It's only been a few days since the last mailbag, but as we near 1,000 comments, it seems like a good time for a fresh one.
Congratulations to those who've heard good news from programs, and best wishes to everyone still waiting. Remember, it's still very early.
1,073 comments:
1 – 200 of 1073 Newer› Newest»who says there's no $$ in poetry - D.A. Powell's collection Chronic has won the $100,000 Kingsley Tufts prize this year
http://www.cgu.edu/pages/6056.asp
GCSU sent out an e-mail, but was nice enough NOT to fake me out... The title was "Last-Minutes Notes on Applications," which didn't fool me even for a second! They also mentioned that they plan to begin notifications in early March.
Just so I'm clear... Alabama (Tuscaloosa) hasn't sent anything out for fiction yet, right? Anyone have any news on this?
LA Fiction, I was just about to ask the same thing. I'm assuming no one has been notified, since there's nothing on Seth's blog. Nobody in fiction heard from Ohio State on this blog, but there was a post on Seth's blog. So, that's leading me to believe no Alabama fiction applicants have been notified. Good luck!
Poop, forgot to subscribe. Sorry :)
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@Gena
Chin up - remember the cat. You know you don't want any FOE's.
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subscribing
@Michelle
The bright side of that waitlist in BC is that you don't have to decide on them before you've heard word from programs in the states. (I recall on this blog, someone saying that BC wants an answer before April 15.) Unless that was your first or only choice, then, well, hang in there. It's not over.
So many people have applied to huge numbers of programs, there's bound to be a lot of us on the waiting list, and many who eventually get in from the waiting list.
That being said, I must be honest that I am kind of grateful none of my programs have made any selections yet. I'll start freakin' then.
man we almost made it to 1000 comments on the other one.
(this is the artist formerly known as John #2. I changed my name to reduce confusion.)
I just got a fake-out email from Columbia College in Chicago, saying my application was "complete."
Because of extreme budgetary constraints (I have a chronic case of the poors), I only was able to apply to three programs (sorry Columbia University and Brooklyn College, I couldn't afford your $150-ish application fees this time around). So I'm extra nervous about each one. I did the suggested pie-in-the-sky/second choice/safe choice thing, but even my safe choice feels like a long shot, especially after hearing about the terrifyingly high number of applicants for other programs.
Let's see how far my pantsuit story can take me.
@ Luling
I bet Ashley can get you there today!!!
;-)
lol I make stuff happen, okay?
Melonhead,
what kind of melon is your head? i always found it weird when aussies call cantaloupe "rock melon".
anyway, i think a story about a pantsuit sounds great. seriously. i've always thought i will become a Real Woman when i 1) get my first pedicure, 2) laugh with my mouth wide open while flinging my hair back over my shoulder 3) buy, wear, and proudly power-walk around in an expensive pant suit.
and the pantsuit is probably the most important of the three. so, cheers to pant suits, your story, and ending up at one of your three schools!
Oh really? Then how 'bout makin' it happen for me with UMich, UMinn, UWisc???? I would really appreciate it. (;
(OK, I'll stop encouraging her.)
So...just to recap, I applied to 10 programs for poetry.
And, here's how I'm doing so far with the schools with early notifications:
University of Alabama...No.
University of Illinois...Nope.
Indiana University...Nada.
Ohio State University...Nein.
Virginia Tech University...Non.
University of Wyoming...Net.
Granted, I haven't been formally rejected from any of these programs (YET), and maybe I've been wait-listed at one or two of them (DOUBTFUL). But, it's not looking good for me. Not at all.
Hope everyone else's chances are looking better...
Is anyone else mega paranoid that their schools won't be able to get through to them? My cell phone's been broken for about three days (I'm hopefully getting a new one this afternoon), and now I'm convinced some program will call to say I'm accepted, never hear back from me, and give up completely.
Well, no, I don't REALLY believe that.
(But I kind of do.)
Congrats to all the IU acceptances!!! Bloomington is a way cool town--probably the only town in Indiana that is worth a damn (in my native Hoosier opinion). When you all get there, be sure to "Sink the Biz"...at least once.
I can't resist subscribing, hahaha.
I have a question. If a school sends you an email informing you that a Letter of Recommendation is missing, does that mean you are one of the candidates that made it through to the "final round" of reviews? Or am I reading too much into this?
@Melonhead
is the suit one, two or three piece?
Woon,
There's really no way to tell. We talked about this before in the other mailbags. It could be either/or. Some programs are real sticklers and won't proceed with apps unless their complete, some programs might be asking you for a letter of rec because you've advanced to level too and have the battle Bowser again.
But there's really no way of knowing short of calling up the director of the program and asking, "So, what's up, dude/tte?"
Again, Congrats to all the IU acceptances! :)
Ruth,
I'm sure between phone calls, emails and snail mail, programs will get word to you one way or another.
Has anyone actually heard from Wyoming, poetry? I know they've notified cnf and intimated that poetry notifications are imminent...but has anyone actually heard?!?
@wanderingtree--
The rational part of my brain knows that...but god knows paranoid delusions are a girl's best friend... ;)
subscribing.
I'm officially grinding my teeth now. Illinois fiction notifications can't be far behind methinks.
WT,
But Illinois said March! Maaarrrccchhh! Why do I waffle between wanting to know and NOT wanting to know?
Schizomania!
So...I am going to be in India for work from Feb 14th - mid-to-late March...but, they'll email me right? I mean, they wouldn't just get my voicemail and be like..."Sorry, sucker."
Pencore,
A lot of programs "said" March, but I have a feeling people will get accepted before then.
Pencore,
A lot of programs "said" March, but I have a feeling people will get accepted before then.
@Luling
It's always been more of a watermelon head. That was a nickname I had growing up. Needless to say, most hats don't fit me.
And thanks for the encouraging words! Lets hope female-garment-based stories are all the rage among application folk this year.
@Rahkan
Haha, I have to admit, I have the same (granted, irrational) fear...that they will call my cell phone and I will be in class or something and won't answer...And they they will just think, "Oh well, guess we missed her...onto the next applicant!"
And hello to everyone else, I haven't been too active on this blog but have enjoyed reading all of your comments and whatnot. It's nice to know I am not alone in this horrible waiting game...
subscribing
Well, I'm more afraid that they'll _just_ leave a message on my machine or just send me a snailmail and not email me.
I'll have someone looking through the mail for relevant messages, but email will be the best, fastest, and most reliable way to reach me.
Now that I've been reading this non-stop, I was fully warned before getting my FO Letter in the mail.
What a relief!
