Hey guys. It's been a while. That happens to me every now and again--I go from having a million things to say, to having nada. See: any of these.
Oddly enough, I've slept through the night--and fallen asleep in less than an hour--for, like, 10 nights in a row. This is what I call a "good time". I don't know how long it will last, or why it's happening (miracle? because I can't identify a single lifestyle change in the past two weeks), but I'm gonna roll with it. Maybe it's the extra daylight? Who knows! I get lucky sometimes. It's all cyclical, though; soon enough, I'll be hitting the Anxious Insomnia/Paranoia Stage, followed a month or so later by Nightmare Time, then Depressed Daytime Napping and complimentary Depressed All-Night Insomnia, and then, finally, Miracle Sleep Time. It's like unpredictable clockwork--the time frames for each vary, but that's pretty consistently the pattern they follow. Interestingly enough, I was chatting with my aunt--who's a naturopathic doc, and who just had a baby--about sleep habits. She mentioned that there's a stretch of people who were born when doctors were recommending that new babies not sleep near their parents (prompted by fear of SIDS, no doubt), and that the children whose parents followed this advice have, as adults, reported having an amazing and prevalent range of sleep disorders. Interestingly, my parents followed this advice with me, but not with my brothers*. Who gets night terrors regularly at age 23? This lady. It's pretty interesting. At some point, I might try to do a real sleep study, but that will probably have to wait for when I have health insurance again. Oh, health insurance--you tease!
In school news, I'm starting to get really excited about Pacific. Each semester is comprised of a set of goals that are communicated between the student and a single professor/advisor. These goals include: a set number of creative pages to be written/edited, up to 20 books/essays/long articles/etc to be read (15 or so of which will be reviewed in craft analysis papers), and whatever other things student & advisor agree upon. This sounds like a ton of work, but it's like a build-your-own curriculum! It's essentially a one-class semester on whatever topic you like! Granted, the advisors can suggest changes to your goals/reading list, but I'm a fan of getting new reading suggestions from smart people. I shan't complain. (Though, really, I hope they let me keep my plan, because it's THE BEST.)
What am I going to work on, you ask? Well, for this first semester, I'm basically creating my own Magic Realism curriculum with a focus on narration/authorial reticence (so, in addition to Magic Realism--and a little Surrealism that sort of toes the line--I'll hopefully be looking at some classic 20th cen. Russian works and a few American classics from around the same time**). It's basically my dream class. And I've already got ideas for next term, too. Hint: folk lore.
Hot dang, literature is such a turn-on.
I get to be a veritable academic master in exactly what I love. MASTER. Master of Fine Arts. Fancy, right? Wow. I love getting pumped about school. Sure, by the time mid-term rolls around, I'll be crying about how hard it is, but I thrive under that kind of stress. Plus, I'm ready for some new revelations, new perspectives, new books, new material. And, seriously, how frickin' cool is it that I get to work on what I want to work on? Dear Academia: I've missed you.
New Mantra: I'm young yet, but what I lack in experience I make up for in fervor.
*which I don't blame them for at all. They were young, and I was their first kid, and my mom just wanted to do everything right--so why would she not listen to her doctor's advice?
**1920-50ish