I don't know what the heck happened to the template there (or whether any of you were around to witness its disintegration) but it's fixed now. So, on to more interesting things.

Firstly, I officially accepted the Ireland study-abroad opportunity (and paid the balance due). Now I'm just waiting for the go-ahead to buy my airline ticket. The more I thought about it, the more daunting the whole "travel abroad" concept was becoming. So I just said, "I'm going, dammit" and set the process in motion. It's a dream I've been waiting a long time (well, somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 years) to fulfil and I'm not going to talk myself out of it now.

Oh, and if anyone was interested, the literary society I referred to in the last post was the John Hewitt Society, and the Festival they're sponsoring is apparently called the International Summer School.

Secondly, I secured a Student Assistant position (read: an hourly wage) on campus for fall. I don't know any of the details yet, but I'll be returning to my position here at OTS.

Speaking of OTS, it's been awhile since I graced you with one of my beautiful artistic creations. Part of that is because I haven't got much to show. But here's a thing I did in Photoshop awhile back:

(the idea is that it's a magazine spread -- I was testing out a technique in one of the graphic design books I checked out).

I have other things to update on (like my day in NYC) but I don't have the pictures with me currently, so you'll have to wait.

Well, I guess I never promised that my updates would be FREQUENT. My semester officially ends in 29 days; the closer that date comes, the less free time I have. Part of it is my inability to avoid ambitious projects. For example, in my lit pub (a.k.a. book making) class, I am making three medium-sized books which are also miniature grand pianos (more on this later). Part of it is also my continued attempts at a social life (just last weekend I attended two different parties, a concert, and a park-cleaning volunteer event through the university). I've got a similar schedule for this weekend (except instead of park cleaning I'm going to NYC for the day). But, as I keep saying elsewhere, I really don't like to be bored.

Éirinn go brách

Back in January I got info regarding a summer study-abroad opportunity in Armagh, Ireland. One of the professors from UB will be teaching a screenwriting workshop during the month of July, and so they were seeking more UB students to join.

Well, also on the flyer was a creative writing poetry/memoir workshop in the same city. After some correspondance with my program director, we arranged it so that I could attend the creative writing workshop and get graduate credit for an independent study course. I submitted my application and $500 deposit (refundable only if I wasn't accepted or the trip was cancelled) and waited for a response.

The response didn't come in the email form I expected, but a meeting was held on campus for the prospective Armagh students. The program coordinator was there, along with the screenwriting professors, and we were informed that we were all accepted (about 7 of us total). But, it turned out, I was the only one who'd applied for the creative writing segment of the program. Not just at UB, but anywhere.

So, this put a bit of a stick in my spokes. The coordinator told me that I could still attend, and while they wouldn't be able to bring the poetry/memoir professors to Ireland, she could arrange for me to work with one or both of them remotely, as well as someone from a literary foundation in Ireland. I would still take the Irish culture and history classes with the screenwriting students, so I wouldn't be completely isolated. Additionally, it could lead to other opportunities, like the chance to return next year, all expenses paid, as a T.A. ("I wish I could take you along as a T.A. for this trip," the coordinator told me, but since I've never been to Ireland, she wants me to have the experience of taking the trip as a student first). It's the first year they've tried this creative program in Ireland, so we're all essentially "pioneers."

On the other hand, she said, if they could get even two more students to attend the memoir/poetry workshop segment, at least one of the professors could accompany us to Ireland.


So, I'm trying to figure out what to do now. The rest of the money for the trip is due April 15, so I need to make a decision by then. I can either accompany them on the trip, as a "pioneer," or I could take the money I'd be spending on the trip and finance my own trip to Europe.

