It's been a while since I wrote here. Internet problems continuing, preparing to move back, lots of work, &c.
It's less than week until I move back to the States, and my feelings are kind of mixed. While I'm really excited to come back, this experience has been amazing, and I'm a bit sad that it's over.
I brought way too many books with me over here, and apparently the weight of the bags I can check flying back is less than it was coming over. Also, it's more expensive to ship from Germany to the USA that vice versa. So, I'm having to sell some books, which sucks.
I'm so excited to see my friends and start playing in my band again! Also, I'll be staying with Granny for the first couple of weeks that I'm back, so that should be very entertaining. Plus, seeing my dad will be great, but it also kind of makes his illness real, if that makes any sense. It's crazy in my silly little head right now.
Scott & I have an apartment in the same complex with my friends Nick & Emily, which is fucking fantastic. I'm gonna get new furniture and stuff, and our new apartment actually has air conditioning, which will be beautiful this summer.
Good, good stuff. It almost feels like Xmas. Mad love, y'all.
It's less than week until I move back to the States, and my feelings are kind of mixed. While I'm really excited to come back, this experience has been amazing, and I'm a bit sad that it's over.
I brought way too many books with me over here, and apparently the weight of the bags I can check flying back is less than it was coming over. Also, it's more expensive to ship from Germany to the USA that vice versa. So, I'm having to sell some books, which sucks.
I'm so excited to see my friends and start playing in my band again! Also, I'll be staying with Granny for the first couple of weeks that I'm back, so that should be very entertaining. Plus, seeing my dad will be great, but it also kind of makes his illness real, if that makes any sense. It's crazy in my silly little head right now.
Scott & I have an apartment in the same complex with my friends Nick & Emily, which is fucking fantastic. I'm gonna get new furniture and stuff, and our new apartment actually has air conditioning, which will be beautiful this summer.
Good, good stuff. It almost feels like Xmas. Mad love, y'all.
Long time, no write.
I had another poem accepted for publication, which is good, what with the chapbook coming out this year. I also finished my second manuscript recently and started pimping it around to various chapbook contests to start out with. I think it might be a bit early, that their should be more revision of it as a unit as opposed to individual pieces, but yeah. We'll see what happens with these entries.
My dad had his appointment yesterday for the results of his biopsy, and they hadn't finished the lab work. Gotta love the VA. The longer this thing progresses, the harder it seems for him to keep his disarmingly fervent PMA. I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing, or how I feel about. Or how I feel about any of this.
I started re-reading The Sound and the Fury for shits and giggles. Every time I pick up Faulkner, it's like I'm at church. Or Disneyland. But sadder. And without stupid rollercoasters and 6-foot rats. Wait, what?
15.5 days till I'm back in the States. That makes me very happy and a little sad. I think a lot of my sadness is that this romantic ex-patriate writer experiment turned out so poorly. I guess I'm not destined to be Ezra Pound after all. JK. Srsly. I'm an American. That's a very strange thing for me to realize, but it's really amazingly comforting. Sure the US is totally fucked up in a lot of ways, but so are all the countries that I've been to over here in their own ways. Plus, well, I don't know what. That's just how it is. This does not, however, infringe upon my Southern pride in the slightest. Yeehaw.
Okay, bye.
or
I had another poem accepted for publication, which is good, what with the chapbook coming out this year. I also finished my second manuscript recently and started pimping it around to various chapbook contests to start out with. I think it might be a bit early, that their should be more revision of it as a unit as opposed to individual pieces, but yeah. We'll see what happens with these entries.
My dad had his appointment yesterday for the results of his biopsy, and they hadn't finished the lab work. Gotta love the VA. The longer this thing progresses, the harder it seems for him to keep his disarmingly fervent PMA. I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing, or how I feel about. Or how I feel about any of this.
I started re-reading The Sound and the Fury for shits and giggles. Every time I pick up Faulkner, it's like I'm at church. Or Disneyland. But sadder. And without stupid rollercoasters and 6-foot rats. Wait, what?
15.5 days till I'm back in the States. That makes me very happy and a little sad. I think a lot of my sadness is that this romantic ex-patriate writer experiment turned out so poorly. I guess I'm not destined to be Ezra Pound after all. JK. Srsly. I'm an American. That's a very strange thing for me to realize, but it's really amazingly comforting. Sure the US is totally fucked up in a lot of ways, but so are all the countries that I've been to over here in their own ways. Plus, well, I don't know what. That's just how it is. This does not, however, infringe upon my Southern pride in the slightest. Yeehaw.
Okay, bye.
or
I've been having really weird dreams recently. In my dreams, I'm freshly back in Atlanta, and everything is wrong. My friends don't want to have anything to do with me, I can't find my way around because the city looks so foreign to me, random people accost me verbally and physically on the streets, &c.
