It was cold today, too cold. Cold enough to spit snow out of the grim sky throughout the morning and well into my lunch break. Meanwhile, I’ve caught that nasty little bug called Spring Fever, and could barely keep still in my seat at work because I was so pumped with energy. It probably didn’t help that I was doing mostly routine data entry today, and therefore had more time to dwell on how much I want it to be spring already. ^_^ It’s just that the past few days have been so deliciously warm–not hot or anything, but a nice upper 50’s into the 60’s. Oh, it has been lovely. And it sank into my skin, and now I’ve got the bug, and I don’t care what that darned groundhog thinks about it. I want spring already!
I’ve also determined that I have a terrible inclination to want to do too much all at once. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been eyeing the possibility of getting an MFA in Creative Writing, going to art school to get a BFA, getting a Masters in Elementary Education, going back to school and getting a bachelor’s degree in something useful like Physics or Biology, training to be a massage therapist, buying a Xiao so I can learn to play it because it’s just such a cool instrument, learning Spanish, brushing up my Mandarin, maybe picking up Russian for kicks, teaching English in Korea after Andy graduates, go/learn how to rock-climb safely so I can go places other than a gym, traveling a la carte to Europe on a backpacking expedition, and on, and on.
There’s no end. I want to do it all! But I’m also practical enough to recognize that some of these things simply cannot be. After doing a little research, art school is out at least while I have a job. There just isn’t time. Plus I’d need to recreate a new portfolio, since the one I made back in high school really doesn’t represent me anymore. In the same way, the MFA in Creative Writing is out. I found some good programs that require low-residency, but even the low-residency would eat up all my PTO time, if not go over it, and I can’t afford that. Plus, I want that PTO for my own little trips/excursions/conventions (^_^!!). I would also need to create a portfolio of fiction to go with that application.
The Masters in Elementary Education is something I would absolutely love to do, however there are very few program offerings here at the moment, and the one there is has a long lead-time for applications. This, compounded with the fact that Andy and I are pretty convinced (at least as of the moment) that after he graduates school, we may head back to the New England area, in which case I’d need to get licensed in that state anyway, so it might be worth just waiting until that time to get the Masters. Plus, I wouldn’t mind having/raising kids first, which would give me more experience with kids in the age-range I think I’d like to teach, plus give me an easy way to get into helping out in local schools.
The bachelor’s degree in physics/biology is out because I know it would drive me insane, which is why I didn’t do it in the first place. Instead, I’ll work on building up my laymen’s knowledge of the subjects which interest me.
Massage therapy just doesn’t interest me that much, personally, and with the amount of time it would require (at least at WSCC), I just don’t have the energy. It’s still in the back of my mind though; so I might do it yet. No hard decisions on this, but it’ll be put off for a year at least.
Xiaos are cool, and I do plan on getting at least a cheap practice one to play around with. Also, Andy and I want to take Cello lessons in the future. Time management is the issue here.
Spanish is practical, and I’ve got the lessons I need to start. Now I just need to actually start. Can’t find my Mandarin review stuff, which is driving me nuts, because I’m pretty sure we brought it out… Don’t know… but I would love to be able to read Chinese fantasy novels. Russian is on the list because Andy loves (and speaks some) Russian, and it would be cool to know what he randomly says (also, if I ever got really good at it, I’d love to read Dostoevsky properly).
Teaching English in Korea: it’s not off the table from when we graduated this spring, but there’s no definite decision here either. It’s just a daydream of ours that we don’t take too seriously, but don’t quite remove from discussion, either. Same goes for our a la carte tour of England/Scotland/Ireland.
Rock climbing: this weekend, is the plan.
Writing Stuff:
So the Chekhov year has changed. Originally, as some of you know, the goal of this year was a modified Chekhov plan, with the modification being that a whole story was required only once every two weeks, instead of the original which required a new story for each week.
This has decidedly failed, mostly due to my current infatuation with the novella, but also due to my time constraints. When I had a lot more disposable time, the Chekhov plan forced me to use that time to write. Now, when I have only an hour at lunch everyday, I don’t need the pressure to write, but I can only get at most 1,000 words done if I’m really on a roll. That means, for you math geniuses, that any story I write for the Modified-Chekhov-Plan could be at most only 10,000 words long (provided I don’t write on the weekends), which doesn’t satisfy my novella-lust. Now, the goal is merely to complete each novella project I try my hand at. Currently, it’s going pretty well. The world-building in this current one could be a little stronger, but it’s moving in the right direction, and I’m fleshing out as I go. So far, it’s a lot better than I was expecting, and it’s looking to turn out pretty successful, at least by my subjective judgement.
Future project in this context include:
[Dr. Shelly]
[the next Lawler Story, from The Spring Collection]
And there are a number of other ideas which I haven’t even begun to approach with any serious consideration for fear of being distracted from current projects. And a few novellas which need to have the last few scenes added so I can actually call them a finished rough draft. ^_^
Maggie Slater 