My thoughts are this: I wanted to study abroad in undergrad but never pursued the opportunity with any real vigor. The cost of a graduate class at UB is about half what this trip will cost me (minus airfare and most of my food), so to get four weeks in Ireland AND one class paid for seems like a good deal to me. Also, the knowledge that it could open opportunities for future travel at reduced cost is a major factor. I've never travelled abroad before, so having experienced travellers along (the coordinators all have been abroad) for advice is also appealing. Plus there's the immersion into a different culture, which is also a rare opportunity.

However, if I travelled independently, I could visit places I want to see (like Paris and other cities/countries in mainland Europe). I would be able to see a lot more in the same span of time and could also bring Jake with me (since, years ago, we got our passports together for Christmas. Neither of us has any stamps yet). Also, odds are that it would cost me less overall even if I did stay there for four weeks (depending on what I did and where). Both of us are open to the idea of spending a couple years in another country someday, so the immersion experience might be available later.

So, I've got some pondering to do. If anyone else wants to weigh in on this, feel free. In fact, I encourage it.

the weekend in review

I've been trying to live a lifestyle that's a little more conducive to creativity lately, which mainly means wasting less time with all the technology in my life. I've done all right so far -- I've been reading more, and I wrote some things on Saturday (I say "things" because I'm not sure what they are. Essays? Stories? Musings?). I also printed up some flash cards with music notes on them to practice my sight reading. I'm going to need to laminate them somehow, I can already tell. I had them in my back pocket most of Saturday night (I took them with me to my St. Patrick's Day festivities to practice on the bus) and the edges have turned blue and rounded from my jeans. Hooray for clear packaging tape...

My St. Patrick's Day: I changed plans at sort of the last minute. I was going to catch a play that evening then meet up with my friend Jay and some other theater people afterward, but while trying to make dinner plans with my friend Regina, I was invited to join her, Maureen, and Chris for some festivities in Federal Hill. I'd never been partying down in Fed Hill before, and I decided I was more in the mood to talk with friends than watch a play by myself, so I ate some food at home then off I went.

It was a great night of drinking, Hawaiian BBQ pizza, talking, and dancing. Lots of dancing (it doesn't look like a place to dance, and who knows, maybe usually it isn't, but Saturday night it was an excellent venue). Perhaps a little-known fact about me: I would go every weekend if I had people to accompany me. That is not an exaggeration.

Anyway, it was a good night, capstoned by Regina's failed attempt to steal a cement pig (it was too heavy and I was laughing too much to be any help even if I'd wanted to). So, we took our picture next to it instead. I wonder what the owners thought when they found it in the middle of the sidewalk the next day.

the theater just won't leave me alone

People ask me all the time (based on my unusual height) whether I play basketball (or, occasionally, volleyball). My answer is, of course, no; I was (am) an art nerd. Back in high school I was in drama club. I was onstage a few times in various plays and dinner shows. I won best supporting actress in our Moscars. I helped build/paint sets and went with the rest of the club to acquire costume pieces from various thrift stores. Once or twice, I even dressed as a bobcat and played in a State Park.

In college, I took one theater class that required service hours in the department (which mostly involved cleaning out the warehouse-like costume/props/set room). I tried out for one play and didn't get a part. I was disappointed but not broken-hearted; I was starting to focus more on visual art and especially writing. In fact, my degree is in creative writing.

Then I got to Baltimore.

My friend Dave works as a G.A. in the theater here at UB doing tech stuff. My first semester in the program, he badgered me into taking on an Assistant Stage Manager position for the production of The Laramie Project. So I did. I enjoyed the experience; met some cool people and whatnot. It was fun to be part of the production without the stress of being on stage (I was mostly in charge of placing props/costumes and keeping track of the actors backstage).

Well, two more semesters go by. I have my hands in a little of just about everything: I'm working a retail job, doing work-study at the university library, running the student newspaper, and then being accepted for the G.A. position at OTS [see previous post]. I run into Kimberley, the theater coordinator, who tells me that they're looking for an ASM for The Exonerated, and that a few people involved in the production (who also were in Laramie) were asking about me. And I, like a crazy person, was like, "Send me the schedule! Maybe I can work it in!" Even she was surprised that I was actually considering it. But we talked back and forth, and she decided that she'd hire two ASMs so that I didn't have to be there for everything.

