Notes on a Quest....

I had a dream

Ok, get this.  Last night I dreamed that I lived in this really weird area on the outskirts of New York.  There were strange rivers where all my neighbors fished for blue crabs, shrimp, lobsters and fish.  There were fish markets everywhere.  I had just taken an apartment on the edge of this water, with Manhattan viewable in the distance.  But I was still going to U.M A s s.  So i had a slight problem as I had to get to school to attend classes.  And then I had that classic part of the dream where I  had missed two classes so much, so often, that I forgot where and when they were being held.

So I biked to the train, and then the train took me through Montana to get to Massachusetts.  When I detrained, it was too late to go to school.  So I went to my old apartment.  The next day I was waiting for the train to get back to New York when I bumped into Arsenio Hall and Matt Damon.  Seperately.  I had an intense moment with both of them, much to my amazement.  But Arsenio made the first move, offering me a ride back to New York in his limo.  I accepted.  Matt Damon tried jumping in the back seat, but weirdly, I rejected him.  I was already in love with Arsenio.

He took me to his lavish and beautiful apartment I a neighborhood I'd never heard of before.  But it was gorgeous.  Anyway, we fell in love and lived happily ever after.  He had two cats and one dog and a personal assistant who "approved" of me.

What a freakin weird dream!!!  First of all, it would have been Matt Damon for me.  Anyway,  I slept so long I missed work.  And now have to go to an after work party.  How do you think that will make me look?  I have a weird sleep disorder.  Can't wake up.  What would that be called?

Grad school part II - The good life

It's been a great week aside from the fact that I can't seem to wake up in time for work. Which is more or less ok, as my boss could care less.  He's the one who got me tanked last night anyway.  He bought me four or five drinks and is now insisting I come to a party with him and his family on Saturday. 

Met a nice man this week who was visiting a friend of mine from South Jersey.  All I'll say is that he used to be a professional model and now waits tables in a restaurant.  A very Puck like fellow (in the Shakespearean sense).  Too bad he is gone.  We had much fun!

Tonight I go to the village Pub with J. and K. to play pocket billiards, swill some brew and then hope I can wake early enough to actually make it to work tomorrow.

This weekend, I also have to finish my short story.  I better get on that one.  Oh yes indeedy.

Sick in the head

I've been bed ridden for days now with this head cold.  It thing has spread to my lungs and I keep missing work because all I want to do is sleep and sleep.  Today I woke at 11am, went into campus, met with my adviser and then taught.  A friend had given me some Percoset to help with the pain and the coughing, so I drifted into class feeling good and high.  We got a lot done and I finished up my student conferences still feeling half out of it while conversing with my students.  But they all reported that this is their favorite class.  Normally, I would doubt them, but their papers and course work is showing that they really are engaged.  This make me happy.  Like I'm making a difference.  Or something like that.

The Red Sox win was anti-climatic in the end.  I had wanted to go to Boston to see the games with friends, but the Illness prevented me from doing so.

Instead, I've been enjoying the beautiful fall colors, the pumpkin patches, and all the harvest vegetables for sale at roadside stands.  Fall is spectacular here. 

Reading the last of the Harry Potter book right now.  Ready for Denis Johnson next!!!!

Any other good books to recommend for me out there?

What the hell are my dear blog readers reading these days?

Much still to do...

I think the two jobs, school and general lack of sleep have finally caught up with me.  Now I'm sick with an annoying head cold dammit!!!!  That pisses me off. 

In other news, people around are happy for once because the Red Sox made the Rockies look like a AAA team last night.  Sick as I am, I'm still going to drag myself to the Village Pub (not its real name) to see what happens tonight. 

Fall has been lovely here so far.  Colors everywhere and a bit of rain and overcast skies to actually gives us the full feel of it all.  Internally, my writing mind has been at work, but I've been fighting for time to sit down and partake in the act of it.  Reading the new Denis Johnson novel "Tree of Smoke".  Also, I've got to finish my short story.

There is much to do still.....

Crushed by the weight of Responsibility and other stuff...