This is weird because I spend most of my waking moments excited about going home, but as soon as I fall asleep, it seems like the complete opposite. I really have no idea if the dreams have some Deep Hidden Meaning or what. The dichotomy between my conscious feelings and my subconscious wanderings. It happens nearly every night now, and I wake up with an icky feeling. Somebody get Freud on the phone. Wait, nevermind, I hate that dude.
In real life, things are pretty well. I've been making some headway on the work I've been putting off. My writing continues to be voluminous, and most of it seems quite good. I thinkI'm turning another corner in the development of my voice in my writing, which is quite exciting for me. I love it when I feel like I'm being led by something to some new horizon. When I pick up the pen (I'm off laptop writing for the moment), I get giddy to find out where it's going to go. I've been using the impetus to revise some old things as well, and I'm getting some really good development there.
Oh, and I want a trucker hat with this on it:
This is weird because I spend most of my waking moments excited about going home, but as soon as I fall asleep, it seems like the complete opposite. I really have no idea if the dreams have some Deep Hidden Meaning or what. The dichotomy between my conscious feelings and my subconscious wanderings. It happens nearly every night now, and I wake up with an icky feeling. Somebody get Freud on the phone. Wait, nevermind, I hate that dude.
In real life, things are pretty well. I've been making some headway on the work I've been putting off. My writing continues to be voluminous, and most of it seems quite good. I thinkI'm turning another corner in the development of my voice in my writing, which is quite exciting for me. I love it when I feel like I'm being led by something to some new horizon. When I pick up the pen (I'm off laptop writing for the moment), I get giddy to find out where it's going to go. I've been using the impetus to revise some old things as well, and I'm getting some really good development there.
Oh, and I want a trucker hat with this on it:
The weather here is really amazing. I've been getting out quite a bit more, which has helped my shitty-pants attitude. Plus, it's only a month & 2 days before I go home.
I've had a nice lazy day today: stayed in and listened to lots of Grandaddy and Orange Juice, played computer backgammon for hours, talked to Mom & Granny on skype for a long time. I ordered some food & am impatiently waiting. I love the fact that chicken nuggets are in the "international" section on the menu.
I have a lot of work to do before I get out of here. I'm being very good at procrastination, & I need to get that shit moving! I'm sure it'll be fine. Meh.
I guess I don't have as much to talk about as I thought I did. Oh well. Love you, bye.
I've had a nice lazy day today: stayed in and listened to lots of Grandaddy and Orange Juice, played computer backgammon for hours, talked to Mom & Granny on skype for a long time. I ordered some food & am impatiently waiting. I love the fact that chicken nuggets are in the "international" section on the menu.
I have a lot of work to do before I get out of here. I'm being very good at procrastination, & I need to get that shit moving! I'm sure it'll be fine. Meh.
I guess I don't have as much to talk about as I thought I did. Oh well. Love you, bye.
So, I haven't really gotten out of bed for a week. If you know me, you know that this usually a cause for rejoicing. However, it's one of those oh-God-I-just-can't-do-it-pass-the-Anne-Sexton-please things. There's a part of me that feels like it's already back in Atlanta. Also, I haven't talked to my Dad in as much time, and I'm a little worried, what with him being sick and all. I didn't go to work Monday beacuse I slept until 30 minutes before I was supposed to get off. Hooray for jobs from which you can't get fired! I did go yesterday and then did a tutoring lesson after that, and it was good to get out for a few hours, but then I was right back here. I need to get some motivation, dangit! I haven't even been writing really. Meh.
Good stuff: I talked to Brian, and we're going to resume the band when I get back, this time as a two-piece focusing on studio stuff. We've actually gotten a good bit of praise in the press and on blogs since I left, and more radio play as well. Nothing huge, but I think it's made him want to push a little harder again. I'm fucking thrilled. We're going to try to organize some benefit shows for our friend Emily's dog, Stan, who needs surgery. You should come. I'll let you know.
Also, Scott and I are going to get a place together again when I get back. He's supposedly on the hunt now for a place to move into July 1st, hopefully still in Candler Park. He's been living with our friend Heather since I left. She didn't really have any stuff of her own, so she moved into my room and used my furniture. The catch is, she wanted her own furniture and threw a bunch of mine in the dumpster. My furniture. In the dumpster. It was a really nice queen-size bed! Like, an expensive one my Mom gave me for my birthday/Xmas a few years ago. It was the first big-boy bed I ever had. Dang. I also lost my desk, which was part of this awesome dark oak matching set I had from the sixties. I think I lost a bookshelf, too, but I'm not sure. I told her I was a weeeee bit pissed, and she said she thought I wasn't coming back, so.... Come on! An email, maybe? "Hey, I'm gonna get some of my own stuff. Do you want yours? What should I do with it?" She said she's going to buy me new stuff when I get back, but we all know that bitch is broke!
