concerned, once you set foot on campus and get into the grind of classes/workshops/TA-ing, they're no different from every other school.
When I was in high school, I turned down my dream college (Princeton) for another one due to $$$ but I ended up having a great experience at my non-dream college. Of course, my GPA suffered for the experience. LOL!
If it is worth anything, I spend the majority of my time farming organic stuff (including organic meat ;P ...in Northern Wisconsin) and I’ve never met a single farmer who is this abstract “salt of the earth type.”
Also, I actually attended CSU’s MFA program for a semester. Dan (Beachy-Quick) wrote one of my rec. letters this time around. I highly recommend the program to anyone who gets in. Despite being a “drop out” I have nothing but positive things to say about the program. I left for reasons completely unattached to the program’s quality. If anyone has any questions feel free to e-mail me as well [aaronaapps [at] yahoo.com], or I’m sure one of the students currently in the program would be happy to talk to you. It really is a welcoming community and Ft. Collins is a wonderful place to live.
Best, Aaron
I've never in my life met a "salt of the earth" type.
Can someone explain what is so terrible about being "salt of the earth"? Everyone is making it sound like they should be avoided. Its my understanding that they are the best company. Humble and unpretentious people? Yes, please.
Franny/Amanda, re: Santa Cruz, I agree that SC is in some strange downward spiral...or sideways spiral away from its liberal/hippy roots. While I was there for undergrad, you could definitely sense a change in the vibe of the city from 2000 through to 2004. I don't think this was spurred by more violence but there were other things such as famous buildings being torn down, massive corporate entities moving in. The uni letting in what seemed like an unlimited amount of undergrads (I think we ballooned from something like 14k students to close to 20k in less than 4 years, or at least something ridiculous like that) and just a general change in the type of person attracted to the town and the college; maybe my classmates are responsible for it all. It's sad to say that as much as I loved my undergrad days, the town and everything, I still now have little to no desire to visit. Kind of sad.
@Amanda, Jason J: It's hard to put your finger on what I dislike about Santa Cruz, but it's palpable.
I didn't really realize that about Austin's traffic. My sister lived there for a while and I loved visiting.
@Woon: It's true that some MFA towns are ok, but so many are not for me. With age, my scope narrows. Also, I have terrible circulation (my fingers blanch and go completely numb once the weather is below 50 degrees), so the midwest and northeast are almost out of the question. Holy shit. I sound like an old lady.
Slightly random--but does anyone know if there is a correlation between when you submit your application and when you are contacted about admission decisions? I know they don't start reading anything until after the deadline, but do the apps submitted first get read first and vice versa?
re: salt of the earth
sahaider, every time i hear someone use the term 'salt of the earth' it's in this overly-romanticised notion of people who are just authentic or more 'real' in some intangible way that the speaker wishes were accessible to him/her but the speaker has surpassed that exit some time ago ...
but i've never, ever heard anyone at all refer to themselves as salt of the earth.
and i am immensely suspicious of any term that gets applied to others and not to oneself.
@koru
really? i would never call myself humble but i would use it to describe someone else. That logic somehow seems flawed to me.
And the meaning of "salt of the earth" is humble and unpretentious, in my opinion. I'm wondering why people are looking to avoid those kinds of people in places like the midwest. I for one would gladly welcome that kind of company. Whats wrong with farmers who are just farmers. Someone mentioned that like it was a bad thing. Farmers who happened to be professors, PHd holders, etc. How pretentious.
@ Morgan and Woon Thank you for the kind words! :) He didn't mention how far they were in their calls, or how they were calling genres. He made it clear that the program has lost a lot of funding. I'm not sure how they're going to go about TA positions for students, but I do know that I did not receive one.
Good luck everyone! USPS is up and running again tomorrow! :)
I think my contention is with the fact that someone used "salt of the earth" to mean simple. Just a simple farmer. Whereas the preference is someone who happens to be educated like a lawyer,PhD,writer, etc. Does that not strike anyone else as ridiculous and condescending? If not, I'm not sure I want to be in an MFA anymore.
Whenever I hear "salt of the earth" I think of the scene from Blazing Saddles when Jim is consoling Bart about being hated by the townspeople because he's black:
'You've got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know, morons."