Hi All, been obsessing on the blog for a while now and decided to say hello. I applied in fiction to Michener
Syracuse
Indiana
Iowa
Michigan
Johns HOpkins
Notre Dame
Florida State
Penn State
Minnesota
Illinois (Urbana)
Congratulations to the Indiana fiction acceptances...it must be SO nice to know there's at least one program in your pocket. Anyway, just wanted to say hi. I've been distracting myself with last night's episode of lost and the remaining few chapters I have left to read in The HElp. Good luck!
So if you haven't heard from Indiana University can you pretty much strike them off your list?
NO! Mother Goose, NO! You can strike them off your list when (if) you get a rejection notice.
I'm not crossing them off my list, but I'm not holding out big hope for IU either. I think it's really impossible to say considering that most people apply to many schools and an acceptance may or may not be their first choice.
My boyfriend thinks I read this blog too much. He just doesn't understand. He says if I don't stop reading it, he's gonna go online and post fake acceptances. How mean. I know he's only kidding, but still, not funny man.
LOL...my husband said this blog is more important to me than he is, and I hate to admit it, but right now, this very second, it totally is! He looks at this list of cities where I want him to move and he's like, really?
Ok, I also must confess my boyfriend's irritation over this blog... I'm glad I'm not the only one! He's such a hypocrite too, he has interests that take up "us" time too ;)
subscribing
@Nina
Ask him what he'd be doing if he was the one wanting to get the mfa???
OK. My new mantra: I won't get involved in domestic affairs.
Oh, he's full of all that "it is what it is" and "obsessing accomplishes nothing" crap. It's so annoying!
Don't count on any rejections yet! I've seen super late-in-the-game acceptances happen the last few years, most especially when the applicant has totally given up.
Not to be bombarding the blog with my domestic issues ;)
haha, i feel like all the boyfriends and husbands should get together and have a blog of their own! and they can blog about how we can't pry ourselves off this blog. they probably need their own commiseration community. i want to bring the laptop with us everywhere, this blog is like the third wheel in our relationship.
i think my boyfriend even tried to tweak with my computer settings and block the blog page, bc it was not loading and acting up for a while... and i was going nuts...and then it magically fixed itself?
this can't be healthy.
furthermore, my bf actually is also in the waiting period for hearing from med schools. except he is so zen about it, he can barely remember which schools he's been rejected by, it doesn't faze him at all. and he's already been in effect for months.
@Nina, he feeds me the same lines your man does, verbatim.
on a similar but slightly different note, is anyone worried about what the MFA will do to your relationships? moving together cross country? doing long distance? breaking up? i am beginning to stress about this a bit.
@ Old Poet
I'm sending good mojo your way! It only takes one program to say "oui!"
Ha! A support group for significant others of MFA candidates...love it. As far as the consequences to the relationship--I always liked the idea that if it's meant to be there's nothing I can do to screw it up and if it's not meant to be, there's nothing I can do to make it work. My spouse is fairly good about embracing change (though it provides endless opportunities for him to complain!) I worry most as I wonder if I will be this obsessive when I'm in a program as I am trying to get into one. Balance, you know? And there really isn't any in life. It's never like, 25% this, 25% that, 25% the other and 25% to one more thing. THere are dozens of things competing for our attention on a daily basis. It's like, today, 100% this and everything else is going to have to be on hold until tomorrow. I think of it as living peacefully with an eternal sense of unrest.
But that's just me, and I've been told I'm a little sick like that!
@ old poet,
this process sucks because it's not only so arbitrary, but the notification process seems so murky and speculative and inconclusive. the new mantra is, "it's still early. so early. so early." i second sara, good mojo is in flight.
Yes, Luling, I am. When I first started the process, I didn't think anything of it, but now I worry about the practicality of moving cross country on limited funds. My bf is a non-traditional undergrad (long story, but he returned to school at 25 and is looking to transfer to a 4-year now). So, we need to match up somehow, either going to the same school or one in the same city.
This means that he's applied to 11 schools, just like I have, which sucks because I may get in somewhere that he doesn't and vice versa, and many of those schools will end up being "wasted applications." He also needs funding and/or in-state tuition so do I. I don't want to separate, although it may be doable for a year or so.
Also, say we both get in somewhere that with funding to a school several states away. We have to find the money to move our belongings and dogs, fork up the cash for a deposit, and live in a new place, not knowing anyone. We've done it before, but it's really, really tough and not something we want to be doing over and over again.
I'm contemplating a deferrment *if* I actually get in anywhere. Maybe that would solve the problem??? It really is a "we'll see" kind of thing :(
For those of you who applied to Indiana and do not read the PW forums, there's a very hopeful post there by Prosaic70.
I wouldn't panic about Indiana yet if anyone applied in fiction. They seem to accept 1-2 early-early in February, and the rest of the acceptances roll in around first-week March. It's not based on who they like the most either (they have a couple of reduced teaching load offers, I think?), probably just the person they agreed on the quickest. This is from personal experience applying there 3 years ago; don't think it had changed till last year.
@Sam
Nice! Now I can continue obsessing.
@rahkan, i have spent the last two years bilocating in two countries. it's easy to set up stuff so people know how to contact you if you're afraid of missing a call.
i'd just leave a voice mail message on your phone that says "I am in India from date X to Y. Please reach me via email at ... or via my Indian phone number at ... India is x number of hours from the eastern time zone."
you can get phones and SIM cards cheap in India that will last the few weeks, or just unlock your phone for a few dollars and put in an Indian SIM card. If it's like europe, you only pay to *make* calls, not receive them. which is better than north america.
i hope that made sense.
@ kaybay
I feel your pain. My husband is also not a traditional undergrad. He's 35 and needing to complete his degree at a 4 year, so in-state tuition is a big deal for us. Additionally, I have an 8 and 5 year old. It's so stressful sometimes, but I have to remember, I wouldh't have gone through all this (and I refer to more than just the pain of applying and waiting, ect.) if there wasn't something inside me that said, you have to. ANd that something wouldn't be there unless there was a reason. Life has a way of working these things out the way they are supposed to go. Have hope ;)
Thank you guys for all your well wishes. A special shout out to Charles and Trilbe for making me laugh (I also got some e-mails which I'll respond to ASAP). I intended to celebrate, but I got so excited that I got tired and took a nap. It's so late now, I'm not really sure if it's wise to go on a little drinking spree. I may just eat tho. Jerk chicken . . . mmmmmmm :)
oh, and did I mention the 130 lb. Saint Bernard that has to come along for the ride and be approved by a future landlord?
