Since

Got my Passages North contributor copies in the mail on Saturday. Not surprisingly, the issue's already impressed me. I've been trying to get into an issue since I first started sending out, so I'm lucky to be in their 30th Anniversary Issue.

Lots of good writers, including: Emma Bolden, Jesse Lee Kercheval, David Dodd Lee, Jonathan Rice (my friend and seemingly endless journal friend also, as this is maybe the sixth issue of a journal we've been in together), Chad Sweeney, and many others.

And since it's the Anniversary Issue, it's over 250 pages, so there's plenty to keep you busy for a while. It's going to take me a while to get through it.

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Also received the specifics from Nebraska on Saturday. The official acceptance letter was a weird one for many reasons. Needless to say, however, after seemingly getting in with a TA, they basically let me know that the better and more worthy candidates got theirs first, and that they'd love me to attend without funding.

Then at the end of the letter they said something about how competitive the job market is, and that basically a degree doesn't mean shit at this point.

Again, a very weird letter.

So I'm on the waitlist, and we'll see if I ever get an offer. If not, though, Nebraska's certainly out.

Binghamton's yet to get back to me about how much tuition I would have to pay if I accepted their TA offer, so hopefully soon I'll get an idea of how seriously I need to consider them. They're certainly in the running with Oklahoma State now, but without specifics I can't say how much in the running they actually are.

As a disclaimer, though, I don't want to sound like I'm not grateful to Nebraska for granting me admission. Because I am. Especially after hearing about so many others who were granted admission without funding.

But I don't know if anyone who isn't affluent enough to throw money around would actually pay for tuition at this level, especially for a degree that tends to be blood in the water full of sharks.

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Saw two movies worth noting over the last week: The Secret Life of Bees and Fireflies in the Garden.

And when I say worth noting I mean because they were both pretty terrible. The Secret Life of Bees, which I did not read before seeing the movie, has to be one of the most boring movies I've ever seen. Hardly anything actually happened. At all. The race issues were glossed over except for about ten minutes near the end, and the story didn't seem unbelievable, just not very interesting. It was a chore to get through.

David Gordon Green was slated to direct it years ago, and I wonder what he could've done with the look, the feel, the pace, the script, and everything else, not to mention casting essentially not a whole cast of professional singers.

Fireflies in the Garden is what MFA screenwriters should watch, mostly for what-not-to-do-when-you're-writing-and-making-a-movie. There was a ton of potential there, and again, speaking of David Gordon Green, I think he could've done wonders with the script. Ryan Reynolds was actually decent, but there was some miscasting, especially Willem Dafoe, whose character I completely didn't believe. And Julia Roberts, who I never really liked anyway. Plus the emotional crux of the movie seemed vacuous and anything but believable, which perpetuated the rest of the 120 minute downward spiral.

I'm not sure who Dennis Lee is, but he has some things to learn. Or he didn't have enough people saying, "You need a ton of re-writes before you can actually shoot this thing." The film's pretty striking visually, but that's about all it has going for it. Skip it when it's finally released.

One to Go

I got emails from the Graduate Director of Western Michigan University today, along with Bill Olsen, easily one of my favorite contemporary poets, which was one of the big reasons I wanted to apply there in the first place.

I'm in if I want a spot, but apparently the school's in such bad shape that any money going toward a T.A. for incoming creative writers has to be for an incoming MFA.

Of course having to pay for tuition is completely out of the question, especially with three offers on the table, but I'm excited to know I most likely would've been admitted any other year. If anyone gives money to colleges, you can be the cash most likely isn't used for the English Department of said school. And it's in Michigan. Anyone remember Roger and Me? Twenty years later, yes, but I'm sure they've been hit hard like many other states.

One school to go, and when that decision is here, I'll be figuring out all the specifics and weighing options.

Soon soon.

Processed Spirits

Today was kind of a bizarre day. I got a rejection letter from UGA in the mail, which, like Missouri, I expected. If these schools requiring certain scores on the General and Literature GRE are sticking to their guns, I'd be one of the first ones out of consideration. I cannot take standardized tests. I couldn't in high school, and I can't now. No matter what I over think things. I'm the test-taker who crosses off the first three wrong answers, and he's got a fifty-fifty chance with the last two. But unbeknownst to him, until later, one of the first three he crossed off was indeed the right answer.

But maybe they just didn't like my work. Either way, no biggie, and I'm glad I got to apply. They're both great programs.

The situation was rectified, however, when I got acceptances from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and SUNY Binghamton. I have no idea yet what UNL is going to offer me for funding, if anything. And Binghamton has a nice stipend, but apparently I would have to pay some of my tuition. And honestly, with the way the economy is, not to mention the degree is a PhD in Creative Writing and not a MBA, I don't think I can go somewhere without a guaranteed full tuition waver for the years I'm there. But we'll see what they say after answering my questions, since I just got a very brief email from the Graduate Director there.

Oklahoma State is still looking nearly impossible to say no to. Especially since there are so many people telling me they did indeed get offers from schools in the past that didn't offer them a guaranteed TA with a tuition waver. Or they had to pay half their tuition. Or the entire first year of tuition.

With two schools to hear from still, in addition to knowing the the specifics for UNL and Binghamton as far as financial packages, I've still yet to decide of course. I noticed a lot folks have heard in the last few days, and we're getting to the point where schools really need to let folks know, if they want them, so they didn't already take a previous offer.

We shall see.

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Also got a welcome email from Blue Mesa Review saying they want a poem. Another new-ish one. But I'm not sure how much I like it. It's one I ditched then revised. Then ditched again then revised. Then sent out and resurrected. Then thought about ditching again.

Then the acceptance.

And from this batch, originally sent out in September, my favorite poems still have all been rejected.