@sahaider, there's a difference between being uneducated in the sense of not holding a degree(s) and anti-intellectual.
i personally find close-minded people of any sort a turn-off. so anti-intellectuals and i have little to nothing to talk about. but there are plenty of people without degrees who are fascinated by the world, try to learn more ... but surely those people are neither 'simple' nor are they 'salt of teh earth' .... they're curious purveyors of the world, actively educating themselves even if not at Dartmouth or whichever Ivy this blog seems to be talking aout today.
@Kate -- I remember looking into the U. of Washington and the funding (or lack thereof) issue. Too bad. Beautiful area (despite the overcast gray).
Funding or no funding, I don't sincerely believe one school is "better" than another school. Faculty members are fungible to me; that is, you can mix-n-match and unless they're absolute terrible teachers, I will learn a lot from whoever is there. The best creative writing teacher I ever had is someone who is unknown and whose work I don't particularly like (even though he's a good writer). But he's an absolutely fabulous teacher. I'll take that over a Pulitzer (or Booker) Award-winning famous writer any day.
Ok, i've been gone for three days due to visiting family. it appears i've missed tons.
so: we're thinking (for fiction), Iowa and Umass are done notifying (NOT THAT THAT MEANS ANYTHING)?
Wee - not that I expect an acceptance or waitlist at Iowa, but I would wait until mid-week or even later to see if they are finished notifying. They accept a lot of people and may not get to all of them quickly, even with the weekend. I'm not running off inside info though, so take it for what it's worth :)
When you refer to farmers as “just farmers,” or romanticize what they do I get the same bad taste in my mouth I get from the idea of a “noble savage” (not to say that they are at all the same thing, but the impulse behind both of them may very well be the same type of abstraction).
While you guys were arguing about an abstract notion of what a farmer should or shouldn’t be, I was out doing farm chores and taking the dogs for a walk down our fence line.
What I was saying, simply, was that most of the farmers that I interact with one a daily basis have their own set of complex goings and cares. You can look down on them from suburbia (or wherever), or idealize them in some absurd way as you imagine Walden’s Pond, but, eh, whatever.
& anti-intellectual is the only way to be. Abstracted reasoning and analytical objectivity are trite reductions that don’t particularly agree with the complex variegation in my bowels.
=D
Michelle,
Pretty sure there is definitely a correlation between application submission and notification for programs that have rolling admissions. Not sure how many traditional programs fall under that bracket, but there are definitely some low-residency programs that notify as they go. These programs usually list some sort of time frame on their website.
right, well if anti-intellectual is the 'way to be' then i'm off to go stare at the shadows on the walls of my cave ...
hrm...
I think we should all hug again.
aaron, I think you're misunderstanding what I meant when I said I preferred the company of someone who was "just a farmer" instead of farmers who happened to have PhDs and be lawyers, writers, doctors, whatever. I meant that it seems preposterous to me that someone who is a farmer should be deemed intelligent or worthwhile company only if they have some sort of "educated" background.
I just don't understand how the people on this blog are reducing anyone who isn't an intellectual to some sort of inferior person. That is disgusting to me.
And koru, being anti-intellectual does not equal being ignorant or unable to embrace the world and see what it has to offer.
Has anyone heard an official rejection from Cornell??
I haven't gotten anything from Cornell. Just silence!
Hi Sahaider
I'm not sure what was meant by the comment. I know we've had other stereotypes come up, and folks opened up to acknowledge their ignorance and incorporate fresh information. I'm remembering several posts on the south. It seems the offense here is in assuming that farmers are rednecks. Or that residents of rural areas are prejudiced and tend to be responsible for oppressive politics. I know that's not the case, especially with regards to Iowa and your state, Wisconsin. I don't know if you are aware, but many people across the nation were surprised when Iowa came out in favor of gay marriage. The surprise, I think, came out of this very stereotype or image that you are upset about.
This blog is much bigger than the issue at hand - and I think everyone, really, everyone, gets your point.
I can say that my experience in a small town in Illinois for my senior year in HS was the absolute most miserable year of my life. I had just moved there from Pittsburgh. Kids labeled me queer and actually picked fights with me, and teachers turned their backs. I hadn't come out and was shocked that people would hate me for being gay, even if it were true. (Which it turned out to be.) I also had some fabulous teachers who basically carried me on their backs throughout that year. But it this sort of experience that sours people to rural environments.
There's also a sense that if one is a "city" person, it's easier to relate to someone who's got a law degree or whatever. Again, a misconception.
It might be against my better judgment to say anything here, but I am anyway. I hope you take it in good spirit. Kindness is my intent. You're right. And I think people see that.