Wait, this was supposed to be the good-stuff section. Shit, sorry.
Umm... I made a delicious pot of coffee this fine morning. It's Spring here, finally. Yesterday was the first proper day of t-shirt weather. Good thing I left the house! I'm thinking about getting shorts. It's kind of a big step for me. I wore some Summer before last, but it was part of this giving-up thing. It's hard to explain. Taylor knows. Oh yeah! Isn't that a cooooool old picture of me and her that I found? The one with the chicken bone. Man, I love that girl. She moves out of Atlanta two days after I get back, so she's gonna meet me at the airport (WITH MY TRUCK!!!), and we're gonna hang out for 48 hours straight and cry a lot, and then I'll put her on the plane. She's a good ol' girl. I'm glad "the one that got away" is now my best friend. Sometimes things go right.
Ok, bye.
Good stuff: I talked to Brian, and we're going to resume the band when I get back, this time as a two-piece focusing on studio stuff. We've actually gotten a good bit of praise in the press and on blogs since I left, and more radio play as well. Nothing huge, but I think it's made him want to push a little harder again. I'm fucking thrilled. We're going to try to organize some benefit shows for our friend Emily's dog, Stan, who needs surgery. You should come. I'll let you know.
Also, Scott and I are going to get a place together again when I get back. He's supposedly on the hunt now for a place to move into July 1st, hopefully still in Candler Park. He's been living with our friend Heather since I left. She didn't really have any stuff of her own, so she moved into my room and used my furniture. The catch is, she wanted her own furniture and threw a bunch of mine in the dumpster. My furniture. In the dumpster. It was a really nice queen-size bed! Like, an expensive one my Mom gave me for my birthday/Xmas a few years ago. It was the first big-boy bed I ever had. Dang. I also lost my desk, which was part of this awesome dark oak matching set I had from the sixties. I think I lost a bookshelf, too, but I'm not sure. I told her I was a weeeee bit pissed, and she said she thought I wasn't coming back, so.... Come on! An email, maybe? "Hey, I'm gonna get some of my own stuff. Do you want yours? What should I do with it?" She said she's going to buy me new stuff when I get back, but we all know that bitch is broke!
Wait, this was supposed to be the good-stuff section. Shit, sorry.
Umm... I made a delicious pot of coffee this fine morning. It's Spring here, finally. Yesterday was the first proper day of t-shirt weather. Good thing I left the house! I'm thinking about getting shorts. It's kind of a big step for me. I wore some Summer before last, but it was part of this giving-up thing. It's hard to explain. Taylor knows. Oh yeah! Isn't that a cooooool old picture of me and her that I found? The one with the chicken bone. Man, I love that girl. She moves out of Atlanta two days after I get back, so she's gonna meet me at the airport (WITH MY TRUCK!!!), and we're gonna hang out for 48 hours straight and cry a lot, and then I'll put her on the plane. She's a good ol' girl. I'm glad "the one that got away" is now my best friend. Sometimes things go right.
Ok, bye.
So, I'm yet again determined to make this blogging thing happen. I've always been crap at it, but I'm going to try again.
Some great things have been happening. After a nice string of publications in literary journals, my first chapbook has been accepted by Taiga Press for the initial release in its Tundra Chapbook Series. YAY! It should be out late this Fall, and I'm the happiest little boy in Germany. Which doesn't seem like such a hard thing to be.
I'm moving back to the States on June 13th. While I think this is a good thing, the main impetus for moving is kind of sad. My dad's been diagnosed with a rare condition that affects the immune and muscular systems, and there's no cure. Treatment is possible, but it's bad news. Y'know the bad news. So that sucks. They just found out, so they're still not sure how far along the disease has progressed. He's being really positive, and I'm trying ot do the same. It's just hard being all the way over here and not knowing anything. Blech.
The upside to moving is, I've realized Germany isn't my home. I really miss my family and my friends that might as well be family, and I'm really excited to see them all again. I'm thinking of taking at least a year off before going to grad school and teaching high school. We'll see.
Okay, don't wanna blow my blog load all on the first post in forever. If anyone actually reads or cares, I will try to post more regulary.
Bye.
Some great things have been happening. After a nice string of publications in literary journals, my first chapbook has been accepted by Taiga Press for the initial release in its Tundra Chapbook Series. YAY! It should be out late this Fall, and I'm the happiest little boy in Germany. Which doesn't seem like such a hard thing to be.
I'm moving back to the States on June 13th. While I think this is a good thing, the main impetus for moving is kind of sad. My dad's been diagnosed with a rare condition that affects the immune and muscular systems, and there's no cure. Treatment is possible, but it's bad news. Y'know the bad news. So that sucks. They just found out, so they're still not sure how far along the disease has progressed. He's being really positive, and I'm trying ot do the same. It's just hard being all the way over here and not knowing anything. Blech.
