Time marches on its stomach.

I recently booked a show for a Tuesday this summer, and I am very excited. I promise to post details when I have every hammered out. The whole world is flying past me at breakneck pace and I am not sure if I want to slow down or speed up to be even faster. I've been posting a lot of thesis-related writing experiments over here because involving the internet in my homework seems to make the whole motivating myself to sit down and do it part much less of a hassle.

The Hampshire slams to decide this year's NPS team are the 23rd and the 30th, and I am quaking in my stilettos. I am swimming in a see of words, and only half of them are memorized.

Road blocks.

I am trying so hard to fit writing into my schedule, as it has to be there for thesis purposes, but I'm finding it increasingly difficult. I'm working five shifts a week, or rather, full time, and going to school full time. Creative writing is an overwhelming endeavor as it is, but finishing a degree alongside an eight hour work day is making me a bit terrified.

I have set up all of the necessary allowances. I built myself a reading and writing cave so that my ideas have a special space to brew in. I am in the process of reorganizing my desk so that I can sit down at my typewriter and actually write. I am trying to figure out the best reading schedule to make for myself. A book a week? A book every two weeks? I can't decide what a good speed is--too fast, and I'll get discouraged and check out of my work; too slow, and I'll get lazy and complacent.

I also lost my glasses. I should't even be attempting the internet right now. I am trying to justify this moment by saying that my web browser is open as an aid for looking into buying a second pair of glasses so that I'll have a spare. This is only half true.

I'm really not sure how I am meant to build any structure out of words when I cannot see to read or write them. This will be an interesting experiment.

Preparing for the new year.

I've successfully completed the 365 project for 2009, and right before I was able to breathe my sigh of relief, I got an email from Boston about the 365 project for 2010. Being the competitive (and also bat-shit insane) person that I am, I decided to accept the invitation and attempt it again. Although this time, I'm letting myself play by my own rules. This new year is going to be about words just as much, if not more, than the last one, but I want to be more controlled in my efforts. Since it is the thesis year, I am making sure that all of my reading and writing efforts are focused at making me a better reader and writer. I have a great big list (that's only growing) of books recommended to me, and several hundred poems to edit and send out to journals and contests to see if the publishing world wants anything to do with me. Partnering up with the 365 project again, as crazy as it may seem, will help me stay focused and on task. I'm mostly going to use it as a space to rework old poems and try out new ideas with the possibility for feedback. I will not let myself be daunted by a daily writing practice. It can only make me better at my craft; after all, practice makes perfect.

The following is my list of resolutions (most of them concerned with writing) for the new year. The parenthetical note on #14 is a title I'm considering for the collection of poetry that's part of my thesis, although I tend to change my mind about titles almost constantly.

Resolved:

1. One book every two weeks.
2. Get published.
3. NPS (one way or another).
4. Live somewhere I've never lived.
5. Be a little bit smarter about my crazy side.
6. Fly away short notice.
7. Finish Hampshire.
8. Get to know a new city.
9. Choose an affirmation for each day.
10. Forgive, but never forget.
11. Be a better listener.
12. Find out something new about myself.
13. Let the world surprise me.
14. Learn how to take compliments
(if not, learn how not to blush in public).
15. Make visits/take road trips/love the open road.