MostlySwell, thank you. I really appreciate the time you took to write that. I just felt that I was being misunderstood and having a small crisis of how this issue might reflect itself in the MFA community. If this is representative of my peers, I was worried that I was going to be at odds with most. Silly thinking. But there it is.
@Mostly Swell -- you said "This blog is much bigger than the issue at hand." Didn't you mean to say that this issue is much bigger than the blog? I can't believe this blog is bigger than any issue. Or maybe I'm wrong. Maybe this blog is really really big and I fail to see it.
I'm looking forward to notifications (hopefully) picking up again tomorrow. Good luck all!
And I meant to tell you earlier that I hope your pup is OK. I have a rescue pitbull that I've raised for almost a year and a half and know how much he means to you. He (or she?) is a cutie.
Frankish, I think most of the "big name" schools will be notifying in early March. I sure hope some schools notify next week (UNCG, maybe?), but I think many of them are March people. Stupid March people.
no worries. or, it's all good, or whatever the phrase is theze daysz.
I had a meltdown on this blog last Friday, and someone came in and helped out. Just extending the favor.
It's a very stressful time for all of us. Tomorrow is gonna be rough here on this here blog. ya know??? yikes.
Hng in there. I really must put a blues playlist together. I'm workin' on it, actually. I think, while not exactly blues, Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" should be our theme song. I like his amped down version, just him and a guitar, on the No Direction Home soundtrack. And my favorite cover is from Susan Tedeschi. wow. yes.
Ain't no use to sit and wonder why
if you don't know by now...
when your rooster crows
at the break of dawn
look out your window
and I'll be gone
You're the reason I'm travelin' on
Don't think twice
It's alright.
@kaybay - I'd take UNCG! :D
Cheers!
@Woon
No, I meant the blog is bigger than the issue.
I think we are all, collectively, bigger, or able to encompass, much more than some misunderstandings. I suppose it's all in how you look at it. I've found that overall, the folks on this blog have risen to every occasion we've encountered. And there have been some really hard ones.
But, I think I know what you mean. And I just didn't clarify what I meant by "big" - I meant supercool, enlightened, able to handle anything that comes our way. HA! lol
I'd take anything right now!! I'd even take a bottom of the barrel waitlist!
You know what else I hate? All the action heats up at the end of the week. That's bull! I want Monday news! I want Tuesday news! I don't want to be fidgety all week waiting for the end of it! I do that already 'cause I hate my job so much I just want the weekend to come, I don't need that exacerbated!
Sorry, I felt the need to go Elaine from Seinfeld there with all the exclamation points (top of the morning, TO YOU!) ;)
Thanks Sahaider.
Potter (he) remains low key. He's eating his "bland" diet of chicken and rice (which is actually a divine meal if you're a Labrador.) lol
I'm really not sure. I'll call the vet tomorrow and check in. They thought they might want to do labs if he's not better - but I'm not sure how well they expected him to be. So we'll see. Thanks for asking. And to everyone else. I appreciate your support.
Mostly Swell - does your lab have a tendency to eat household items? I took one of my dogs to vet and had to laugh (yes, it was kind of cold of me) at the lab who needed surgery because he couldn't stop eating socks. His owner said it was his fifth sock already! Expensive habit...
@ kaybay, I hear you! And I still don't understand the loooooong notification process. Are these adcoms in committee and one by one voting on their must-haves?! And then they make a call. And then they argue over the next offer . . . I just don't get it. But maybe if IA is on a roll, we'll have news Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday etc.
@kaybay
lol No, Potz doesn't get into things. But as the snow melts, the winter kill start to surface. That's pretty irresistable. So he may have gotten into something on the trail. I think i would have known that, because he stays pretty close, and he usually won't drop his frisbee or tennis ball for anything. He'll take a ball over a treat. So, it's a mystery. And he's getting old, so it could be any terrible scary thing (like cancer in his belly or pancreatitis or ya know, anything.) I'll see what my vet says tomorrow.
I meant, he doesn't get into things around the house. And he rarely gets into things on the trail. But he is a Labrador, and winter kill is tasty stuff, I guess. His older sister, RIP, used to roll in it. yech!!!!! Potter has always been such a good boy and never had such nasty habits. (I guess you'd have to know Annie to get my humor, sorry. Rolling in smelly things made her the happiest. lol And I have always been grateful that they didn't both do that.)
oh, and on the lab talk...i lost my beloved kaya (yellow lab) four years ago and it still pains me today...those crazy labs! she ate through drywall, closed doors, and several of my hats!! she was a terminator!!
