D.C. Revisited

(Honest Abe posing for the Camera, 2/5/2011)

It was a crazy time. So crazy I still haven't had a change to really write about it...but now that I have a lot of school work to finish I've found a few lines.

Being surrounded by 10,000 people who are just as strange and awkward as you are is overwhelming (to say the least).

Finding panels you want to attend is easy, getting to them in time is another story. But I was able to see a few awesome authors including Joyce Carol Oates, Junot Diaz, and Mr. Richard Bausch (who has a new website).

I learned the ends and outs of riding/taking the Metro. I wish I would've taken a photo of an escalator "ride" at Dupont Circle. Talk about VERTIGO!

But as you "leave" the darkness and enter the light via the escalator (north entrance) you're greeted by Walt Whitman lines:

Thus in silence in dreams' projections,

Returning, resuming, I thread my way through the hospitals;

The hurt and wounded I pacify with soothing hand,

I sit by the restless all the dark night - some are so young;

Some suffer so much - I recall the experience sweet and sad,...

By the end of the trip, we realized that four people in one Taxi was similar in price...plus the "cabbies" were 100% awesome, knowledgeable, and friendly!

Apparently we (as a group) crave Mediterranean food, because that's what we always wanted to eat--not only delicious, but affordable.

Wearing "new" shoes and walking all over the city then all over the conference hotel does still equal the largest, most painful blisters. You're lucky I didn't take any pictures of them.

The only day we had time to sight see, it was misty. I couldn't even get a picture of the top of the Washington Monument. The dampness and starkness made the D.C. seem ghostly, which is very appropriate.

Despite the rain, we were able to find and sample six different cupcakes at Georgetown Cupcake. They are heavenly. No, really. I'm not kidding or JUST saying that. My personal favorite? Coconut was to die for...

Oh yeah, and all of the people who have said I would love D.C. were right. It's my favorite "district" in the entire country!

~~J

Party like it's 2001-2006!

He. Is. Back.

Who? Shane Battier.

(photo credit probably Nikki Boertman)

Dust off the autographs, cards, and newspaper articles...the Bobblehead, the CelebriDuck, and the jersey...

I don't have to explain my exuberance to you, Memphis. You understand why I'm as giddy as...a girl living in the wrong state who has to "watch" via the Internet.

I'm not complaining, of course.

Graduate school is graduate school--even if it means missing the homecoming of our dear one, our Citizen Shane.

(Although I did tell some I was going to drop out and speed away in the middle of the night just to catch a game--but that's what SPRING BREAK is for!)

*Embarrassing "Historical Content" to Follow*

I went searching through my private journals, knowing I had juicy material about the night Shane was traded away. I found it. I guess it isn't half bad for almost five years ago. The following was written 6/29/2005 in response to NBA Draft Night:

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Say it Ain't Shane...

It's better to have Loved than to never have Loved at all?

correction: It's better to have Shaned than to never have Shaned at all.

Sure, it has potential to be the 2nd greatest Draft Night in Grizz history, but why does it hurt so bad? Because this hurts. Like Adam Morrison admitted to TEARS in a commercial as well as an interview last might, I shall admit to tears of my own. Yes, I'm an emotional person and Yes, I cried. Why NOT cry?

The city is losing one of it's prominent Good Guys. Remember that goofy photo of Mr. Battier in a CAPE a few years ago? He can go ahead and put it back on, and someone give him a permanent M to wear across his chest as well.

Batt-man, becomes Memphis-man, or MOXIE-man (my favorite Shane-word)

St. Jude and the Zoo will miss him. The dozens of children dribbling basketballs (and reading) will miss him as well.

Now the Memphis/Shane Fans? Once you've let Shane into your heart, it's not as if he is leaving anytime soon. He sticks there...and refuses to let go.

We hope for him the ultimate best, because that is what he always gives. We also hope he will always be a part of this city--because we love him like our brother, our son, and our best friend. And because HE is Shane, we know that these two hopes will come true.
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Well! Guess what, kids? (See the above!)

~~J

Wipe Out.

You know you're a graduate student when...

something as "trivial" as toilet paper becomes, well, an ordeal.

I spent way too long earlier this week in the paper products aisle, trying to justify a switch in brands:

Charmin?
Cottonelle?
Scott?

