First things first. The shake up at Elmo FC has yielded terrific benefits. One striker scored, one midfielder scored, two defenders kept clean sheets, and the keeper posted a shut-out giving me a total of 88 points and helped drag me back into contention—only 19 points separates me from 2nd place (currently 5th out of 6 teams.) Sister-in-law P.W. is rocking the house with a comfortable lead. She’s got both Didier Drogba and Andy Johnson up front, which is good work if you can get it.

As an undergrad, I did not get along with many English majors. They tended to either be slackers who lacked any original thoughts or the beret-wearing crowd who occasionally had something insightful to say but were never as impressive as their attitude suggested. I did well in English classes, generally getting one of only a handful of A’s the professors gave out. However, I’ve always felt a bit leery about literary studies as a professional pursuit because there’s an attitude that seems to accompany it that I just don’t like. Clarion homie John mentioned this awhile back and it resonated with a lot of people. Literary criticism for its own sake is an ugly thing.

From my limited experience, my creative writing seminars are quite relaxed. We joke. We laugh. People say interesting things and everyone listens. I have yet to see any sort of one-up-manship in these creative writing classes. The creative writers in the department have what appears to be a collective, cooperative spirit. For the first time in my life, I’ve met honest-to-God poets who are warm and not the least bit snooty. I fit in well with these people as they have no pretense. Let’s just say some other environments are a bit more competitive, a little less open, a bit less friendly… perhaps ostentatious is the right word.

As my professor said tonight in a self-effacing moment as we discussed the novel we’ve been reading, “I wouldn’t want to try to tell you what this book means. I don’t consider myself a scholar, as most of my colleagues here are scholars. Sometimes I guess I play the part of the critic and sometimes I do passably well. But what I am is a poet, and I read books as a poet, I read books as a fellow writer.”

Read books as a fellow writer. Sounds like a plan.