So I'm back in the theater. And the people involved with this show are incredible -- the ones I talked to seemed to have their hands in everything. The director's the daughter of a famous comedian and she's just taken over as artistic director for a local theater, plus she's got her own one-woman show (which she wrote) going to NYC next month and another she directed showing in Chicago. One of the actors I befriended studied musical theater at NYU then lived in Paris for six months and is now involved with at least three different shows simultaneously. Yet another is basically the quintessential performance artist: he plays piano and guitar, he sings in a band (which is apparently well-known locally) and is part of the decorating crew at Charm City Cakes. Others have TV acting credits and music and dancing and poetry and writing credits... it's exhausting. And inspiring.

Well, the play ran last weekend, and the cast party was Saturday night. So it's over, and while I love having my evenings free (well, some of them) I am bummed that I likely won't cross paths with most of them again (because who wants to be that pest on facebook going, "So, what's new?" all the time. I mean, I might anyway, but still).

But, Kimberley approached me during production and asked if I'd like to take over as her G.A. next year. After some pondering (the schedule likely won't be conducive to a social life, but my future at OTS is still sort of uncertain, and it wouldn't break my heart to get away from the desk job life) I accepted the position.

Her squeal of delight pretty much sealed it for me (who doesn't like to feel wanted? :P ). I don't know what I'm getting myself into, fully, but it looks like I'll be regularly involved with the theater for a couple more years now.

I'm feeling pretty excited about the possibilities, though.

Anybody out there?

Time to shake the dust off this here blog, I guess, largely because my new job leaves me a lot of time to kill.

Yes, I have joined the realm of the "grown-ups" and have acquired a real desk job. I have my own cubicle in an office and everything (I have my own phone extension! Wow!).

I've been here for three weeks now and have yet to decorate the cube at all. I only actually think about it while I'm here, staring at the blank walls hued in various shades of white and grey. The woman in the cubicle next to me has plants and a lamp and a little office supply organizer (pens and pencils and scissors, oh my) and photos of a cat, presumably hers. I don't know how long she or any of the other employees have been here; I just know it's longer than I have. I suppose I could spend some of my downtime shopping for office decorations and supplies on Amazon... but I digress.

So the new job is actually only part time, and is actually an assistantship. Which means although my average hourly wage (according to my time sheet) is $3.06, they're paying for six credits of graduate tuition this semester (which would bring the average up to -- well, I don't know, but a lot more than $3.06). I work for technology services, which sounds really fancy, but thus far has meant spending a lot of time in my cubicle, at my computer, waiting for assignments which involve making small changes to the university website. For example, I added a question mark to an FAQ entry which lacked one, and added the second "M" back into "commuter" at the top of a title page.

Yes, some (most) of my assignments have been more involved than this. But I still have a lot of downtime. I've invested some of that time into learning Adobe Illustrater (and by "learning," I mean "becoming frustrated by") from a book. So far, this is what I've made:



A priceless gem waiting to be discovered by the design world, I know (wow! A flower in the sky!?). The book itself is actually rather helpful, despite being two versions behind the 5.1 I've been given (I've also acquired a couple of new skills in Photoshop, but those were mostly by searching the "Help" box and wading through a lot of useless results).

So anyway, I'm at my own desk in my own cube with my own phone (which never rings) and I've met most of the other people here (thanks to my boss, who is actually pretty cool) but they're all roughly a decade older than I am, and they often have important meetings in the conference room nearby (which means I got to snag some of the leftover candy afterward) and I try not to spend too much time on Facebook since my computer screen is visible from the doorway.

So, you shall be privy to my time-killing activities via this blog.

The annual tradition continues.