Oh, of course, big ups to Jasmine. We need to link up :)
Hey gals. I can totally relate. My husband will finish his BA in May. He also can't believe the list of places I'm trying to move us to--and it is pretty scary considering a lot of amazing schools are in the absolute middle of nowhere. I also have children--a 5 year old and a 1 year old. It's a complete uproot of the fam and it's terrifying. Now throw that on top of the waiting game and a person can't even begin to plan the rest of their LIFE until they (us) start hearing back from the schools. If it was just me...doing this the old fashioned way...not such a big deal. I can flip burgers with the best of them. But since I have to do absolutely everything in my life ass-backwards...I guess I have one option: hang on. :) Side note: My husband totally makes fun of me on this blog. But now he says, "What's up with the speakeasy(etc) today?" lol.
Nina--I think we might be MFA twins. I have a bullmastiff in tow, too! I have more faith now that I am not the only completely insane-o out there.
@ Abbie
Think of how flexible and well-adusted our children will be providing they survive it all!
I love Mastiffs!
Ugh try being in an MFA program and your partner is halfway across the country. Blarg.
@Nina,
Good lord I hope so. My five year old already has to bend between his father and my husband and I. I know it will be asking a ton from him--but I know that it's the best for all of us in the long run. I just have to keep confidence in myself that I am doing the right thing. Now--bring on these acceptances, already!
@luling-
I worry about it ALL THE TIME. I've been with my bf for two years, but I really worry what would happen if we had to do long distance. He's stuck in CA for school for another two years so coming with me isn't an option. I think if we could maybe swing Arizona, but Iowa...I just don't know.
Don't go into an MFA program trying to keep a long distance thing going. Bad idea. If it was meant to be you can get back with that person later on in life.
That's not exactly fair. I've been doing the long distance thing for almost 2 years. It's tough, but it's not undoable...
For Illinois hopefuls, I have some bad news: The program only had 2 open spots for poetry this year, and I believe they offered them both today.
Waitlist comes next. Poets, if you haven't heard, don't fret--you might be able to step up if and when #1 and #2 decline.
I'm sorry. But I would have wanted to know :(
Fair has nothing to do with it. You're the exception to a rule that sees most of those relationships combust.
Well, people have differing opinions on the long distance issue. Some find ways to make it work, others don't/can't and believe it isn't possible. I've done it before and it didn't work, although the relationship was terrible in general. It really depends on the people and the situation. I don't think I could sustain a long distance cross-country type thing for several years, but could potentially do something less drastic for a couple years.
wow. two spots? that's outrageous. Granted, last year they only had 3, but that was out of 36 applicants (for poetry, I believe). The numbers in this whole process are absolutely mind blowing.
and thanks for that Sam.. it makes me feel a bit better. It's hard not to get a little nervous..
I have to say, it does really change the whole process of applying to and selecting schools when you have the threat of a long distant relationship looming over you and your S.O.
Dreux,
There are no rules. Nothing works for everybody.
Being completely single and such, it won't be too hard for me to leave. I've just finished undergrad and still live with my parents, so I will miss my family... but I know that I can call and visit... I feel weirdest about leaving my dog, since I cannot explain to him why I am going or talk to him on the phone! awwwwwww puppers.
Psh, you all see the world through rose-tinted glasses.
Even Tom's book recommended against long-distance relationships. If it bears mentioning in that context, it's far from a controversial observation.
It's certainly not a controversial observation - it's a commonly held opinion. That doesn't mean there aren't exceptions. I'm as cynical as the next person, but I'd never claim to say that something can definitely never be done or is always a bad idea. It's a personal choice.
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that when something is a bad idea 95 percent of the time, you're not really doing anyone a disservice by rounding up to 100 percent. You're doing that 95 percent of people a favor.
I can't believe this is my first post here, but as a former survivor of a long distance relationship, I can tell you that they can work. They work when you can actually see each other and there's an end date in sight. But yeah, if you never see each other and you're not sure when the situation is gonna end, they're pretty much all doomed.
@luling & co: The relationship thing ALMOST made the idea of rejections palatable. I told myself that if I was rejected flat out at all of my schools, I could at least take comfort in the fact that I could stay in my happy cozy life with my happy cozy boyfriend and not put the two of us through two (and possibly three) years of a long distance relationship. We have a house and livestock, and he has a job, that make relocating together impossible...
I won't be the sourpuss complaining about acceptances just because it makes my love life complicated. But it does make these decisions bittersweet.
A belated congrats to all of the IU folks!
OH I didn't realize all relationship answers could be found in the MFA guidebook.
My point isn't that everything is just peachy, but making generalizations about the relationships of strangers is kind of silly.
For $100, I'll break up with your significant other for you so you can move on to your new MFA life without having to see the look on their face when you dump them for a fine arts degree.
Ashley - you are 100% right. BUT, speaking from experience, arguing is not worth it ;) you are totally right though.
Thus far, my distractions are wide and varied: hemming jeans, crafting, graphic design, trying to make flared jeans into skinny jeans, gonna start watching The Wire, listening to the New Yorker fiction podcast, looking for a job, etc.
But one of my fave distractions thus far is reading fiction writing samples! Please send em if you wanna swap!
amylinjl (atties) gmail (dotters) com
ahhh, LOVE. sweet, bitter, expensive, ecstatic, pain in the ass.
@kaybay i feel you. my bf's potential med schools and my potential schools are not matching up so well. we have only a few overlaps (but they are stretches for both of us, like arizona and iowa), and so far, he has been accepted to one program, in ISRAEL and i've been accepted to one, in wyoming. that sounds like a long distance relationship from hell! (side note: no matter what, we are both super grateful to have cool places to go.) anyway, i really hope you and your man get into places together. even so, it's still such a time and money suck to orchestrate that. but, i figure, an MFA program is an instant community. even if it's moving to a totally new place, i think (or hope) school is one of the easiest, natural places to make new friends. fingers crossed that your acceptances match up!
@nina + @abbie yeah moms! you ladies are inspirational. your kids have such great role models... strong talented women pursuing their dreams. moving's a bitch, but it will be worth it...
@dreux sometimes it drives me nuts, but most times i'm grateful that i have a rose-tinted brain.. i imagine others here might feel the same way. to each his/her own!
Hey Kaybay, if we get into the same program anywhere, we should plan a joint campus visit. Tea or coffee's on me. Just bring that good 'ole chip on your shoulder.
Dreux, what's with the acrimony? I certainly haven't seen firsthand many long-distance relationships that can make it work--but the ones that do come out stronger for it, and it's at least as possible as, say, getting a Michener Fellowship or a spot at the Iowa Workshop--which all of us see no reason to feel ashamed to hope for.
