Today is officially the first day of Spring. I wouldn't have remembered if it wasn't for the image that greeted me when I went to Google this morning. Awww. Isn't that cute?
And look, the weather even seemed to cooperate for this festive occasion! Yes, indeed, that is blue sky and fluffy little white clouds! I should go stalk the water tower and see if they match today or not. But don't get too excited. Tomorrow's forecast? 35 degrees, snow, and a Winter Storm Watch!
"SNOW IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND BECOME HEAVY AT TIMES DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 5 TO 8 INCHES IS POSSIBLE BETWEEN ABOUT 2 PM FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND 4 AM LATE FRIDAY NIGHT BEFORE TAPERING OFF AND ENDING BY SUNRISE SATURDAY MORNING."
Happy Spring!
Thanks for that weather update, Jim. Now back to local news.
In the mail today -- Bam! -- rejection letter. Thank you Notre Dame for making me wait this long! Paralith and I got into a discussion a while ago about the waiting for grad school responses and getting only silence when others where getting acceptances and rejections. She stated, aptly, that by this point at least we had made it beyond the first or second round of rejections. Which I agree with.I have a feeling that I was on the second half of the ND wait list. Maybe even the first half. They started notifying accepted applicants more than a month ago so I held out fairly long. But as reality TV has taught us, putting in a good show and a tough fight may make you a fan favorite, it won't get you the prize money at the end. So long to my last chance to attend my father's Alma Mater. And my uncle's Alma Mater. It's where my dad got his graduate degree, where I was born and baptized and where my uncle played football in the tradition that my grandfather so loved. And it was the only thing that could have convinced me to move back to Indiana right now. My mother was ticked that I didn't name drop more on my application, as that football playing uncle (1970s if you follow ND football) is her brother.
My favorite part of the ND rejection is when they state "it's not you, it's the other candidates."It reads "this decision should not be viewed as an evaluation of your acceptability as a graduate student, by rather as an indication of the degree of competition in your department."
Which made me feel really good until I thought about it. Translated into break up speak it would read "It's not that you're ugly, it's that this other chick is waaaay hotter." And I'd slap a guy for that.
I know, I know. Those three required visits to the therapist were obviously not effective else I wouldn't be having the urge to slap someone again. But now that no action has been brought against me I'd like to say that the bastard more than deserved it and most people agree.
Dear Indiana friends: this means I will not be moving back to you. Face it, you're not that shocked.
I have one school left to hear from: Western Michigan.
I refuse to think about anything arriving other than a skinny envelope with a rejection letter. Then again all I've ever gotten are skinny envelopes even for acceptances. As soon as I start thinking about what it would be like to attend a school, what I would say when I got the call, where I would apartment hunt, I inevitably get some piece of information that nixes all that creative wondering. Either a flat rejection or a piece of financial information that makes me realize some hard truths of the situation.
I'm not upset by the thought of needing a back door (apply to one program and switch) to get to do what I want to do. If I thought "sleeper program" sounded intriguing then "back door" sounds like I'm being just as crafty. To be honest, I don't need the degree to write. I'm writing now. I need the degree to teach, because I'd prefer not to temp for the rest of my natural life. So who cares how I get it or where i get it from so long as I get my writing done and get it accepted someplace? [N.B. we should be hearing acceptance/rejection of fiction pieces from the last round of send outs March 28 - early June. Contest (2 dif contests) winners announced in "late Spring."]
There's one more option after this last school though. A back door, so to speak, that could have beautiful product if I follow through with it. Especially for my web followers as it is a hybrid program that embraces tech and the visual art merged with writing. We will see on that score as I've not yet applied. However it's a program I know I could afford.
Which begs the question, what will the future of cutting edge writing look like? We're moving toward the ebook (I'll admit that I've read a few but I still love the smell of a new book in my hands) but no one has really explored the possibilities of the ebook. How much could be done with that form?