I hate the cancer scares :( I have an English bulldog who eleven, old for his breed. They are known for a variety of medical problems, but Hudson has generally been healthy (except for skin problems and an exceptionally stink that rears it's ugly head in burps, farts, and general panting), except that last month I found a growth coming out of his eye (!) and another growth on his foot (!). I rushed him the vet. Aside from the $600 for surgery, which came right after paying for app fees, it was non-cancerous and everything was okay. But I was totally scared that I was going to have to watch him go through cancer or even *does the sign of the cross* have to put him down. That's so sad :(
Does anyone else think that ice dancing is the dumbest thing in the world??
hell yes! i haven't been watching as much of the olympics as usual, but it seems that every time i flip it on, it's some sort of ice dancing/figure skating extravaganza which don't exactly ring my bell!
I'll certainly be heartbroken when it's Potter's time to go. But, also, he's up there, and I've been trying on the idea of him leaving in the next year or so. he had a bout of pneumonia last Fall that lasted 2 1/2 months. But then that picture you've all seen was taken after that. And look how spry he was. He's had a great life. Would that any or all of us had such a life!!! And now, I have to stop talking about this. But I want to be clear that I really do appreciate everyone's support - and that you know what this is like and care. I really feel that and thank you.
Hahaha kaybay my parents are watching ice dancing in the next room over right now. About an hour ago one of the pairs was doing their thing, and the announcer was giving his little bio of them, and he said that they were students at Michigan. And of course, I wondered if they knew anything about the MFA program.
Jesus, they are ice dancing to Johnny Cash...
And, oh my God, I would never get that close to my brother! We barely hug! And it always involves a "pat" because we can't hold it for too long. Haha...
*fyi, the skaters on TV right now are brother and sister and are getting their "parts" are getting a little close for comfort*
Hmmm, do a self edit on that last post. There are words and/or phrases that may or may not make sense depending on your level of literacy...
what's he singing???
"Everywhere Man." At least it's not "Cocaine Blues!" THAT would be an interesting ice dance!!
@kaybay, I thought ice dancing was completely ridiculous until I made friends in college with a former competitive ice dancer (I meanwhile, was an EMT, and my boyfriend is a competitive bridge player... I know people with oddball hobbies). Anyway, it actually takes a tremendous amount of athleticism - those guys (and ladies) are terrifically strong and have amazing stamina.
Even if it still makes me snicker sometimes.
huh? I just found it in my iTunes library. Gawd!!!! I guess chips of ice are flying - but who cares???
Apparently, four of the Olympic ice dancers are from the University of Michigan, so would that make you want to get into Michigan more or less?
Yes, the Scots. God bless 'em, they must have a strong relationship...
I think it takes athleticism, but it's kind of ridiculous looking. One of the couples mimicked smoking a cigarette while dancing to French music and the commentator said something like "we all know the French love their cigarettes." I believe my face scrunched up.
They are talking about the authenticity of one couple's aboriginal costumes! Wowzers...
Ohhhh... the costumes.
It's true, kaybay. I cannot defend those.
seriously. and the hair pulling and the nose nuzzling! what is this?
They should totally do a "Best in Show" style spoof of ice dancing!!
@ kaybay, they did. Will Ferrell made Blades of Glory.
Farrah - true! Not funny though... :(
@Cratty
If you're out there, I just added "Love Me Or Leave Me" to the MFA Blues Playlist.
I also have "Dark Was The Night, Cold Was the Ground" by Blind Willie Johnson. That one got sent out into space back in the 70's. There some capsule of 20th century Earth floating out there for another intelligent life form to discover (and save us from ourselves???) Don't worry, you'll like it. It's way cool.
Any suggestions for blues tunes anyone?
Now that there's been a Will Ferrel reference on this blog, I can honestly say it is my favorite blog ever.
Honestly though, figure skating, though requiring tremendous athleticism, is just boring (to me) to watch. I'm highly suspicious of 'judged' sports. Give me xc skiing or speed skating any day. First to the finish...
And is the new style of every male figure skater Adam Lambert-inspire?
I believe ice fishing and snowball fighting will be the next two sports added to the Winter Olympic games. It's inevitable.
kaybay! no! blades of glory is genius.
@ kaybay, no, not "Best in Show" funny. Not even close. But it had its moments.