Let's go back to rallying the troops. Who has a great joke involving nuns?
lol internet
Whoa, I am not taking that bait!
Oh goodness! LMAO. THank god my husband is not home so I can follow the l/d diatribe.
As an aside, as far as IU acceptances go, 2 in fiction so far that we know of, right?
Wow. I'm so glad this thread continued in the relationship direction. I just drove to the grocery store and back with a real knot in my stomach about my above Illinois/Poetry post. Because, hell, what do i know? Maybe they call to accept 15 people in poetry, believing 13 will decline.
I come to this blog, in large part, for news, for street gossip. I felt like I had something to offer.
As skeptical as I was about becoming "emotionally involved" with my peers in this MFA race, I have to say, I felt like a real sh*t when I came out and said: Don't count on Illinois, poets.
I know I didn't say it like that ... but, still ... if even one person's hopes were dashed because of my post, no matter how well-meaning I happened to be ... I'd feel awful.
All this is very strange to me. This give and take.
Dreux always with an encouraging word. :D
This passes for acrimony around here?
I call it stating the obvious.
Anyway, it's only fair I give full disclosure: if I got into Iowa I would definitely look up a particular ex of mine and try to take her out. Even though she'd still be 12 hours away driving. Closer than she is now, but that's about all.
So if you don't take my advice, consider yourself in good company. I don't take it either.
... and I'm probably making a mountain of a molehill. So, sorry about that. I try not to be narcissistic. But, sometimes, the world is all in my head.
Luling - Israel sounds really cool! Too bad there aren't any MFA programs there. Hey, if the MFA thing doesn't work, you could always go with him and live there for a while. Talk about writable experiences :)
It actually makes me feel better to know that other people are going through the same thing. It'll be good to get and give advice when this whole thing is over.
Good luck!
Kaybay, you're in fiction, right?
If I know anything about karma (and I know nothing), then it reasons to think that you and I will attend the same program and sit directly across from each other during every workshop (in assigned seats of course).
@Dreux,
If I wasn't in a potential long distance relationship to be, I'd be right there with you. But aren't we all here because we like to cling on to the small chances of getting what we want? 5% acceptance rate vs. 5% long distance relationship success rate. Seems about the same to me. We're all hoping for miracles here.
@alana that's a tough one, bc i remember you only applied to three schools, right? AZ isn't so far from CA..which is hopeful. and the good thing about school is there are tons of vacations. so i'm trying to calculate some kind of combo where those of us stuck long-distancing will get lusciously abundant funding packages, which will make it possible to take planes and trains to visit our loved ones. often.
also if you wanna talk about any of the programs, we applied to the same schools i think.
luling (dot) osofsky (at) gmail (dot) com
@katie i know what you mean...especially in the winter...mmm cozy...but dreams beckon!
@dreux maybe i'll turn you into a character in a story... the guy you can pay to do your breaking up for you. oh wait. that was george clooney in Up in the Air. oh well. did you guys like that movie? anyway, by your math, if 95% is basically 100%, that means 5% is basically 0% and that means none of us would get into schools anywhere!! aagghhHH! now i think that's "fuzzy math" that bodes badly for everyone, including you!
It's okay, Rugby Toy. By the way, I missed your posts when you took a short hiatus. I was going to ask where you were :)
Dude, George Clooney got paid a lot more than $100. I'm a bargain.
Heck, I'll do it for a $5 Starbucks gift card. Special MFA blog coupon. Just mention this ad.
@luling
aww, thanks!
I have done EVERYTHING in my life assbackwards as Abbie said and I have yet to regret any of it. I never ever want my little girls to think there's anything they can't do for any reason or because of anyone. At the end of the day, it's me I have to live with, and I have to be sure that I'm making the choices that are right for me. I married my husband almost ten years ago after we had a date that lasted three weeks and then went out for a few more months and decided to (consciously) have a baby. I DON'T RECOMMEND IT, see? I'm not purporting that I have all the answers. I guess I just know, that I don't know. I don't know what's gonna make something work, or not make it work. I have a gut instinct, an intuition, a sixth sense. But at the end of the day, it's all a crap shoot. I'm only here once as far as I know. Take chances, take risks. Dream big.
Normally, I am not as wordy as all this, but right now I am suffering the worst freaking cold of my life and I'm all hopped up on the cough syrup.
i don't know any nun jokes, but i did see a nun rocking a bright green pair of new balance sneakers the other day and i was like YEAH you go girl!
@luling-
I love how we both jumped on the percentage thing!
I think I will send you an email; it would be nice to have a fellow CNFer/potential long distance relationship person to commiserate with.
Okay, y'all. I've been lurking for a while now, but I've decided to step out and post.
I applied in fiction to five programs (no word from any):
Ole Miss
Vanderbilt
Alabama
LSU
Memphis
As for distractions, I got an e-mail the other day letting me know I'm a finalist in the Tenn. Williams/NOLA Literary Festival Short Story Contest!! Winner will be announced by March 1. So now, I have even more waiting to do but couldn't be happier.
@ Sara & luling
Thanks for sending some good mojo my way. Hopefully, it's extra-strength good mojo.
Rationally, I know that there's still a lot of the game left to be played. I was just really hoping for an early acceptance somewhere so that I wouldn't have to stress out as much about any wait-listing.
Oh well...
I haven't posted in a while, but the whole long-distance discussion kind of roused me.
Can we not offer advice to other people if they haven't asked for it? Why one person chooses an MFA program is completely up to them and their personal situation. It's not any other person's place to tell them what to do because of somebody else's situation.
Riah,
No, but you can complain on their behalf. Obviously you have to stick up for them since they're incapable of...
Oh, wait.
Huh?
So, I definitely got a call today from an acquaintance who needed some information from me for a choir I am in. I didn't have her number so I got REALLY excited when I answered the phone only to have it be her. I made a fool of myself. I actually went AWW MAN really loud when she said who she was.... ahh well, its not a day until I've embarrassed myself, that's what I say..
LOL, Coughdrop. I feel your pain. For some reason I don't have my Dad's # in my phone, and I didn't recognize it when he called me today, so for a second I thought it was the big moment.
Anyone else planning on treating themselves to something special once they get in somewhere that would work for them? I'm going to drive down to San Marcos, Texas and get a new tattoo put on me.
@rugby toy you're a poster of good intentions. i think everyone wants to know, that's why we're on here so obsessively.
