Today’s mail included an acceptance letter to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s MA program in Creative Writing. For those of you keeping track at home, this was my first-choice school and, somewhat ironically, the only one of four that I got into.

The schools (in order of interest) were:
* University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, MA Program (90 minutes away)
* University of Wisconsin-Madison, MFA Program (5 minutes away)
* University of Illinois-Chicago, MA Program (3 hours away)
* University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, MFA Program (4.5 hours away)

Milwaukee’s program had the advantage of being an MA I can pursue to the PhD (hence teaching) and the disadvantage of being 90 minutes away. Madison’s program had the advantage of being here in town, but the disadvantage is it’s a two-year terminal program that really doesn’t lead to anything. The other two? I don’t know if I would have actually gone to either had they been the only schools I’d gotten into.

Now I just have to figure out how to pay for it. And how I’m going to handle the commute. And try to finish in a reasonable amount of time. And eventually find a job in an ever-tightening market.

Current Mood - Still Chuffed, Though |

Cisse interested in move to Tottenham

Jean-Alain Boumsong should apply, too, if the reports can be believed and Spurs truly are looking for crappy players.

I finished reading William Shunn’s “Inclination” last night, a novella in the current Asimov’s, and really enjoyed it. I’ve read a couple of Shunn’s other stories in other places and have enjoyed them all. So there you go.

I do find it weird, though, that the Tangent review of the story says “Shunn’s elaborate details about the religious rules and philosophies of this group form thought-provoking parallels with some of today’s fundamentalist religious groups.” Not to say the same criticisms can’t be carried to other fundamentalist religions, but I read it as a fairly straight-forward commentary on Mormonism. But maybe that’s just me.

I also read a chunk of “The Thousand Nights and the One Night” last night for the first time in a long time and I continue to dig it. I’m only 50 pages into the 600+ pages of volume one (slow, I know) but it’s a lesson on how to use stock characters and stock situations in original ways. Lots of wronged kings and honest peasants, less-than-chaste wives, dishonest negro slaves, evil djinns, and magic spells. If you can get past the blatant sexism and racism and just focus on the story, it’s almost like reading Grimm’s where you get all sorts of story archetypes. Instead of being boring and rehashed, they’re actually fresh because they’re the originals.

Goes slowly, thank you. Seven stories in the field currently, although I hope to hear back on several of them soon. I’m also trying to figure out what to send to Writers of the Future at the end of the month. I’ve never entered the contest and I probably should as long as I’m eligible. No entry fee, potentially big pay day, peer recognition. What’s not to love?

Current Mood - No Reason to Complain |
Currently Listening To - Billy Bragg & Wilco - “”Mermaid Avenue”"

I am now 0 for 3 in my grad school applications. I applied to two MFA programs (which I didn’t expect to get into) and two MA programs (which I did.) The only school that hasn’t responded, thankfully, is the only one I really wanted to get into, but now I’m not sure that’s even going to happen.

Plan B is, of course, continuing doing what I’m doing (working and writing) and that’s no tragedy. I actually like my job and making money is better than taking out loans to pay for school, but I have to say I’m scratching my head on why I haven’t had any success on these applications. I’m telling myself it’s because my creative writing sample has ghosts in it and my academic writing sample was on Tolkien, and therefore the admissions committees don’t want a booger-eater in their program. Even though I’ve got a strong undergrad GPA from a big school, did well on the GRE, got letters of recommendation from award-winning authors, and I’ve made professional sales to both fiction and non-fiction markets. Of course, the only thing you can do with any rejection is shrug your shoulders and get on with it.

I guess it’s all academic anyway (pun fully intended.) In fact, my worst-case scenario was not getting into the MA program at Milwaukee but getting into the MFA program at Minnesota, which would have resulted in all sorts of logistical nightmares. Minnesota is close, not really close enough to be convenient; and the MFA isn’t really the degree I want to pursue. All things being equal though, it would have been more reassuring to have been accepted by all of them.

But I’ll take 1 for 4 as long as it’s the program I want.

Things are too tight for comfort in the race for fourth place in the Premier League.
(more…)

Dear OMW,

What’s with the snow? It’s mid-March and you’re bringing it now? You and I both know it’ll melt over the weekend, so why bother? You had a strong December but maybe you punched yourself out early. You got some good licks in last month but this wasn’t your best effort in terms of cold and snow, and the stuff you’re throwing now is just making mud. You’re better off putting the past behind you and starting looking forward to next season.

