July 11, 2011
It’s probably obvious to anyone paying attention (which is likely no one) that I’m terrible at keeping up this Journal. I don’t anticipate that changing, primarily because (as I noted in my last entry) I’m not concentrating on writing at the moment, but on graduate school, which involves too much reading.
Anyway, my first year of grad school did not end as expected. Just before finals week a tornado destroyed a broad swath of ground through the middle of town and the semester was over. I had to finish writing papers for class, but school was effectively over at that point as we all set about the task of recovering. My house had relatively minimal damage, and my landlord was quick with the repairs. Most of the beautiful old trees that once shaded our street are gone, so the view outside is irrevocably changed. My immediate neighbor’s house was smashed, and another house beyond that was demolished soon afterward. And slowly the city rebuilds.
I’ve been reading this summer and relaxing a bit, and I’ve even done a bit of writing on Death and Life, though nothing substantial. I’m programming a webpage for the English Department, so that keeps me busy (and paid). For the rest of the summer (in addition to more website work) I’m going to begin a directed reading that will last through the end of the year. It’s supposed to be for the fall semester, but because there is so very much to read, my professor and I agreed to start the readings now.
I do not expect to update this Journal very much or at all for a while. The MA program is complete after next Spring, at which time I should graduate, so perhaps I’ll have more time then. However, if I am accepted into another program after that, who knows how long that will last.
Despite having said that, I know that I will write here again, and I will definitely write more on my various projects.
Filed under Death and Life, Life, Writing.