@nina your story of meeting your husbands sounds romantic! as for ass backwards, who's to say what the right order is? cough syrup or not, Amen to your choices!
and to tie back to that earlier thread on mundane jobs.. i used to work in a grocery store and it was more than once that a band of teenagers would come in and clear out the whole shelf of robitussum (sp?). so, perhaps if it works for nina and if we're lacking inspiration, we could do a communal robo-trip and write our hearts out. wait, that sounds kind of cultish. like, drinking the kool-aid.
@dreux no way, a $5 gift card, that's kismet timing that you mention that. i just got one of those for my birthday! from my health insurance representative....sad but true, my parents didn't send me a card, but she did.
for anyone who needs health insurance, i HIGHLY recommend Rachel Heath from the Healthcare Solution (dot com) this is so weird that i'm making a plug for health insurance, but seriously, she was great. and she helped me find a great plan for cheap. and now i have this $5 gift card i can give to dreux to break up with my boyfriend for me. only problem is dreux, you might get punched in the face. BUT...medical attention could be free if you call rachel heath, and on your bday you could get another starbucks gift card! jk. im rambling now. i need to get back to work. shit. i have no work. ok, i need to make dinner.
@CR congrats on being a finalist for the short story contest! how encouraging and awesome!!!
It's OK, luling. I can take a punch. My parents sent me to boarding school when I was a teenager because they couldn't stand me, so I've been in my share of fights.
Hey Dreux,
I'm pretty much super duper interested to read your stories. Swappage? Of stories, of course.
amylinjl (atties) gmail (dotters) com
@Dreux and Kaybay
Promise us that if you two attend the same program you will update us when you guys start dating.
That was a joke. Just in case, you know, that wasn't obvious...
@dreux me too! where did you go? well, i went bc i couldn't stand my parents.
also what tattoo are you getting?? do you have others?
actually i'm really intrigued by tattoos. i want a few different things, but have not brought myself to do it yet. and not sure i will. i would be curious about what tattoos others' have as well.
@people, any good tattoos and their corresponding meaningfulnesses?
@ frankish, I think I'm a little bit in love with you.
@ kaybay, you too.
And it's long distance.
i have a few tattoos, but there's one only you guys can appreciate:
iambic pentameter.
it looks like this u/u/u/u/u/ and it's on my arm.
You all are entertaining to say the least.
@Nina-
Which genre did you apply in and which schools, if you don't mind me asking...
I'm half poetry/half cnf and my list is a long'n.
I haz tattooz. 4.
- f-holes on my back (the carvings on either side of the fingerboard on violins, violas, etc.)
- the "ohm" symbol on my wrist
- an opening lotus with a two-toned heart inside w/ chopsticks crossed around it (inner forearm)
- and "ohm mani padme hum" in sanskrit down my right side
I want a couple more, but don't know if I want to cover anymore of my skin...
@luling -
Bar-Ilan (near Tel-Aviv) has an English-language creative writing MFA for writers with a Jewish focus. [You definitely don't have to be Jewish to do the program, and it looks as though they're pretty flexible with their definition of "Jewish focus".] I'm considering applying if I have no luck with MFA apps in the U.S. It looks like a good program on spec, but I haven't much about it...
http://www.biu.ac.il/HU/en/cw/
Allen Hoffman teaches there and I loved his Small Worlds trilogy.
Anyone heard anything about it?
BM
@ Abbie
In no particular order, fiction:
UT (I live in Austin, so how ideal would that be, right?)
Syracuse
Iowa
Michigan
Indiana
Florida State
Minnesota (I still can't actually believe I applied there. Born in FLA, Raised in L.A. and now in Texas. I don't think I've ever seen below 20 degrees.)
Penn State
Notre Dame
Johns HOpkins
Illinois
You?
I have a Totoro tattoo on my right ankle. Bonus points to anyone who knows what Totoro is ;-)
More like swift kick to the teeth of anyone who doesn't know what Totoro is.
I have a full sleeve on my right arm. Black and gray stuff, all surrounding DC (where I grew up). Duke Ellington and Roberta Flack portraits, the Vietnam War Memorial, Capitol Building, etc. All tied together with cherry blossoms. Got it from Virginia Elwood in NYC.
@ Alana
Totoro is a big, furry forest creature who rides a cat-bus and who I wish lived in my room :3
Tat count= 3
-A phoenix rising on my ankle
-Two tulips intertwined on my calf
-A Black hole on my wrist(as in the kind you would encounter on the Sci-Fi Channel, not just a hole that is black).
Thinking about getting a quill eventually.
@Coughdrop
Nina has a cold. I immediately thought of you. We haven't seen you around, have we? Did I miss your posts? Anyway, Nina has a cold, and you arrive on the blog. That's cool.
@RugbyToy
I thought your post was considerate and sensitive. You didn't tell anyone to give up, just made them aware of the circumstances, waitlist, which is better, maybe, than wondering if they'll call tomorrow or something. I mean, who could sleep???
@CR
congrats on the being a finalist! very cool. Thanks for sharing it with me(us). It's nice to hear good news.
@RtS
Hey, watch out. Some of my best friends are nuns. (-; No, not really. I am acquainted with an ex-nun - ex-cloistered Carmelite - whoa, does she have some stories. She writing a memoir.
and I'm sooooooo glad I have a mantra in place! My, the poop is flying. Oh, oops, that was last night, sorry Jason and Daniel. No, not really. But that is not an invitation to resume last nights discussion. Yes, absolutely NOT an invitation for that.
Whatever you folks in relationships decide, I hope it works out. Really, I do. MFA candidates work long hours, so it'll be tough, any way you cut it. We'll all need support, for sure.
@luling and dreux
re: tattoos
I have a few. My first one was done in Osaka, Japan by a guy named Ben who studied under a fairly well-known Japanese artist for several years. Did I get a cool dragon? a Koi? some Kanji lettering perhaps?
No, I did not. I got a Garden Gnome posed in the position of Da Vinci's The Universal Man. It's on my left arm. It took about 4 hours (the longest I've had to withstand the needle in one sitting). I had to do it all in one shot since I was vacationing from a city in the north of Japan where I taught English. Why a gnome? I wrote and directed an interdisciplinary (video/ballet) play about Gnomes (sorry, no hats) in San Francisco. I also have a small collection of garden gnomes.
Later, I got a tattoo from one of my co-worker's secret lovers. On one drunken night, I told her that she had self-esteem issues and engaged in self-destructive behavior like cheating on her husband. The same night, I prank called her tattooist lover and said "manko tabetai" (look it up) several times and then hung up. This was my co-worker's idea and was probably her passive aggressive way of telling me not to analyze her life. For the next several weeks her tattooist lover kept calling my phone and threatening me in Japanese. Needless to say this guy was pretty big (and probably very crazy). I walked home from work at a brisk pace and kept a butcher knife close to my futon. I eventually begged my co-worker to call off her "attack dog" and all was good again. This same crazy tattooist gave me my second tattoo - a Kappa (a mythological amphibious creature with a bowl shaped head). I wrote a story centering around a corporation that exploited these creatures. I have a thing for myths.