Is it wrong that I’ve listened to “R.A.M.O.N.E.S.” like 239 times in the last two days? It’s the best song ever. Or maybe the best song under ninety seconds long.

Current Mood - Good |
Currently Listening To - The Ramones - “Anthology (Disc 2)”

The US Men’s National Team is ranked fifth in the world, their highest ranking ever. Well, if the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Rankings say it, it must be true.

/

Racism continues to be a big problem in European football, especially in Spain. Very sad and distressing. While I do think European racism is different kind than American racism, it’s no less odious.

WisCon 30 is sold out already. This doesn’t distress me as much as it will distress others because I’ll be out of the country until that Sunday afternoon/evening so I didn’t think it would be worth it.

Awhile back I asked if anyone wanted to write me some poems in English using the Old Norse dróttkvætt metre and, shockingly, no one volunteered. So I spent some time futzing with poetry yesterday, something I’ve never really done before. I figured my story needs four poems. Two didn’t turn out so bad but the other two need work to be true to the form. I may be seeking poetry critics in the near future to tell me the truth about them. Slamming crappy poetry is infinitely easier than writing it.

I realize this is breaking the golden rule of “never include your own poetry in your stories” but I think this is somewhat mitigated by the fact that a) the thought of writing poetry terrifies me, and b) the story calls for it. Really. It does.

Current Mood - Fair |
Currently Listening To - Woody Guthrie - “The Woody Guthrie Story”

Via Football 365’s Mediawatch:

Non-Football Quote Of The Day
“We have no plans to introduce nuclear-powered flying saucers to the network” - A department of Transport spokesman responds to a report in The Times that BritishRailLate took out a patent in the 1970s for a flying saucer spaceship. The newspaper notes that ‘because of its frighteningly powerful propulsion system,’ the vehicle would have been limited in use. ‘Even on long-distance prestige routes, such as that of the Flying Scotsman, it would have scorched too many lineside barley fields between King’s Cross and Edingburgh.’ However, it would have been used ‘on the loss-making branch lines of Wales.’ Suddenly the plan begins to make sense….

Article here.

Yes, I know I’m behind the times talking about this, but back in December Salon.com named Kelly Link’s “Magic for Beginners” one of the Top 10 Books of 2005. So kudos to Kelly for a deserved honor (the book rocks) but what really tickled me was the sentence that finishes the section:

At a time when most short stories are little more than exquisite little mood or chamber pieces, Link and Ingalls remind us of just how dangerous and exciting the form can be.

Um…

I was having a discussion sort of about this over on my buddy Eric’s blog regarding modern “literary” short stories. I said:

My problem with a lot of modern literature is that it boils down to nothing but navel-gazing. Overwrought prose dealing with the tortured inner monologue of someone whose personality is almost wholly defined by the description of their thoughts and feelings. A lot of the short stories in the New Yorker are like this, where you get thought after thought after delicious thought without any action. To an extent, our lives are more thought than action (I’m thinking far faster than I’m typing for instance) but that kind of psychoanalysis doesn’t entertain me as a reader–I like fiction where actions are louder than words.

So while I agree that most mainstream short stories are boring little mood pieces, I can’t say this generalization applies to “most” short stories. What magazine did Kelly’s mind-blowingly good story “Magic For Beginners” appear? That’s right: F&SF.

Methinks some reviewers might search a little harder for interesting short fiction.

Current Mood - Okay |
Currently Listening To - The Ramones - “End of the Century”

For those of you who have been waiting with bated breath, I received a letter today from Carus Publishing announcing that my story “A Change of Seasons” will be appearing in the Sept/Oct ‘06 issue of Cicada.

This story was written at Clarion during week 3 and was my first pro sale. Just so you can get a flavor for the timeline here:

* Story written - June 2004
* Submitted to Cicada - October 2004
* Purchased by Cicada - March 2005
* First-round edits - August 2005
* Contract signed - October 2005
* Publication (and payment) - September 2006

Things can take a long time. Not that I’m complaining.