1.What did you do in 2011 that you'd never done before? Took a train to Boston; visited Wisconsin (Milwaukee, mainly); went to AWP; worked three jobs; signed up for Netflix; did a research project at the Smithsonian archives (for my dad); learned how to knit.

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions and will you make more for next year? I never remember my New Year's resolutions. Maybe I should start writing them here. This year I've so far resolved to read at least one poem per day. I guess I've already broken it though, since I came up with it on the 2nd. The other was to write something new every week -- a poem, short story, or piece of flash fiction. We'll see how it goes.

3. What countries did you visit? None. Just the one I live in.

4. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011? A "real" job.

5. What date from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? Rockabilly Fest in Vegas in April. Rum Rush on Hamilton St. in July. Caleb and Elaine's wedding. The narrow, winding roads and wonderful book stores all over Boston and the hot, hot heat in Milwaukee (along with their fantastic art museum). The chaos of AWP and the ridiculous happy hour parties at Mex. Not specific dates, just events/moments.

6. What was your biggest achievement of the year? My 4.0 GPA during a semester with two classes and three jobs. Somehow I still managed to sleep and have a social life in there too.

7. What was your biggest failure? Not being published anywhere (or really submitting anything).

8. Did you suffer illness or injury? Nothing a little antibiotic or cold medicine didn't cure.

9. Whose behavior merited celebration? Jake's, for sticking by me through the whole long-distance thing.
10. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Jake's, for not moving out here with me. :P

11. Where did most of your money go? Aside from rent, probably toward things I didn't need. Also, books.

12. What song will always remind you of 2011? Most of the songs on the first Florence + the Machine album. Also maybe "Lonely Boy" by the Black Keys. And "Heart Skips a Beat" by Olly Murs.

13. Compared to last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? I think happier, though the long-distance relationship isn't getting any easier.
ii. thinner or fatter? Thinner, by just a few pounds.
iii. richer or poorer? Well, I make more money.

14. What do you wish you'd done more of? Art. And travelling.

15. What do you wish you'd done less of? Wasting time on Facebook.

16. How did you spend Christmas? The day began at Jake's parent's and ended at my grandparent's with my mom. There was food and present-opening.

17. Did you fall in love in 2011? Not with anyone new.

18. What was your favorite TV program? I realize that I'll probably get some crap for this (as I already have), but Glee. It's such a fun show! I also watched/rewatched every episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

19. What was the best book you read? I couldn't name just one. I read a lot of books this year. Among the most memorable: The Help, The Kite Runner, The Bible (largely in part because it took me the whole year to read), The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Water for Elephants, and Firefly Lane.

20. What was your greatest musical discovery of 2011? Florence + the Machine. And Foster the People.

21. What did you want and get? Another job. A new computer and monitor, and a(nother) new camera.

22. What did you want and not get? A trip to NYC or New Orleans for New Year's Eve.

23. What was your favorite film of this year? Sticking solely to movies released in 2011, I really liked The Adjustment Bureau and The Help. The movie Water for Elephants was pretty good too. And, I liked the 8th Harry Potter, and the first part of Breaking Dawn was better than I expected.

24. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I spent the day in Washington D.C. with my friend/former roommate Maureen and a couple of her friends. We went to an Ethiopian restaurant for lunch and then to the Smithsonian. Also to a cupcake shop. I didn't do any real drinking/partying. I turned 25.

25. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Not having to take out thousands of dollars in student loans.

26. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011? Unmonitored. I didn't really think too much about it until the end of the year.

27. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Hm. None, really.

28. Who was the best new person you met? Probably Kay, my new roommate, though I met some pretty cool kids through my friend Jon when he moved to Hampden.

29. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011: I don't know that there's a single, standout lesson, but I did learn a lot about being alone vs. being lonely, and a lot more about how to be truly independent. I discovered that a lot of my opinions and worldviews are heavily influenced by my friends, and I've come a long way in discovering what I personally believe.

30. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. "I must become, the lion-hearted girl..."