I also have a big back project going on. The outlines are done but it's going to take a few sessions to ink. Saving up the money to finish it. It's a scene from one of my stories where I created an imaginary world comprising of cities resting on giant leaves.
re: Tattoos
I've got seven.
The most recent one is on the left side of my chest, right above me heart, it's a bookmark.
@Mostly Swell
I've posted a few times! Been posting (a little) since about mid-Jan or so and been lurking since November. But, I would be happy to help with Nina's cold, or anyone else's for that matter.
two tattoos (ankle and back) and also planning to get one to (hopefully) celebrate acceptance to a program. thinking inside of left forearm. can't decide what to get. you'd think i'd have plenty of time to figure this out, what with the waiting and all.
dreux, i may be in love with your sleeve, sight unseen.
congrats on being a finalist in the contest, c.r.!
@Nina-
Well--I gotta tell ya. I live in Iowa, have all my life, and I think (no joke) it's actually colder here most of the year than it is in Minnesota. For whatever f'd up reason, Iowa is in this cool line of something or other that actually makes it the most frigid place on Earth. But Minnesota gets damn cold. So does Penn State. Stay where it's warm!! :)
I applied in CNF to:
UNCW
Hollins
Penn State
Notre Dame (prose)
Arizona State
Idaho
Poetry:
Florida
Michener
Texas State
Colorado State
Boise State
Oregon
NC State
Arizona State
UC Irvine
@Emily - How did you choose to represent the black hole?
@WanderingTree - I once read that the garden gnome might be derived from Priapus. :D
@Farrah - <3
@WT-
I also have a gnome. He's on my shin. People are constantly gawking.
@farrah + @frankish
sittin in the tree
W-R-I-T-I-N-G!
Confirmation for the garden gnome theory: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Musée_Picardie_Archéo_03.jpg
The protector of gardens and male genitalia.
forgiveness requested in advance for using wikipedia to prove a point. But an interesting read when you know what garden gnomes are today.
@Jessica
That must be the REAL reason so many old people have those gnome statues!
I have a honking big tattoo and two little ones. I like to forget they're there at all, and then I catch sight of them and I'm like WHAT'S ON ME? Oh. The fruit of my teenaged idiocy, I remember now.
13 tats and counting...have started left arm sleeve of norse mythology (grandfather's from sweden, not a nazi lover!!), assorted symbols on my legs, and burnt parchment with "life is but a walking shadow..." down my right arm with an inkwell on my shoulder...it's probably a good thing i don't make a ton of money or i'd already be covered!
My sleeve is pretty nice. Particularly the portraits. Ms. Elwood is the best portrait artist alive. Period.
Planning on getting Andrea Elston to do a half-sleeve on the other arm based on the complacency exhibit at the Holocaust Musem (where I used to work). Holocaust imagery, Japanese internment stuff, slavery/Jim Crow and so forth. All of America's greatest hits. She's in San Marcos, TX and I'll go down there if I manage to get into an MFA as a reward to myself and an acknowledgment that I probably won't have time for that kind of stuff once I'm enrolled.
I'd also like to get a piece that's a tribute to American industry and agriculture on my leg. Some Edward Hopper or Hudson River Painters style scenes, maybe some drawings influenced by David Plowden's photos. Not sure who I'd want to do that, maybe someone like Matthew Wojciechowski in DC, someone who's really good with color/shading.
http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/108/l_15dc305ed2d74cc4913179a72a9138c5.jpg
That's the portrait on my shoulder. There's a whole sleeve surrounding it now (and it's not red anymore), but she hasn't posted any new pictures of my work since she put that one up.
Hey guys, a regular MFA blog lurker here writing under a new alias because I'm paranoid about schools realizing who I am based on too obvious a username. I got a message from Vermont College today saying I was accepted in fiction...but that the program was actually already full so I was on some sort of a waitlist, but I shouldn't worry because they're expecting some room to open up. Is it just me or is this really bizarre? And let me emphasize that they didn't start out with, "Hey, you're on the waitlist!" They started with, "Congratulations on being accepted into our program for fiction!" Did this happen to anyone else?
re: tattoos!!
i have 4!
1. the hammer and sickle design, except instead of a hammer i have a stalk of rye (rip salinger - yeah i take catcher very seriously! hahaha) on my back, left side.
2. le petite prince stars (two of them) inside bicep near left elbow - my best friend has a very similar one on the opposite arm. it's my "best friend" tattoo.
3. the jason lee cover art for jean-paul sartre's search for a method. it's an upward arrow with two "keyhole" shaped figures/people on each side of the arrow. this one gets me more comments than any other tattoo. when i taught high school, my students were always really interested in it, if they ever saw it. this is on my left outer bicep. i take philosophy really seriously too!
4. finally, a treble cleft, surrounded by four oak leaves on my right outer shoulder. a friend designed this for me after hearing some music i played for them.
and the next one i want is a mosaic-illustration of dionysus riding a leopard from (180 ad greece), which would be pretty large and would basically take up my right side torso, over ribcage. i found it from the cover of terry eagleton's holy terror.
and more after that i'm sure, once i find something else i like.
@frankish
I worked on a design with a guy in Vancouver B.C. It looks like a cross between some tribal and a little like the eye of a hurricane as well. It's black, gray and purple. I'll take a picture in the next couple of days and post a link in the thread. I need to get part of it touched up (one part of it scabbed up and peeled some of the ink out a little) but I chose to go to Europe instead of getting it touched up since I was unemployed at the time. I figure I might celebrate this whole MFA thing with a touch up and a quill tattoo.
indeed, that's some nice portraiture.
i really admire sleeves of all kind on other people, though i'm not sure i'd ever be brave enough to get one. for now, i prefer to further piss off my mother with a smattering of designs - and the threat of future tattoos! - though i'm 30 and haven't lived in the same state as her for 8 years.
i have seen a couple of quarter sleeves on other women that i would have loved on myself. they always involved flowers.
Congrats on Vermont College! I have no idea about that wait list funny business. But I can say that a guy who taught me creative writing for a long time (and was a brilliant teacher) went to Vermont College's MFA and loved it. So hopefully you like it, too.
Yeah, sleeves take some commitment.
