Resignation

Hi All. As if it wasn't entirely obvious, the blog is too much for me. I have decided to resign from blogging until I have something to blog about. For everyone who ever visited Transitions Ink, thank you. And thanks for your comments and your friendship. Happy writing everyone!
TI

High Hopes

I do have high hopes for the blog, really. I have them for my writing, for finishing that philosophy manuscript, for applying to writers' residencies, for getting some exercise and eating properly again, for fulfilling my word quota each day, for getting up early in the morning, for staying in touch with my friends, for maintaining a sense of calm as I move through my day, for refraining from complaining. I do. I really, really do.

I Can Do It! And So Can You!

I started this post with the title, "Can I do it?" What a set-up that question is. As writers, it's essential for us to believe we can do it. Yet doubt plagues even the best among us (so I'm told). I'm on a mission to confront my negativity and self-doubt whenever I feel it creeping in to my attitude. I know there are lots of trite messages out there about the power of positive thinking, but in all things trite we find a kernel of truth. We might roll our eyes, yet deep down we know the obvious: we're not likely to get anywhere close to our dreams if we don't think they could possibly come true.

I look back on my recently completed MFA in Creative Writing and wonder now how I did it. One important factor was my commitment to the goal: while I was doing it I didn't doubt that I could. And neither did my friends who were doing it at the same time.

With that behind us, the real scary part has arrived. And it's this transition from student writer to writer, a transition a two-year MFA can only begin to prepare a person for, that brought back the doubt. It's this transition about which my gut instinct as I sat down to write this post was to ask "can I do it?"

And the answer to that question is: yes. I can do it. And so can you!

Back with a Meme: Six Unimportant Things about Me

Writerbug tagged me with the "six unimportant things about me" meme. I've been thinking of starting to post again. This is as good a start as any. Thanks for the push, Bug.

Six unimportant things about me:
1. My next computer will be a Macbook Air.
2. I can't eat garlic.
3. I enjoy grocery shopping.
4. I'm addicted to scrabulous.
5. I actually find committee work rewarding and enjoyable.
6. If I grew my hair long you'd be able to tell it's actually curly.

Now I get to the tricky part: I have to tag six people to do the same meme. The sad thing is: I don't think there are six bloggers who come here regularly once Writerbug is off the list. So, if you're here, you have a blog, and you're NOT on the list, please add yourself.

RB
Repeater
My Basement Years
Tammy
Khendron

The rules of the game are as follows:
1. Link back to the person that tagged you
2. Post these rules on your blog.
3. Share six unimportant things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your entry.

Thanks, everyone.

Thesis: Check!

I turned in the thesis on Sunday. Whew! What a relief that was. I have to say, it feels kind of anticlimactic, like I just faded and fizzled. Whatever. I don't think I could have spent another day on it without a long-ish break.

I also just finished a book review tonight. I need to remind myself not to agree to do that again. Thank goodness I had the foresight to tell them I could only do two of the three books they'd invited me to review. I should know better than to sign up to read extra philosophy! It just about killed me. It was due on February 20, then I got an extension to March 20, and I'm just waiting for a colleague to read it over and I'll send it off tomorrow. I did think the books were worth reading, but time-consuming!

Other than feeling like I'm chained to my computer (my attitude has taken a real slide over the past month or so), I've become pretty much addicted to scrabulous. I would be very upset if they decided to pull it from Facebook.

I finished another shawl, too. I've just got to block it and then I'll post photos. Started a new pair of socks a couple of weeks ago and I plan to get back to a summer project that I set aside a couple of years ago because it was too hard but maybe now, now that I've completed a Birch, I'll be able to handle it. We shall see.

Is This Normal? and a Reverse Schedule

I wonder if it's normal to think the stuff you wrote before and thought would be easy to work with is actually, well, just not that good? I'm revising a piece I used to think was nearly there, and suddenly it's not there at all. Before you think this is just the usual insecurities, let me say I've also revised a couple of other pieces over the past little while and I used to think they were just plain garbage. Now, I feel kind of good about them. I guess it's a kind of cosmic thing: you're given a little here and a little gets taken away from over there. Hrmph.

In honor of Bug, I am going to make a reverse schedule to handle the next two submission periods, for both of which I've been granted little extensions (really little, like from the Monday to the Friday).

May 1 Final versions of everything to reader, including approvals form.
April: Respond to advisor's comments and format thesis as required for bound version.

April 4 Penultimate versions of everything to advisor, including approvals form.
April 3 Finish revising "Are We There Yet?"
March 31 Start revising "Are We There Yet?"
March 25-31 Revise "The Narrow Border"
March 21-24 Revise "The Table"
March 17-21 Revise "My Mother's Kitchen"
March 10-16 Revise "Nothing Was Said"

March 7 Second submission to advisor.
March 7 Revised versions of "My Mother's Kitchen," "The Table," "Nothing Was Said," "The Narrow Border," and "Are We There Yet?" to advisor.
March 3-7 Re-read and tweak everything.
March 1-3 Revise "Are We There Yet?"
February 25-29 Revise "Nothing Was Said" and "The Narrow Border"

Put like that, it actually doesn't look too bad. Wish me luck. The first "leg" coincides with a snowboarding getaway (this Monday to Thursday). The plan: hit the slopes in the a.m., hit the keyboard after lunch, take the evening off.

Wayward Blogger, Miscellaneous

I know from my own blog-reading preference that a blog with a focus is more attractive than one without. For example, the latest blog I'm really enjoying is Zen Habits. Why do I like it? First of all, it's pleasant to look at. Simple and easy to navigate. Second, I really like the whole zen idea because I crave simplicity in my life. So that's an attractive world view to me. Third, I pick up stuff I find useful there. For example, there is a set of strategies for emptying the inbox. As someone with an inbox that has about 1500 messages in it right now (at least I don't have a backlog of unread e-mail), while at the same time having a strong preference for an empty inbox, that gives me a possibility and a strategy for getting there. I like that, too. It's also a blog where there are links between articles. Because it has a unifying theme, when there is a post that relates to an earlier post, he points that out and provides a link.

Anyway, my own blog is a mish mash that even people who know and like me can't, I'm imagining, find particularly compelling as a 'read'. It doesn't even excite me! So I think that's one of the reasons I've taken to blogging infrequently. That and the frenetic chaos that is my daily life!

More miscellany: I got comments back from my advisor and they were positive, despite my sending her a package that fell short in volume and quality. At least I'm getting there. She's very encouraging and thought well of the revisions. They were substantial and I'm still at it.

The "barely there shawl" (note to RB: the colour is Brick) is coming along nicely. I'm doing research for an article I'm writing about knitting and the research requires (requires, I say!) me to knit at meetings and presentations and so on at work.

We're crawling through Season Six of 24, which we have on DVD. I'm squirming more than usual. Must be getting soft.

Weekend plans: lots of writing. Dinner out with friends tonight. Two movies (it's a long weekend here -- new holiday, "Family Day," because the government decided we needed a long weekend in February to fend off depression, suicide, etc.): The Kite Runner tomorrow night and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly on Monday afternoon. Some exercise: at least 30 minutes of something every day. Measured use of "scrabulous," which has made its way to the top of the "fun ways to procrastinate" list.