I'd gold medal the shit out of snowball fighting! Actually, I probably wouldn't. I think I cried the last time I got a snowball in the face. Again, by my brother... maybe that's why we pat when we hug??
I should clarify - "Love Me Or Leave Me" is a Nina Simone tune. I'm not at all worried about whether Cratty loves me. That was not an ultimatum, Cratty.
Jason J, can you tell me how to upload a playlist? Or give me the url? I know how to convert to mp3, I just don't know the ins and outs of sharing tunes with a select audience, such as you did.
my "handle" with a gee mail suffix
no spaces
I wanna see more halfpipe.
Or at least biathlon.
I watched curling this morning and made up elaborate stories in my head to explain what was going on.
I still don't understand.
Rolling back just a bit, I think we like stereotypes of any sort so much because the words "I don't know" can be so hard to say.
Haha! I find curling fascinating.
And it's funny to see guys with worse physiques than mine and women in full makeup be Olympic athletes. :D
Cheers!
Best Olympic event: the old-school pentathlon. Originally conceived as a test of "the perfect soldier," it included pistol shooting, fencing, and "riding a strange horse."
Does anyone broadly know what kind of writing Iowa /fiction looks for?? What kind of profile do they seek? I just thought maybe we can ask those who got in to get an idea?? And compare it to the manuscript we sent in...
And once again,is Iowa still notifying acceptances or are they done???
"Riding a strange horse," huh?
Sounds exciting.
Has anyone applied to the Low res at Pacific Univ? I'm working on the essays...it looks like my last chance..
@hilary
I don't know, the NBC announcers keep telling me ski-cross was pretty much Nascar on slopes... sounds more flashy/unnecessarily dangerous to me! :D!
@Xataro - thrilling! (sarcasm)
I just think the olde-tymey commentary would be hysterical, a la Best in Show.
And, on that note, I'm off to bed.
Here's to a tomorrow full of good news for everyone!
@Nefretitti...I applied to Pacific in Oregon. I sent my app in two weeks ago, and they told me they will get back to me after the March 1 deadline.
@Nefretitti...I applied to Pacific in Oregon. I sent my app in two weeks ago, and they told me they will get back to me after the March 1 deadline.
@Gena - "Danger" is the middle name of someone who would do ski-cross :p
Ok, now really to bed.
Good luck tomorrow, everyone :)
Agh, why are the three schools I'm left waiting on replying in MARCH? *pout*
Here's hoping tomorrow brings good news, and at least the rest of the Michigan notifications!
So, has anyone else heard absolutely nothing from everywhere they applied?
ryan, yep! haven't heard anything from anyone.
Hey guys...
For those waiting for responses...at least you didn't forget to send in a TAship application to one of your schools...yeah...just caught that last night while looking at the school's page. I'm gonna send it anyways, I guess...but it will be over a week late.
Balls.
You don't realize that it's still really early in the application process until you look ahead to the next school you'll be hearing from and realize it's weeks from now.
Fingers crossed for hearing (something, whatever it is) from Michigan tomorrow! Then more of the waiting game!
OH, and you guys were talking about dogs before (your lab sounds awesome, Mostly Swell).
I woke up this morning and heard my dog screaming and freaking out...through my bedroom window. Ran downstairs in my undies, and my wife was carrying our puppy into the yard. She was OK, but she had peed all over herself and my wife. What happened? My neighbors two houses down were hanging on their porch with their big ass shepard mix and their dog bum rushed mine and tried to maul her (my Gussy is a 5 month old, 27 lb mutt...tri color, floppy ears). Somehow, my wife pulled Gus out from under the dog and got her away. As she speeding off, she heard the neighbor girl say, "come here, rover" or something like that. Even better: my dad is a vet and the neighbor girl's aunt grooms for my dad. And she was just going to let her dog eat mine. I saw her later this afternoon and she didn't say shit about it. So I wrote a poem entitled, "I'll plunge this broken rake into your beating heart." And I dedicated it to that dog. I'm not a violent person, but I was ready to commit heinous acts until my wife calmed me down. Instead, we gave Gus a bath cause she was making our house smell like pee.
Yeah. That was a long story. No work tomorrow so I'm up late.
Er, that should read "was speeding off." Whatever.