I have an interview for a fellowship tomorrow and I'm wearing a long sleeve tee with elastic cuffs underneath my dress shirt. AND a wristband (like the kind basketball players wear) on my wrist under the tee just in case.
It's not easy to hide something that comes all the way to your wrist.
I have rolled-up trousers tattooed on my legs, a la Eliot. It's not so much the trousers as just the cuffs, like, fake cuffs on my legs, rolled-up.
@Smiling raindrops (keep falling on my head - oh no, that's bad, sorry.)
Congrats!!!! That is weird, I agree. You must be first on the waitlist or somethin'. A friend of mine si from VT and he was like so disappointed with me for not applying there. I hope it works out for you. It's a curious notification, for sure.
congrats, smiling raindrops! a misleading message, but at least it led to some positive news?
re: full sleeves. it's funny, at my first magazine gig we had an editor who wore long-sleeved buttondowns every. single. day. even in LA, even on fridays, even in the summer in a part of the valley where it easily reaches 100 degrees through the better part of july and august. not to mention our company was far from enforcing any type of dress code. he started dating one of my co-workers/friends a couple of years later and i learned he had two full sleeves as well as a design that covered his entire back. i never, ever would have guessed.
That's funny about the interview. I don't think you can even get a job in my neighborhood without at least one full sleeve. :D
yeah, do bosses/companies still have a prejudice against tattoos?
i've been an educator my whole life so i haven't really felt compelled to cover up my body art.
i don't know if they do, but i certainly wouldn't take any chances, til i was hired anyway! when i interviewed for my teaching job, i certainly covered up by wearing long sleeves...but now, it's really no big deal because it obviously has no bearing on my teaching ability...but honestly, i would do it again for another interview...you just never know
yeah, i was a coach before i taught so the principal knew what i looked like... without a long sleeve shirt on and still when i wanted a teaching job i just walked into his office and told him i wanted to teach. no problems with the tats.
i guess in the future it would be something to consider though.
yeah, i think it would depend on the environment. publishing was always really lax. i still work as a writer, but in a more conservative field where the guys wear suits every day. i didn't show any tattoos in my interview, but the one on my ankle is revealed when i wear skirts/dresses and i've yet to hear any complaints.
Dreux,
The Tokyo police apprehended me TWICE because of tattoos (or maybe I just look like some yakuza terrorist?). The first time was justified since my foreigner card was expired but the second time was just plain profiling.
Police officer #1: (Pulls up my sleeves and stares at the gnome. He shakes his head and leaves with my passport and foreigner identification card)
Police officer #2: Do you have a knife in your bag?
Me: A Knife? No. Do you? (note: these guys knew next to no English)
Police officer #3: Inspects bag. Is this computer stolen?
Me: Uh, no . . . hey, I was just looking for the bookstore.
Police Officer #1: (returns to the room) He's clear to go.
Me: Can you tell me how to get to the bookstore?
Police Officer #3: You can go now
don't know all of your ages but i hope my age-group generation (27 y.o.) is a little more open-minded as far as image is concerned when we "rise to power". eventually people won't care i hope.
Jason J,
While younger generations have, in general, more liberal attitudes, I think there will always be rules concerning image, behavior etc. etc. etc.
It's kind of like saying you'll be the coolest parent ever and not give a crap if your kid smokes dope or drinks in high school so long as they are responsible about it. Of course, people's attitudes change when they get older.
WT,
I agree that there will always be rules regarding image and behavior. I just don't think a person with tattoos necessarily fits the older stereotypes of a person with tattoos. The "biker"/"gang-member" stigma will eventually go away. I mean, I hope it does.
To me, tattoos don't signal anything other than a person who is into body art.
WanderingTree,
To put it in perspective, getting a tattoo voids your national health insurance coverage in Japan as far as I know. Makes you ineligible. So the vast majority of tattoo parlors in Japan make their money off Yakuza.
As far as whether they need to be hidden, it depends where you are. In DC I've had to hide them at every job I've had. DC is not a tattoo-friendly town. In Brooklyn I've never felt the need to hide them. My interview tomorrow is in Princeton, and Princeton seems like the kind of town where such things aren't welcome.
I never had any problems with NHS b/c of tattoos in Japan. But then again, I rarely went to the doctor (Japanese medication = way too weak/useless). I know Japan is the land of cute and all but when it comes to pills, you gotta beef it up. I was denied a gym membership because of tattoos as well as entry into a couple of spas and bathhouses (although there are some that allow tats)
I can see D.C. not being too keen on tats. I'm a young guy (28) but there's a time and place for everything [A LOT of younger people(like 40 and below) in Japan have tats but conceal them). Certain places and professions just have spoken or unspoken rules about image for a reason. Personally, if I was on trial for say, indecent exposure, I wouldn't want my lawyer covered in tats (like neck tats or something that would be visible) or the judge making the little hula girl on his biceps dance.
I once had an interviewer give me a very pursed-lipped, judgmental glare when she caught a glimpse of the small Arizona flag tattoo on my left forearm. It was for a bank teller job. (Which- surprise!- I didn't get.) I think it just totally depends on the work environment. I had another interview with a school district for a paraprofessional job, and nobody cared.
friends, i am The Blogger Formerly Known as luling.
following the lead of smiling raindrops, i decided to change my username since luling is my real name and i've never met another luling in my life, and my guess is i'm the only luling applying for an MFA this year, hence too easy to identify.
anyway, PemaD is my alias, short for Pema Datsun.
i love hearing about everyone's tattoos. reading the list is like the exhibition catalogue to a body gallery of uniquely personal imagery/imagination— it's awesome. it sounds like you guys have such creative and artfully done stuff.
@smiling raindrops congrats on VT!! though that is a weird way for them to have phrased it.. i guess it just means you're the top spot on the waitlist and your acceptance is basically a sure thing. so, yay!!
(even though i just blew my cover by saying who i am, i figure for the future, the new name will suffice. i don't expect any real sleuthing done on the part of programs.)
@Rugbytoy
I think we all knew you were just being very helpful. No one took it the wrong way.
@smilingraindrops
Congrats! I bet they probably know how many people they accept off the waitlist every year, so your spot is pretty much guaranteed.
@CR
Congrats on the contest. Very cool.
Pema D, you should have just named yourself TheBloggerFormerlyKnownAsLuling. I think that would have thrown everyone off. :)
Are a lot of people nervous about having their identities known on this blog? I don't think anyone ever has a reason to trash an MFA program here, so I can't see what would be so incriminating.
