A Couple Things:

1)

I love being a father. It's the most rewarding, yet most tiring thing I've ever done. I know I should be blogging on the other blog but I just had to say this. Em is a trooper. While I'm at work all day she's with Elliot. And he can be fussy for hours. The other night, Em slept maybe 2 hours and didn't sleep again till the next night. It seems to be getting better, but I'm out pretty cold at night, and I don't know if Em's just not waking me as much, or if Elliot is sleeping through the night. Anyway, Em is a great mother and the best wife.


2)

I miss grad. school. I miss it. I mean, at least I get to teach and write, but still, I miss it. I miss sitting in a classroom talking about poetry, fiction, film, whatever as though it actually matters in the grand scheme of things. Because, let's be honest, it only mattes to those who care about it. Right? Well, anyway, I can't wait to dig back in. September. I'm curious to see how it all works out with Elliot, with Em going back to school, with coordinating all the public transportation and schedules. I guess we'll see. But I'm just stoked that in 9 months (?) I'll be in grad. school. Now, that I've left NMSU and I'm not in school, cool things are happening down there. I get nostalgic and wonder if leaving was the best idea. But it only takes me a second to realize we left, not just because I wanted to go to a more intense school (we'll see if that actually happens), but because we wanted to be in a city (and because we wanted to take a year off to be around family and friends), and also because there were things I just couldn't reconcile at NMSU. The jist of it? I was extremely let down as a first -year. Would it have gotten better? Yes, I'm sure it would've. I'm sure I would've ended up enjoying my time there as much as possible. Why am I asking all these questions that I'm going to answer? (I yell at my students about these kinds of questions). I understand why they do it. I just think it's lazy. Anyway, I miss grad. school. It's that simple.

3)

I'm still finding time to write. Most of it in jotting notes down in front of the TV when we're watching. The rest is on breaks at work, slow points at work, or at school inbetween classes, or while my students do their in class writing.

I finally finished compling This is the Way to Rule. It's huge! 189 pages. Though, I think that It'll probably be 120-130 when I'm done. I've got some cutting to do (not to mention new poems I have to write to really nail down the beginning, the middle, the end). I'm also gonna do this thing that friend from work suggested. I have some poems that go "listen: can you hear the gates creaking?" or "listen: those aren't fires cracking out there." or whatever (I made those up). So, most of the poems are prose poems covering the narrative of the people traveling around, chasing the wreckage, putting out fires, blah, blah, blah. I also have this is the way to rule and this is not the way to rule poems. So, what my friend suggested was taking those one liners and putting them on their side, on the edge of the page. So, you have the main poems, then you have the side poems. The trick will be to get the one-liners to tell a story, follow an arc, as well as the main poems. In fact, the goal is to have them address a subtext, subplot. So that the reader can read the book two ways.

4)

I still haven't seen Harry Potter. I need to!

Also on the list: Never Let Me Go.
but I should probably read the book first. If I can find it....nowhere, maybe I'll have to buck-up and go to a non-used book store.

5)

No more all Wednesday class at ITT-Tech. I teach Wednesday night and Friday night. GE 217 (Composistion). I can't wait for the day when I can teach Lit and Creative Writing class. i hope I can convince Colubmia College to allow that. I mean, shit, four years of experience should give me a leg up.

6)

The Mission Tapes is on the brain.

Alright, that's all for now. I just wanted to keep blogging as much as I could. So, here you go. Comment on this. Tell me what you think. Tell me your ideas. Let's talk.