I had no idea how taxing it would be to work two jobs (teaching and then twenty hours a week programming) as well as attending classes at school and then giving a reading last week.  It seems that when I get home, all I want to do is catch a two hour nap, then work at grading papers, writing, critiquing fiction from my workshop and THEN going out with friends if I have time.

Then there's also the fact that I recently purchased a domain name and am working on setting it up so it might be worth a few thousand in about 6 months or so...

I got the idea from my boss who owns 50 different domain names and who make s killing off of most of them.  I'd rather not reveal the names here (Google search = employee blogging about work, etc) but from what I've seen, it's not hard to turn a $25 investment into $8,000 within a few months time.

So please, go to my BETA site for discussing LOST TV show type stuff and sign up.  If you post enough and we are in touch, count on a dinner from me.  Or at least drinks.

http://www.lostforums.tv/forums/

And onto other stuff.  I recently won $200 playing Keno and another $150 playing scratch off tickets.  And no, I don't do that crap often.  It was good to get a bit of money, especially since my rent was due and all kinds of weird shit has been going down in my building recently.

My piano composing neighbor was finally evicted from his apartment after spending 4 months in the mental hospital.  He is now being deported to Argentina.  This sucks.  Another neighbor of mine has gone mental over the fact this has happened and seems ready to join him in the psych ward.  Me?  I'm looking for a new place to live.

Can't wait to move outta this place to be honest.

I gave a poetry reading on Friday on campus and I was shocked at how well it went.  One of my friends told me it was the best poetry reading she's ever been to.  Gotta love friends for the ego building eh?  But seriously, it did go rather well.

Other than that, I've been learning how to play pool really well with the local pool shark who has also become a friend of sorts.  He is a Gulf War vet and our politics differ, yet we have a good time debating things a lot.  And I joined a local pool league....  Hmmm...amazing what boredom will drive me to.

Tomorrow, my fiction workshop is critiquing my story. The first one I've written in 14 yrs!  So I'm nervous.  But mainly, I'm doing well.  I may get my mitts on a recording of my reading and for those with nothing else to do in their lives, I'll put a link up here so you can listen, if you are really that interested.  Let's face it though, few Americans are interested in poetry.  A fact I've come to accept.

My class is doing well.  Except for the fact that I OVERSLEPT today and didn't make it in.  So I called a fellow colleague and told her how I'd overslept.  She recommended I make up some bullshit story about how I was on my into class and hit a dog.  But the dog lives because I play hero and take it to the vet.  So I actually DID this.  And yes, I felt guilty.  But it worked.  All the females in my class had total sympathy whereas the guys didn't really care except that got out of having to go to class today.

Basically, I'm as bad as my students.  Oh well.  Do any of you have excuses for oversleeping you are proud of?  Well, share 'em here!!!  It'll make me feel better!!!!

And so Fall begins again...

I'm back to teaching now.  Gone are the lazy days of sleeping in until noon, writing and reading for most of the day and then spending what scant  money I had left on wine and pool at the local VFW Club (where drinks are only two dollars).

Indeed, I even found myself a part-time job!  I work at an outdoor accent place south of Northampton. I do web programming for the guy that owns the business which sells sheds and gazebos.  Yet, he has yours truly doing web programming on some of the many domains he owns (and makes big bucks off of on the side).  He pays me under the table which I'm fine with.

What else?  Well, my cute piano composing/PH.D. candidate neighbor I mentioned a long time ago turned out to be kind of crazy.  The police came by a few days ago and rammed his door in as he hadn't reported into his department or showed to teach his class.  He wasn't there as he had already checked himself into the local psych ward due to a meltdown.  I visited him in the hospital and he seems to be doing better, but will doubtless be evicted as soon as he returns as he's two months behind on his rent and his door is destroyed now.

I'm keeping a low profile on the social scene this time around.  I've got one friend who I'm close to in the dept.  Other than that, I have two friends I've made in the small village I live in here.  One is a pool shark and the other is an artist.  So we play pool a lot.

And I continue to write like hell.  So is anyone still visiting my blog?  How the hell are you?

