Onward + upward

Friday was the last day of my summer class. Now I'll just be grading for two days, and catching up on everything I couldn't catch up on before. Oh, and quite a bit of editorial work, too.

I've decided to start waking up at 6:00 instead of 5:30, now that I'm not teaching and my schedule is a little more flexible. That half hour makes quite a difference. I just hope I don't use it as an excuse not to go to bed on time.

We've added a couple of really amazing essays to the first volume of the Akron Series in Contemporary Poetics, and that's exciting.

I have also been doing some jury work for a state arts council. I find reading the artist's statements both enjoyable and vexing. There's such a fine line between establishing a need, and bitching about how much the electric bill costs. I get upset when applicants don't talk about poetry at all, as if this is a purely fiscal application. Sometimes the statements are confrontational. Sometimes they talk down to the jury (as if we're not a panel of experts, and need a lot of poetry basics explained to us).

Maybe some time I will write about my own approach to the artist's statement. I guess my own statements are a little dreamy, but I want to give the readers a sense of what the poems are trying to do, and why anyone should care about them.

Of course, the writing sample is what matters most. I always read that first.

Anyhow, I guess it's time to get to work on other things. I am totally spinning my wheels right now. Where to begin? Where to begin?

I think a to-do list is in order.

Pileup.

Lately I have been trying to use every minute. This does not mean that I am trying to put every minute to good use. I've just been watching the clock a lot, without watching the calendar as much as I should.

My summer class ends this week, which means that next week, and the week after, will be "do everything you didn't do in the past five weeks" weeks.

I was just overwhelmed with a sense of panic because at this time last summer I'd probably written half of my new manuscript, and I have, like, three poems for the manuscript I hope to write this summer. But then I remembered that I'll be taking some time off to write, and fixing this problem.

I almost think I know what this new book will be about.

Truckin', keep on.

I have a bad habit of working only within the month I'm currently in, and not looking ahead. Did you know that July really isn't that far away? It's sneaking up on us right now. That is totally creepy. And you know what? We can't trick it by hiding behind some decorative grasses or a pile of old tires. It's inevitable.

My kids turn 4 and 8 on Saturday. I don't get to see them on their birthday this year, thanks to the Ohio standard order of visitation. I find this rather upsetting. At least we are beginning to celebrate tonight with presents and a trip to see the Akron Aeros.

Since they are not reading my blog right now, I will tell you that my kids' birthday presents include Lincoln Logs, Etch-a-Sketches, and Connect Four. Can you tell I'm feeling nostalgic?

If I'd kept having a new kid every four years on June 12th, then I'd be ready to burst right about now. I'm glad I'm not ready to burst right now.

This weekend: reading a lot of poetry (work), and mulch (finally). Hopefully some relaxing before the final week of my summer class.

Random:

Why do the baristas always look at me like I'm insane for not wanting iced coffee?

I would never have done that when I was a barista. I mean, you could order your drink with a bunch of napkins stuffed in the bottom of the cup, and I would've made it for you.

I just deleted a bunch of emails, and it felt great. Almost as energizing as a cup of non-iced coffee.

A universe.

Earlier today I was thinking I would post something about how I'm getting caught up. However, when you have two offices, one of them is always filling with new tasks while you're away. This seems to be the case for me.

I am glad that my teaching obligations will be over in two weeks. This is my third poetry workshop in two semesters, and I'm beginning to feel like an annotation robot.

Today I was walking through the library (home of office #2) and scanning the books on the shelves (I couldn't prevent myself from doing that if I tried) and thinking about how reading is kind of like breathing.

And then I wondered what it would be like if reading wasn't like breathing (i.e. wasn't happening all of the time, wasn't keeping you alive, and so on).

So that's my deepness for today.

I'm going to go annotate some poems. Not sure if I will inhale, or not.

Ring around the ________________.

Well, it's not much of a garden party here right now, since this is the busy part of my summer, but from (roughly) July 12th through August 16th I am going to be out of the office and working on nothing (roughly) but writing.

I've never done anything like this before. The only way I'm able to do it is thanks to the Ohio Arts Council. The closest thing from the past was when I won a two-week residency at Ragdale during the summer as a Ph.D. student, but then I had no children and few responsibilities and really didn't need a break like I need one now.

I should probably put together a reading list, but I'm not quite there yet, and that seems kind of contrary to the notion of free writing time.

I have a lot of house cleaning / purging to do before then, too.

And I need to give my month of writing a name. Hmm.

Random:

My kids will turn 4 and 8 on the 12th. How did that happen?

More than halfway through my summer class. It's a stellar bunch of students, which makes the teaching a pleasure, but I am way beyond worn out.

Still haven't put any flowers in the ground yet. I need some serious mulch, too.

Took the kids to the outdoor pool on Monday and had serious childhood flashbacks when a thunderstorm rolled in and everyone had to flee.

Happy June. May lasted forever this year. Au revoir.