@Lucas - That sucks. Glad your pup is okay! Although I am sure they are great dogs (at least that's what I hear), I can't stand German shepherds. When I was five or six, I was mauled by one when walking to school. Luckily, some man walking by on the street saw it and pulled the dog off. The owners never did dick about it. :/
My only consolation (although I realize it is misplaced and probably psychically unhealthy) is that my dog now can sense that I'm afraid of shepherds and bucks up whenever one comes down the street while we're walking. Lucky is a 100-pound pitbull, so the other dogs and owners always cross the street long before they reach us. Heh. :D
In response to an earlier post, my doggy is getting old, too. He's twelve and a half now and has definitely slowed down. Last year we had five tumors removed, but none were malignant (or definitively so). I hope everyone's dogs stay healthy!!!
Never get old!
My dad has colorful things to say about pits, but I've met plenty of cool ones. My other neighbors, however, have a young pit (probably sixty pounds or so) and they always ask if he can come over and play with Gus and I'm like, "Uhh...yeah, about that..." I like Striker (the neighbor's pit), but I'm hella paranoid about my dog.
Oh, and I've been bit by a shepard before...not a big fan. I'm scared shitless of dobermans, for some reason. Actually, I'm scared of most big dogs...and I grew up around dogs at my dad's clinic. Oh well. Gus and I are BFF times a million, though. She's chewing on my shoe lace as I type.
@Lucas
SHIT!!!!
Great poem. Poor puppy. Potter was attacked on the trail when he was a puppy. The owner was not apologetic - said her dog's never done that before. I'm like all pissed and scared. Not good when someone attacks our dogs - or lets their dog attack. You need to move. I hope you get into an mfa somewhere else.
@frankish
100 lb pitbull???
What's your insurance premium?? (homeowners/renters) Or tell them it's a shelter dog, lab mix, right? lol
I'm with you on the German Shepard fear. I had to walk by a neighbors guard shepherd to get home when I was a kid. It never attacked me, but scared the shit out of me. And, ya know, I had to stay calm, if I walked fast or let on that I was afraid, it would run at me. geez. But I've met people with shepherds who get so pissed at the people who teach their dogs to attack or guard. German shepherds are really loyal and kind/friendly when their owners treat them as if they are Labradors.
g'nite
Does anyone know how international students are informed? People here are talking about calls, but I'm guessing that doesn't apply to international students?
Any ideas? :S
Thanks Sud I'm just finishing my last essay for the Pacific app - hope we have some luck here....
@Ryan: I've heard absolutely nothing from my programs (and some have at least begun notifications).
@Woon, Mostly Swell, Aaron, sahaider, koru and so on:
What a strange sequence of events that brought us to all too precious images of the American farmer, pretentiousness and critical thinking in the rural U.S.
Just to be clear, I didn't mean that Iowa City isn't for me because I assume everyone is illiterate or podunk! I'm sure it's a nice community. I'm also sure the city is not without charm. The decidedly intellectual tone of a city is not a requirement for me. Also, I think there are many types of "intelligence" and one is not better than the other.
My concern is this: I like cities. I like choices, options. I like shopping. I like good vegetarian food and good coffee. I like the occasional opportunity to feel very anonymous. On the other hand, community is very important to me, so it's possible I'd make concessions on a vibrant urban center if I felt comfortable and happy in a certain "scene".
All that said, the only Iowa graduates I know speak coarsely of the "cutthroat" environment and boredom. So, yeah.
Hi everyone,
I received a phone call from Iowa on Sunday (afternoon)! I'm in for poetry! I can't believe it!!
@Lucas, Frankish:
I love all animals, but Germans freak me out, too. In my experience, they can be really menacing and unpredictable. My friend has one and I can describe his personality as nothing but antagonistic. He does shit just to get in your way, scare you or try to intimidate you. It's so bizarre! I've never been someone who's afraid of dogs, but he makes me uncomfortable.
Wow, Eleanor! Congrats.
Sunday call. So crazy!
@Mostly Swell & Lucas - I have to admit I was a bit sheltered as a kid. I didn't even know what a pitbull really looked like (part of that is that they weren't as common on the East Coast back then either). Twelve years ago, on the day I was moving into my first house in LA, this stray got run over on the street in front of my house. I took him in, he was about 40lbs and looked fully grown. Little did I know he was only 5-6 months. :P
Anyway, I've had dogs my whole life (border collies and standard poodles) and my neighbors always had labs and golden retrievers...and Lucky is sweetest dog I've ever met. He doesn't like squirrels or coyotes and chases cats if they come in our yard, but that's just part of being a terrier (a jack russell would probably do the same). He's never bitten anyone and never gone after a dog that didn't bite him first (and even then he really only runs to the end of his leash and stops, like a bear fake-charging). :D
I can't speak for all pits and certainly understand the problems people have. They are very loyal and trainable (which can be good or bad) and incredibly strong. So having one means you have to be a responsible. When well trained and of good dispositions, they are awesome dogs. When abused or trained to be aggressive, a big pit is more dangerous than a pack of shepherds. :/
I'll try to link a picture. He's kinda cute.