Adonis....

I just want to say, at this current point in time I'm dating 3 CUTE guys.  They all know about each other.  However, while I thought it might be the pool shark OR the sweet guy with two cute girl toddlers I went out with last night  (what did him in actually was that he reads Stephen King and attends church...so ummm....NO). 

So, in the end it was the Adonis with long brown hair, a full beard, sensitive eyes and a good library who wins so far.  In fact I am typing quietly for certain reasons!  And, he's good at lots of things....

That is all.

Today I leave for New York.  Tomorrow I catch a flight to Albuquerque so I can spend a week in Santa Fe for a wedding.  On Thursday I will be rafting the Taos Box Canyon and doing class 4 rapids.  Top that all you suckas!!!!!

Ha!

Townies....

Well, because I'm a writer, I consider just about everything research.  Including the 3 townies I brought home from my local pub tonight.  But, weirdly, they are very cool and nice and only pleasantly drunk instead of fully in the bag drunk.  Their hostess appreciates this.  On the other hand this having Fridays off is really weird.  I need to find another part time job SOON!!!!!!

Last night an ex-boyfriend called me after much time of not calling one another.  For several hours afterward I tried to watch stupid movies and pretend it didn't affect me until I finally went to my village's watering hole to try and forget about it.  And so I met friends.  Who came back home with me and have been totally pleasant and nice to hang with.  Including one VERY cute guy expressing an interest.  To which I said "Next time we hang out!" And he was cool with that (in other words a gentleman). 

Such is life.

A Day in the Life....

My day today consisted of the following:

1) Got up at 11am
2) Checked email and news and other blogs for an hour and a half
3) Read some drafts of poems that I want to clean up
4) Tried not to hate the imperfections in the writing
5) Did some poetry writing and editing for an hour and a half
6) Browsed Craigslist for another part time job as my $$ is running low
7) Sent about five inquires
8) Downloaded some Microsoft software so I can start learning how to code in a new language
9) Laid back down in my bed for an hour and a half and started working out a short story in my head
10) Realized Denis Johnson's book "Seek" would be of tremendous help for this story.
11) Got up from the bed and spent an hour locating said book
12) Took a shower
13) Realized it's half an hour until I have to go to join my pub quiz team
14) Answered an email from work to make it appear I'm working
15) Updated my blog....

Just in case you were wondering....

exteme makeovers, etc

Well despite the broken wrist and the black eye, things are looking up.  I'm getting in a few hours a day of writing.  I'm happy to report that I feel back in my "Writing skin" so to speak.  I was struggling for a few weeks after the abrupt move back to get back in my groove.  Now, the poems are forming and taking shape and flowing out of me.  They need constant care and feeding though, in the form of drafting.

I'm reading two novels a week plus a book of poetry.  On top of all this, I'm watching Home and Garden TV for tips on how to really set up my apartment in this small New England village to look bright and cheery.  And on how I can maximize my space for dinner parties and LOST TV parties. 

Right now, more than half the boxes are unpacked.  Of course, most of those were books.  Hundreds and hundreds of books.  All of which are now proudly ensconced in my ceiling to floor walnut brown IKEA bookshelves.  I still need at least two more bookshelves though.

It's been snowing on and off the last few days.  The snow is crystalline and beautiful.  It jewels under the streetlights at midnight.  I like the fact we're getting a bit of snow these days.  Gives me that inward writing feeling.

This Friday, I'm traveling with several friends to Boston as one of our friends lost his mother to brain cancer.  He was taking care of her all the way and held her hand while she died.  So he wants us there for the memorial on Sat.  We'll rent a motel room and try and see a bit of Boston while we're at it.  I admit, I'm not all that familiar with Boston as I don't know anyone who lives in the city proper.  It seems like kind of a big deal to go downtown for the day, so I've only done it once.  Perhaps renting a room with other Grad Students might make this interesting, despite the unfortunate circumstances.  I guess we'll stay Sat. night too. 

Anyway, I should get back to my extreme home makeover.  And prepare for another episode of LOST tonight, something I can't seem to get enough of these days.....