Yeah, I'm not worried about it. People are probably just nervous about the process or maybe saying School A is their top choice and turning off School B. It doesn't appear to me that anyone here has written anything to worry about. And, to be honest, I'd love for the schools to get to know me better. One of the most frustrating parts of this process is the (at least perceived) anonymity and everything riding on one (or maybe more) person's reading of a short sample. :D
Cheers!
Paranoid much?
I was interested to see how many people just mentioned education! I am finishing up my MAT now while teaching high school teach English...who else on here is currently a teacher?
was teacher from 2004-2008.
err... high school english.
@Cratty and Jasmine, Congratulations. I am a fellow fiction app to Indiana and it sounds like a fantastic program.
@Dreux Acrimony? Hardly. You are only following the Polar Bear Theory regarding long distance relationships (which everybody hates but usually conforms to) which is essentially that if you want to figure out the traits of a certain species you only really need to study about 100 of them and you get a pretty good indication of how they act in any (NOT EVERY) situation. We like to think humans (and particularly Americans) are individuals that could make any decision at any time. Comforting to think that but ultimately fairly untrue. Writers should know this. Think about all your favorite books. Do the characters do something totally random that doesn't hold to their character traits? I hope to God I am in Dreux and Kaybay's workshop. I'll throw so many high fives.
@Jason J re: Tattoos
Speaking as a manager (and thus unwittingly and ridiculously The Man) who gives a fuck about tattoos? with two caveats: Not on the face (speaks of mental illness or serious punching power) or the neck (speaks of being either a drug dealer or an undercover cop/DEA agent). That being said, if I don't get into a school I'm getting a neck tat so I can get some street cred and up my sales.
I'm too commitment phobic to get a tattoo but I've been in a long-distance relationship for a year.
He's on another continent. and will probably be cross country, come this fall
?
@Kristina
English teacher here. There are a LOT of teachers on this message board, high school or otherwise!
NM
Also,
@ smilingraindrops & CR
Big ol' congratumalations :)
NM
Any bets on whether Michigan is going to throw out my app because they still haven't received the official transcript from a school where I spent two semesters before moving on? My coursework from those two semesters is recorded on the official transcript from school#2, which they have - but the wording on their website is pretty strong:
"All materials must be received in our office by January 1st. We adhere to a strict deadline. This is not a postmark date. BIt is the applicant's responsibility to make sure that all materials are received by the Graduate English Office. Applications that remain incomplete after this date will not be considered."
(emphasis theirs)
I don't know why they don't have the transcript in question - I've requested it twice now.
I've just emailed them to ask if I'm out of the running?
Any guesses?
and: subscribing
Congratulations Jasmine and Smiling Raindrops!
Good luck on the contest, C.R. Wow! I really hope you get into your school of choice and win the contest. That would be amazing!
no tattoos here, but i've specced my first one. should i ever need chemo, and my hair falls out, i'll get a small one on my skull where my hair will regrow over it. a blue or a yellow rose.
@apcb, i'd not worry too much about one missing transcript. chances are it got mis-filed in the grad school office somehow. those offices process sooooooo much paper this time of year!
Hi all
I've got a question regarding applications for scholarship/assistanship.
I'm expected to write a personal statement, and send in two LORs. I feel that I've pretty much "used up" everything I had to say and all the pepole who could recommend me on my admission application, but I imagine this might be read by the same people and so don't want to repeat myself. Any thoughts on this?
subscribing
Hey Yarduni,
Just to make sure we're on the same page. Did you comb the school's website thoroughly? Regarding the app for the assistantship, are you sure there wasn't a fine print or a parenthesized line along the lines of "If you wish, you may use the personal statement/letters of recommendation from your main application."?
If not, for clarification, you might want to call or e-mail an administrator in whatever dept. overseeing the CW programme. You should never be afraid to do this; it's an understandable question (plus it's not like they ask for your name or anything).
I think it's quite reasonable for you to re-use LORs (strong, earnest relationships built on mutual respect subsisting between student and mentor doesn't exactly grow on trees). However, it might help to write a new statement. You mentioned assistanship - maybe you could re-use the sentiment from your original statement and parlay it into something with a "desire-to-teach" bent. Anyway, it doesn't hurt to call. Good luck :)
@luling
It's a ridiculously scary notion thinking about all that's put to chance when going away to school and maintaining a relationship. Originally, I told myself I'll only apply to Emerson and UMass Amherst b/c I wanna stay nearby the beau. Thankfully, I realized, if I limited myself so blatantly, I'd be at a greater risk of resenting my boyfriend if a) I disliked the program or b) I didn't get in b/c I applied to so few schools.
All in all, I am very much nervous if/when the changes must be made but I do know, I'd regret it if I never gave it a try.
What a bummer it is realizing you can't have your cake and eat it too, sometimes. haha
Thanks for the encouraging/kind words, y'all.
Re: Tattoos
I have two on my right arm.
One is the entrance to a coal mine tunnel with a pick ax and hammer across it. It says Blue Creek and 7 at the top. That's the name of the vein of coal my dad mines and his mine number. Got is as a tribute to him for helping me get where I am today.
The other is the state of Alabama (my home) with a camellia flower and goldenrod across it. There's a banner that wraps around it that says, "For Better or For Worse." Sums up how I feel about my home.
You people have so many tattoos! I worry that if I get into a program I may HAVE to get a tattoo to fit in!
Although I may have to get over the whole shaking and crying when a needle is shown to me thing... hahaha
But seriously, do any of you guys not have tattoos??
Another tattooed applicant here! Mine are small, though. I have two leaves on the inside of my right wrist,
"811" (dewey decimal number for American Poetry!) on the inside of my left forearm, and my husband's first name in Polish on my shoulder-blade.
Only my wrist tattoo is visible most of the time. I haven't had much trouble at jobs, but that is because I work for a library and an academic office. Several of the librarians I work with have visible tattoos.
@gancho
You go!!! Congratulations!!!!
poetry or fiction?
@gancho
Congrats! Are you in fiction or poetry?
congratulations, gancho!
Ah! Mostly Swell got the question in first.
congrats, gancho!
Aaaaaaaah, I'm back! Subscribe.
So, USC doesn't have my GRE scores. EVIL. Congratz to all you lovely people who are getting accepted.
Lurker coming out ...
For one of the places I've applied I actually have a connection thru a childhood friend. He knows a former admin at the university who has offered to help. Can that actually make a difference?
Congrats to All who received admits already. I have yet to hear from anyone.
(1) Congrats, gancho. That's big news.
(2) Alas, I have no tattoos; no piercings, never smoked anything . . . I compensate vice-wise in other ways though . . . tee hee he he he.
(3) Had my Virginia Tech interview. Not nearly as nerve-wracking as I thought. They were all really very nice.
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