Cheers!
@frankish:
Our pup is likely part pit. She's a rescue. And she is a perfect angel dipped in sugar.
Hopefully this works, for anyone interested, which may well be no one. :D
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=33593132&id=32546
And Congrats, Eleanor! That's awesome!
Says "content unavailable" or something. I think there's a way to share FB photos with people not on FB. Check out that option.
Try this: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=10938007&l=3e7380bb63&id=559690787
@frankish: Very bottom of the screen. It provides a small-print link to share with people not on FB.
@frankish: Now I'm humoring myself. Here is Sophie.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=8882002&l=0038902d2d&id=559690787
Jason J, cross your fingers...
Here it is folks. Hopefully something for everyone. I'm generous with my definition of "Blues" but it doesn't include electronica. Hope this works. I'm feelin' younger and younger - yo, a techno head!!! lol
http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=10d94f261ab06626d9d5c56d04dfa8b0dbe1bc7c9c3f5c28d9ecd7d091ba63d2
MFA Blues Playlist
01 Don't Think Twice, It's Alright - Susan Tedeschi 04:34
02 Takin' It All To Vegas - Debbie Davies 03:15
03 Love Me Or Leave Me - Nina Simone 04:07
04 I'd Rather Be Blind, Crippled And Crazy - The Derek Trucks Band 04:34
05 Free Drinks For 50 (Interlude) - Dana Leong 01:19
06 Best Of All Possible Worlds - The Little Willies 03:11
07 People Grinnin' in Your Face - Ruthie Foster 03:22
08 Love 'Em & Forgive 'Em - Candye Kane 04:34
09 The Man Who Couldn't Cry - Johnny Cash 05:01
10 Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground - Blind Willie Johnson 03:21
11 Marooned On Earth Blues Part II - Joe West 01:18
12 Lonesome Wind - Toni Price 02:40
13 Eugene - Greg Brown 05:58
14 Riverside - Ollabelle 03:52
15 Come On In My Kitchen - Chris Thomas King 04:23
16 See That My Grave Is Kept Clean - Mavis Staples 04:04
17 Walk Away - Tom Waits 02:43
18 The Cape - Eric Bibb 03:24
Sophie is so cute!!!
sweet pup, Franny
still looking for frankish's pup
and let me know if the music link works. Jason J can help me out if it doesn't.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=33593132&l=87e444e528&id=32546
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=36660516&l=109a17a491&id=32546
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=37697392&l=c379f8f00f&id=32546
Hopefully that does it. Thanks!
oh, damn.
I meant to say "Ahoy mates" when I posted the music link!!!
@frankish: Thanks! She is delicious and such a good baby. She is sleeping and warming up my hip as I type.
Lucky is cute too!!!! Gawd What a great pix. Great laugh. Thanks
Thanks, Mostly Swell!
Your high school story made me sad. That's all I can say. I hate to think of the way you felt. Ugh.
frankish!!
Lucky is gorgeous. Those eyes! Looks like a beefcake. Thanks for posting.
Yeah. sorry about that. Yeah, people can be mean. Alas. Some never grow out of that sort of thing. Anyway - enjoy the tunes.
Will do! Thanks for putting that together :)
@frankish
I forgot to thanks you for your comments and rec. for the Bloom book. I'm gonna look into that. Today's seminar was a little easier to manage. I jumped right in and said "from a writer's perspective..." and went on to talk about Aristotle's Poetics. Not that I know all that much, but they finally listened to me. It's so nice to discuss stuff on this blog and I so want to be in an mfa program so's I can have these discussion face-to-face on a regular basis. It'll happen though. Even if not by MFA. I think I'm moving either way.
I better try to get some sleep. I have some stuff due soon. I meant to also talk to you about online workshops. Remind me, if I don't return to the subject in the next few days, OK? I've been taking online courses through UCLA for two years now. The one you enrolled in sounds great. Later.