The editing and submission world continues to baffle me. But maybe I think all my decent poems are those that are actually horrendous.

Thankfully, the phrase "sometimes in earlier forms" is a great one, if the poem does indeed change in the future and / or ends up in some kind of project or collection.

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And it's not surprising that I'll say this again: another amazing new record will soon be blowing people away.

It's Phoenix's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. Sure, they've taken a lot from the Strokes and countless other bands, but there are some amazing moments on this record. And they're starting to really solidify my idea that powerful works of art need to be like a gut-punch, and it should leave you wanting more. Maybe once I get older I'll get back into the sprawling nature of things, but this record has some great moments.

There's a simplicity that works so well with the pop and rock and roll structure, unlike the horrible bands like Vampire Weekend, who make me wonder how people are really listening to music in the first place.

Their last record, It's Never Been Like That, was good. But it's not something I kept in constant rotation, or thought about keeping in constant rotation, so it went away and drifted off. This one, though, I have a feeling I'll be listening to for a long time.

Just give a listen in a few months if you can't find a leak of it. But it's worth searching out now.

Fifteen

Thanks to Eric, who commented a few blog posts ago, and other folks who have mentioned April 15th as the date we applicants have to make our final decision. It's nice to know we have some rights, which I somehow didn't know before.

Oklahoma State, as they've been from the very beginning (which is another reason it's going to be very hard to say no to their offer), was extremely nice about letting me know the deal.

They wanted me to let them know by March 13th if I could because if I don't let them know early enough, the fellowship money they're offering me gets absorbed back into the college—not necessarily the English department—and they may not be able to offer it to other applicants.

But they understand my situation, and I'm sure I'm not the only one waiting to hear from other schools. With five schools to go, the last thing I want to do is accept Oklahoma State's offer in writing and then end up telling them, "Sorry." I would never want to do that to anyone, and this way I don't have to.

I really, really can't wait until I know where the hell I'll be finally. As much as July and August are going to be rough months, I'm excited to get back into it all.

Purgatorial

Got my copies of Barn Owl Review #2 the other day. I honestly was impressed with the quality of a lot of the writing (I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by that with the folks who are running it, but I say that because I can't say that about every journal I've been in, which happens when you're putting together what is essentially a compilation of writing every issue of every journal: the luck of the draw), and I think it's an issue I'll continue to pick up and read through as it eventually finds a spot on my shelf.

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Speaking of the aforementioned issue, my friend and former classmate at VCU, Anna Journey, has two poems in there too, both from her just-released first book, If Birds Gather Your Hair for Nesting. Many of the poems from the book I and others saw in workshop a few years ago, the last workshop many of us took before our time was taken up with our theses. The poems are wild and full of energy, and I have a feeling a lot of folks are doing to dig her book. It's nice to see that essentially some MFA theses (even though Anna's certainly evolved with new poems, cut poems, etc., like every book does) can become books that win great prizes, despite the thoughts of many when it comes first books.

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I got my rejection letter from Missouri the other day also. I was not surprised by this, especially since Gary got into seven out of eight schools two years ago (and I hope you don't mind me saying this, Gary), the only rejection being Missouri. So I had little faith in an acceptance on my end.

What impressed me about Missouri was the former and present students, and all that many of them have done while attending and beyond their degree.

That said, am I'm speaking quite frankly here, the faculty was the one reason I was least thrilled about applying. But the school's reputation, and the fact that I have faith in myself to do well wherever I go, was why I applied. And it's tough not to when so many great poets—the list could be lengthy—attend right now or have attended in the past.

So there are five schools I still need to hear from, and I think it's coming down to the point where either rejections or acceptances will be in the mail soon. Or via email. Or the phone.

First Book Interview #17 - Randall Mann

It's up for your perusal.

#17 - Randall Mann

I really need to get on the ball and send many more out...

Storm

Got some welcoming news via email that both DIAGRAM and Diode took some newer poems, maybe from this chapbook, which seems to be turning into a possible full length manuscript number two, whatever semblance of it I can build at this point.

They're two of my favorite online journals, so it's great to have poems appearing again in the future.

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Speaking of journals, it looks like the new issue of Another Chicago Magazine is out. Not only that, but the website has finally been updated.

They took one of my favorite poems I've ever written (and honestly I don't have many), which was accepted about two years ago, so I'm thrilled that I should finally get my contributor copy soon. It really is a great journal, and I hope that little hiatus they were on in the last couple years was only a small hiccup and that they'll be going full force again.

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Yesterday we got about six inches of snow in Richmond. Being originally from western Pennsylvania, that's nothing to me, but with no salt trucks or plows down here, it turned into a clusterfuck for a lot of Richmonders and Virginians alike. Almost every school was canceled yesterday (and most today), including VCU, and tons of accidents happened on the interstates. Apparently everyone rushes to the grocery stores to get milk, bread, toiler paper, and batteries. I guess you can always leave the milk outside if you don't have power.

We lost power Monday at about midnight until noon. Then it went back on and everything's cool now. Only a bunch of ice and clogged curbs from snow build-up and parked cars. The sun's out now, so hopefully it'll melt within a few days. And Saturday it's supposed to be 60 degrees, so we should be fine by then.

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Does anyone know what happened to Red Morning Press? Their blog hasn't been updated in almost a year, and their website is currently down.

I haven't heard anything, so I'm not sure if they're done or not. It'd be a shame though if that were true, since they put out really nice books, the four or so they did in the last couple years.

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Still haven't heard anything from the other six schools. I have ten days to accept or decline Oklahoma State's offer, and I hope that they give me more time if I need it. With all the money and time I spent on all the applications (and all of us who have applied to more than a few schools), I'd like to weigh all my options, should I have anymore.

Then again, I could get six rejections in the next day or two. Or hear a few positives. You never know. Time goes on.