So it happened again...

Here I am, once more, to apologize for not updating. I'm reasonably sure nobody reads my blog at this point, but I hope to start updating it more, even if only for myself. Here's some of what's happened in the last (sigh) two-and-a-half years or so since my previous post.

^ That's me, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed on my first day of grad school

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I went through the rickety, poorly-maintained roller coaster of emotions that is the MFA application process. Nine rejections and six acceptances later (a list, for the curious), I ended up right down the road at Texas State University's fantastic MFA program. I quit my dead-end grocery store job and moved out of Austin for the first time in my entire life. Now, I'm here in San Marcos, and I'm the luckiest person in the program by far. I definitely don't deserve to be here with all of these brilliant, staggeringly talented writers, but I'm exactly where I want and need to be. I'm halfway through my second year (of three) in the poetry program and I couldn't be happier at any other school. I feel like we've built a family here. We're not completely drama-free, and we definitely have a few black sheep (some days, I'm pretty sure I'm one), but there's a lot of love here. At least, I think so. I'm having the best time time here, though I miss Austin and my friends and family there so much. It's only 30 miles away, but I don't have a car, and public transportation in Central Texas is notoriously lacking. I also might have developed a teensy bit of a drinking habit, but as anyone who's spent any time in this town will tell you, that sort of comes with the territory... Anywho, not much else to report at the moment.

^ Chalk-graffito at Texas State

I mostly returned to this blog in hopes that regular journaling might help me become a more disciplined writer, and maybe even a better person. I don't know how well I'll keep up with it, but this is a first step. I have a Lent "resolution" sort of post brewing in my mind, so hopefully I'll work that up soon. Until then, dear ones, be well. Thanks for reading, whoever you are.

Love y'all.

Timothy

Whether to weather the weather

"...a little snow, tumbled about,

Anon becomes a mountain."

- Shakespeare, King John, 3.4.176-7

It's snowing here in Austin this morning. It's lovely and all, as you can see from this photo I took of the courtyard of my apartment complex. However, I have to hike twenty minutes through the woods to get to school (seriously). So I have to decide whether to suffer the fury of Old Man Winter, or stay in my warm, cozy apartment and work on the fifteen-pager that's due tomorrow. Maybe I'll flip a coin.

P.S. To any Yankees reading this, or any others for whom snow is a completely unremarkable event and who think I'm overreacting, kindly keep your snide comments to yourselves. Thanks! ♥

Ah, l'amour...

For this was Seynt Valentynes day, / Whan every foul cometh there to chese his make, / Of every kynde that men thynke may; / And that so huge a noyse gan they make / That erthe and eyr and tre and every lake / So ful was that unethe was there space / For me to stonde, so ful was al the place.

- Chaucer, Parlement of Foulys, 309-15, c. 1373

Here it is again. February 14th. Good old V-Day. And here I am, spending it alone, wallowing in self-pity. I ate a whole package of Thin Mints for Pete's sake. Well, knock-offs anyway. I usually don't care much about this holiday, with all its cutesy-pootsy plush novelties, its overpriced cards with pre-fab sentiments inside, its insistence that diamonds are the only true testament to romance. But for some reason, this year is different.

It doesn't help that most of my friends are in relationships. I know I'm fine being single, and that I'll get over it. But for some reason, it's really getting to me today.

You know, I thought that pilgrimage I made to the shrine of St. Valentine in Dublin would pay off. Maybe he thought I was too young at the time. I was just 13. Hmm, maybe I should go back. It'd be a good excuse for a vacation...

Wow, I sound a little crazy. I'll be fine tomorrow. No worries.

But I hope my prayer will get answered. Eventually.