Mostly Swell, well done!
Jason J. The tech support dude, your approval makes my eve. Thanks for the help.
I'm so pumped. I gotta try to sleep though.
@Lucas about your late TA app, i wouldn't worry about it too much and just do it and send it in. I was SUCH a mess with my applications, with a billion papers all over my desk etc, losing track of everything, and I sent in late TA apps for two schools, both of which didn't seem to give it a second thought. I just called and asked if I could email it, and to please add it to my file, and they said sure.
good luck!
Another day - will Iowa still be calling people...I wonder!!
And maybe a few peeps from Michigan about...whatever they haven't told us yet?
I'm moved by how open, honest and brave everyone is here. I got rejected from Michener (top choice) on Friday and felt humiliated; couldn't even tell anyone for two days.
I'm back to baseline, for now, though I currently have no acceptances in the bag and am frantically coming up with a Plan B I can live with should nothing work out.
Anyway, just wanted to voice admiration and gratitude for your openness, and to Tom et al for providing the forum. Rejection plus isolation is a dangerous cocktail. I hope to meet some of you some day. Good luck in the meantime.
- Ink and Beans
Resubing after taking the weekend off.
Here's hoping that Michigan really didn't finish notifying on Friday, or that I can find out for sure if I was or wasn't accepted. This "assumed rejection" stuff is the worst.
@Jim, I'm still waiting for rejections and I too went through the curve of despair but I'm not going to wallow in self pity. I am going to try and send my work out to reviews and maybe take some workshops. Real life winners are those who don't give up and fight in the face of adversity that's what really makes the difference - so that's what we should all do....
Okay I didn't mean to make it sound like a speech but seriously lets all not give up...:)))
Here we go. Good luck to everyone this week. Time to find out whether or not Michigan was full of it last Friday - still not sure I understand the "we're done notifying acceptances, but if you didn't get notified it doesn't mean you're rejected" logic.
Many congratulations to those that did make it in!
@everyone who's been notified recently: CONGRATS!
@Dolores Humbert
Did CSU mention anything about other fiction notifications, i.e. more, when, how?
I really must stop posting embarassing things online.
Anyone else dealing with the snow that's hit the Midwest today? My boss just told me not to come into work today because my commute is so long. Win!
*time to delete embarassing posts*
@Stranger I didn't think you were being embarrassing!! Trust me, I feel the same a lot of the time...
Snow in the midwest? Where? I thought we just got rid of it! *hides under desk*
and Stranger, you weren't being embarrassing! We're all feeling the same way!
There are two people I have some info. for, but I can't even remember the name of one, and although I posted the info for the second, I have no idea if they got it because I tried to read through all the posts since my post, but I just couldn't get through all of them. So, if you happen to be the person who was asking about what it's like to live in MINNEAPOLIS -- I think you said you got into UMINN, feel free to email me at similesamATgmail.
Also, I posted some info about UMIAMI for someone named Ryan -- if you can't find the post, feel free to email me as well and I'll tell you what I know.
'Same for anyone who wants to swap info about any of these schools (Poetry track)
VA TECH
WVU
JOHNS HOPKINS
SIUC (SOUTHERN ILLINOIS)
MIAMI
LSU
Thanks! And good luck to everyone.
We (and by that I mean Columbus, Oh) got lucky this time around and it's all rain.
I've never been so happy to see rain in my life. That four degree difference between 32 and 36 is saving me at least 6 hours of commute time this week.
Accepted at Maryland for poetry on February 21, 2010 via e-mail.
Michael Collier says that they are behind on reading applications because of a snowstorm that closed the school for a week, but that they should have the rest of the acceptances sorted out this week.
Congrats, Michael!
And @Sam, that's why I got a snow day! My commute today alone would've turned into 6 hours!! Gosh!
Congrats, Michael!
And @Sam, that's why I got a snow day! We got enough snow that my commute today alone would've been 6 hours long. Gosh!
here we go
@Michael, congrats!
@Chrissy, lucky you on the snow day!
We're in siberia here today ... snow on the ground, and the boilers went out in my tower block sometime yesterday, so no heat or hot water for any of the flats til they can get someone in to fix them. I'm off to go find a warm coffeeshop for the rest of the day!
@koru
So sorry to hear about the boiler! That's the worst. Luckily, we still have power and heat. I'm toasty warm and considering taking a mid-morning nap. Haha. I love snow days!
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