White Cloud or Angel Soft?

Forget the 2-ply debate altogether, now there's Ultra Strong vs. Ultra Soft vs. Ripples vs. Quilted vs. A Touch of Aloe...vs. RECYCLED?

I've been buying a "generic" or house brand equivalent to a popular brand, but when I noticed a brand name tissue that was cheaper, my brain nearly exploded. What's a girl to do?

I went back and forth, literally--pushing my cart up and down the same aisle.

Of course, toilet paper isn't exactly a trivial purchase. I mean, it comes in close contact with our most private areas...AND people have even studied HOW people put the roll on the holder (are you an over or under orientation type?)...the following is taken from wiki:

+Over reduces the risk of accidentally brushing the wall or cabinet with one's knuckles, potentially transferring grime and germs.

+Over makes it easier to visually locate and to grasp the loose end.

+Over is generally the intended direction of viewing for the manufacturer's branding, so patterned toilet paper looks better this way.

+Under provides a tidier appearance, in that the loose end can be more hidden from view.

+Under reduces the risk that a toddler or a house pet, such as a dog or cat, will completely unroll the toilet paper when batting at the roll.

+Under in an RV may reduce unrolling during driving.

I think the last reason is my favorite...but seriously, THAT hasn't been an issue until recently when a friend of my changed the roll for me (how nice) and put it THE WRONG WAY! I haven't changed it, I'm trying to keep an open mind.

I'll let you know how the new bathroom tissue fairs at a later date (or maybe you'll just want to ask me about that)...either way, I'm stuck with it for at least four rolls.

~~J

In a Landscape.

(Corot: Woman Reading in a Landscape, 1869)

The current landscape is shaky--filled with packing and repacking borrowed carry-on rolling bag in various geometrical patterns in order to find the perfect combination that allows me to bring all that I need in D.C.

AWP Conference Time (whoop whoop)!

I've never been a fan of flying. The thought of being trapped on a metal bird makes me want to vomit (yes, my fellow flying classmates are aware of this)...It has been quite some time since I've flown...I'm talking prior to 2001.

Therefore I've visited the TSA website so much, trying to figure out what I can and cannot bring on board:

Throwing stars? No.

Liquid bleach? No.

Snow globes? No.

Gel inserts? No.

Note: You can bring pies and cakes through the security checkpoint, but please be advised that they are subject to additional screening.

Imagining a gaggle of MFA students each carrying a pie aboard our flight to D.C. really sends me into hysterics. Apple? Pumpkin? Rhubarb? Pecan? What would they say? Would we have a pie party in flight?

But really, the schedule is hectic--being with 10,000 fellow writers, students (professors, professionals) and the likes is both exciting and scary. At least I'll know everyone from our program and a few from my undergraduate program as well.

To D.C. and Beyond!

~~J

Continuum:

[from Latin, neuter of continuus continuous] a continuous series or whole, no part of which is perceptibly different from the adjacent parts

--(according to Collins English dictionary)

Being on campus this semester feels a whole lot different than being on campus last semester. And I guess this "realization" makes sense (especially if you stop to think about it)--I'm taking different classes, I have a different schedule.

For example, instead of working in the Writing Center in the mornings (opening it, if you will) I am working in the afternoons (closing it).

My classes are only "at night" (during the evening slot)...which starts at 5:30 pm. This is the same time slot for evening classes at the University of Memphis, so I am "used" to it. In fact, I really like it. My classmates with afternoon classes like to say that I'm "in night school." True, true.

I remember a former instructor (also an MFA student at the time) complaining the morning class he was teaching (and I was in). He said, "Don't they know writers stay up all night?" Cue the laughter from the class. But this seems to be very true to life. Morning classes should be reserved for....journalism students. They have to get up early to chase the news!

(He also liked to drink tea, I have become a heavy tea drinker--the stronger the better. Coincidence?)

In actuality, the morning time should be reserved for writing, or the night time should be (depending on when you begin functioning). For example, Flannery O'Connor wrote every morning. It was part of her writing schedule. And as I mentioned (danced around the topic) in a previous post, we should all have one.

Everything is different, yet everything is the same. And I have more reading to complete.

~~J