The best part of spring? The big thunderstorms. If I had to list some of the things I missed about the midwest when I lived in Seattle, right up at the top of the list would have been thunderstorms. Big, chest-thumping, window pane-rattling thunderstorms. The cat is far less fond of them.

Oh, we had a big ‘un last night if you hadn’t guessed. Big thunderstorm, that is. We always have a a big cat.

New Jersey folks are hopping mad their name was dropped when the NY/NJ Metrostars were bought and renamed New York Red Bull

From Football 365’s Mediawatch.

I was trying to kill off time. I didn’t see him and the last player you want the ball to go to is the best player on the planet. It was completely my fault and I hold up my hands. It was a stupid mistake and that stopped us from robbing a point because that’s what we would have done as we didn’t play well at all.” - Steven Gerrard demonstrates class off the pitch after a mistake on it. Can you imagine someone from Chelski saying the same?

Another reason to like Stevie G. I’m a lukewarm Liverpool fan but I have to say that Gerrard is one of my favorite English players to watch and he seems like a genuinely good guy on top of it. Like every pro league, the Premier League’s managers and players are, by and large, self-important gas bags. It’s always refreshing when guys like Gerrard or Man City’s manager Stuart Pearce say it like it is.

It’s become do-or-die time for Spurs. No, one cannot expect them to go Chelski and come away with anything, but they could have earned a draw by hanging on for two minutes longer. They dropped two points in the dying minutes against both West Ham and Sunderland earlier this year, teams they should have put away. Another five points would put a sizeable gap between them and the rest of the pack and they’re likely going to need it. They played well against the Russians for much of the match but a defensive blunder cost them early. If they play out the season in that form they have a good shot at keeping that fourth place spot, but that’s a tall order. They can’t afford to drop too many points from here on out and, lamentably, they could easily tumble to seventh with a string of bad results and render their long stay at the top of the table meaningless.

Dare I dream? Audere est facere, I guess. But wait a minute, didn’t they take that off the crest?

Current Mood - Decent |
Currently Listening To - The Ramones - “Ramones”

And so do a lot of other people, apparently. Madison is a relatively small town, pop. 208,000 but it’s got a lot for it. I’m surprised when people from other parts of the country have heard about Madison, but I probably shouldn’t be. It’s been a real media darling in the last five years or so.

Consider:

• #1 College Sport City in the USA, Sports Illustrated On Campus, September, 2003
• #3 Best City for Walking, 10 Best Walking Cities in the U.S., Prevention Magazine, 2006
• #1 Best City for Cycling, Bicycling Magazine, 2006
• Friendliest City in the Midwest, Midwest Living Magazine, June, 2003
• #2 Among America’s Best Places to Live and Work, Employment Review Magazine, June, 2003
• #5 Best Places for Business and Careers, Forbes Magazine, May, 2003
• One of Five Cities that Inspire, Delicious Living Magazine, March, 2003
• #5 Campus Scenes That Rock, Rolling Stone Magazine, February, 2003
• #1 of Small-size Cities for Creativity,The Washington Monthly, July, 2002
• #2 Best Places to Live, Homeadvisor.msn.com, July, 2002
• #2 among “America’s Best Places to Live and Work”, Employment Review Magazine, June, 2002
• #2 Best Place to Live and Work in America, BestJobsUSA.com, May, 2002

And the list goes on and on and on.

People often look at me like I’m nuts when I tell them we moved from Seattle to Madison on a whim but it’s a decision I’ve never regretted. I liked living in Chicago and Seattle but I’m glad to be here. I worry that the city might lose its charm as it continues to grow and more corporations gain footholds downtown. I also don’t like how the university is going to great lengths to curb its party school reputation. Some things are just meant to be.

Winter and spring are having a real arm-wrestling contest here. 30 and snowing one day, 45 and sunny the next. Then back to snow. Yesterday’s steady rain took care of much of the snow on the ground and I thought that might be the demoralizing killer blow for winter, but they’re predicting more snow early next week. This time of year takes mental fortitude. We had a mild winter in terms of snow and cold (with only brief spurts of each) but I’m ready for green.

I have footie on the brain constantly and I’m absolutely dying to get out and play. Goethe once said, “Happiness is a ball after which we run wherever it rolls, and we push it with our feet when it stops.” Couldn’t agree more.

Current Mood - Happy |
Currently Listening To - The Ramones - “Rocket to Russia”