The upside to moving is, I've realized Germany isn't my home. I really miss my family and my friends that might as well be family, and I'm really excited to see them all again. I'm thinking of taking at least a year off before going to grad school and teaching high school. We'll see.
Okay, don't wanna blow my blog load all on the first post in forever. If anyone actually reads or cares, I will try to post more regulary.
Bye.
Jeez, so tired....
Everything's going reeeeeally well; there's just so much of it! More hours at GSU, more work from the research assistantship, plus crunchtime with the magazine. These are all wonderful and fun and exciting, but I'm not normally a two-ended candle, y'know?
I have a date, or what I thought was a date, until she told me today she's only interested in girls for the time being. But she thinks I'm hot and wants to hang out. What do you do with that? Go hang out, that's what you do, you big dummy.
We (Slushco) are playing a show tomorrow. It's that Corndogorama thing, so it should be fun. The thing is, we go on a 2:30 in the afternoon. I've never been to this thing, and I know it's a pretty big deal every year, but will people be there at 2:30? I guess I'll find out.
Okay, I'm gonna shower and call that girl. I'll talk to you later. Talk back, suckers!
Everything's going reeeeeally well; there's just so much of it! More hours at GSU, more work from the research assistantship, plus crunchtime with the magazine. These are all wonderful and fun and exciting, but I'm not normally a two-ended candle, y'know?
I have a date, or what I thought was a date, until she told me today she's only interested in girls for the time being. But she thinks I'm hot and wants to hang out. What do you do with that? Go hang out, that's what you do, you big dummy.
We (Slushco) are playing a show tomorrow. It's that Corndogorama thing, so it should be fun. The thing is, we go on a 2:30 in the afternoon. I've never been to this thing, and I know it's a pretty big deal every year, but will people be there at 2:30? I guess I'll find out.
Okay, I'm gonna shower and call that girl. I'll talk to you later. Talk back, suckers!
So, I figured I should write something and pretend that someone will read it. I recently met Onie when I was out the other night, and she reminded me how empty my life was without SG. (Does slight sarcasm translate well here?) Anywho, I'm back after four years or so.
I'm tying to think of all the fantastically interesting things that have happened recently, and I realized I've been working far too much. I have three jobs: GSU, research/editorial assistant for biographer (working on the authorized Flannery O'Connor bio!), and poetry editor for Sub-Lit literary journal. Needless to say, it's been a hefty trek as of recent; at least I'm done with classes. I mean done. After ten years, no more undergrad!
Sub-Lit's first issue comes out August 1, so you should all go to www.sub-lit.com and check it out. If you write and it's good and you like the mag, you should send something for the next issue. As the mag specializes in subversive literature, it seems some of you good folk might enjoy it.
I'm moving to Germany. Jeez.... I've lived in the good ol' A-T-I-ain't-even-gonna-say-the-muthafuckin-rest forever, and I'm sickeningly grounded here. So, this move is a wonderful thing and a terrifying thing. Terrifyingly wonderful. Wonderfully terrifying. I hope I can meet some folk here. I've never had internet friends before, so it's a bit strange for me. Feels less charming. But it's something I'll have to get used to after I go transatlantic. Maybe I'll come across someone here who lives in Mainz. It would be pretty swell to "know" someone before I get off the plane.
Okay, so I'm gonna go eat with Scott, my roommate/hetero-lifepartner.
Kisses,
-M.
I'm tying to think of all the fantastically interesting things that have happened recently, and I realized I've been working far too much. I have three jobs: GSU, research/editorial assistant for biographer (working on the authorized Flannery O'Connor bio!), and poetry editor for Sub-Lit literary journal. Needless to say, it's been a hefty trek as of recent; at least I'm done with classes. I mean done. After ten years, no more undergrad!
Sub-Lit's first issue comes out August 1, so you should all go to www.sub-lit.com and check it out. If you write and it's good and you like the mag, you should send something for the next issue. As the mag specializes in subversive literature, it seems some of you good folk might enjoy it.
I'm moving to Germany. Jeez.... I've lived in the good ol' A-T-I-ain't-even-gonna-say-the-muthafuckin-rest forever, and I'm sickeningly grounded here. So, this move is a wonderful thing and a terrifying thing. Terrifyingly wonderful. Wonderfully terrifying. I hope I can meet some folk here. I've never had internet friends before, so it's a bit strange for me. Feels less charming. But it's something I'll have to get used to after I go transatlantic. Maybe I'll come across someone here who lives in Mainz. It would be pretty swell to "know" someone before I get off the plane.
Okay, so I'm gonna go eat with Scott, my roommate/hetero-lifepartner.
Kisses,
-M.
