Graduate School Progress

Based on my previous posts a few things about my graduate school views are becoming clear. I have reached the point to where I recognize further schooling will be necessary. I remain reticent at the prospect of MAT programs, therefore MFA in Creative Programs are my priority. Based on my prose output this Summer (and really ever) my poetry stands as the strongest representation of my potential as a writer, therefore my focus shall be on MFA in Poetry.

My choice of MFA schools change every day or every other day if I'm lucky. Consequently I have decided to develop a criteria for MFA colleges. For one, they should be areas I'd like to settle in; this means the Atlantic South, the Lake Michigan and Lake Superior areas (within the vicinity of Chicago), and New England. Secondly, the college should be in a place that doesn't require a huge amount of car expenses. I am weary of the prospect of having to drive around to get anywhere, or at least doing it excessively. Therefore I am looking at institutions in cities that are developed to have fully functioning and overarching transit systems, or college towns that aren't huge and catered to a specific college crowd. Third, programs should be fully funded, which for a MFA program to be worth it in this economy, it should be. 

I intend to apply to 3 MFA schools. I have about six prospects: U of Miami, U of South Carolina, U of Florida, U of Minnesota, U of Illinois, and UMass-Amherst. Amherst, Columbia, and Urbana-Champaign are college-oriented areas that are pretty accessible and not too hectic, and Minneapolis, Miami, and Boston fulfill the prospect of substantial city qualities. U of Miami and Minnesota are my top choices, but this could change tomorrow; NC State has been on my radar for a while but Raleigh is a bit sprawled out for my interest, as Central Florida in Orlando might be. Wisconsin is also on my radar. 

This is all well and good, but I need a good portfolio and I  am facing a crisis of portfolio choices. I have written many poems, with many of them of pretty decent quality, and many of them fairly rancid. I have tried to delete the rancid poems, which serve as a means of helping me get through writer's block. 

I have tried to retrieve poems from my output over the years, and I feel like I have 17 potential portfolio candidates, to fill about ten portfolio spots. Five of them are good quality and are definitely going to be in my portfolio. Therefore I have five spots for the other 12 poems I have in my arsenal.

The intention of portfolio is to reflect the themes I intend to communicate through my poems as well as communicating the state of myself as an artist. This means going through poems that I have written that I find outdated, usually poems written in a confessional free verse style. I have a poem, for instance, where I describe the sort of hazy moment of the awkwardness of seeing someone I don't want to see, but I feel it doesn't accurately portray my output. On the other hand, I have another poem similar, but I am thinking of including it due to how it holds up themes that I still carry. 

I will probably still continue to write poems, but my priority between now and December 1st is primping up my portfolio and mending/revising various poems here and there.

Dear Gary Bettman: Please Quit

Hockey is my sport.

This seems odd, given that I am a Georgian, that I live in a state infatuated if not religiously devoted to college football and that I also live in a state who has given up not one but two hockey franchises to...Canada. It certainly creates a fish out of water feeling, just...in my own water.

Consequently the NHL and my love of a sport that few seem to take in for its brilliance has been subject to anguish. By being an Atlanta Thrashers fan by itself I saw my team endure losing, hopeless seasons as it turned away fans because of the apathy and ineptitude if not outright malice of the front office, where Atlanta Spirit never made an effort to cultivate a fan base (like Carolina, Dallas, other Sun Belt cities), never built any defensive depth for long term (playoff) goals, and never fired Don Waddell. Then when the Atlanta Thrashers were pursued by True North to be moved to Winnipeg, the fans, not the front office, took the brunt of the media's scolding.

This isn't about the Thrashers, though.

I certainly could articulate my frustration about the Thrashers' move further, but I am a year too late and I have moved on, with unwavering love for this sport.

Yet, my love wavers now, for the NHL is threatening a lockout...again. This is unacceptable.

I understand the owner's interest, and their demand for a revenue share that is closer to an equal share is fair enough.

Demanding that the players' share of the revenue be 43%, with a $450 million loss, is asinine.

The NHL Players' Union even showed their iniative and interest in negotiation but putting forth a Collective Bargaining Agreement that not only dwindles the revenue the players earn (losing them money) but also puts in a provision, one which makes it worthwhile to me, that the NHL would set up a revenue sharing system similar to the NFL to help boost and keep afloat smaller market teams, like Florida, Columbus, and-if this were 2010-Atlanta.

What was Bettman's response? No deal. Not even close. We will lockout if no deal by September 15th.

Gary Bettman: You need to go.

You represent the Owner's interest and the Owner's interest alone. You do not represent the fan's interest. Bettman, you may counter that by saying the Player's Union only acts in their interest and that their reluctance to accept the NHL's deal is indicative of apathy towards fans and selfishness, but they presented a deal to you in which they would LOSE money in the long term, while asking for a revenue sharing system that would benefit teams that are in smaller markets and have a dedicated fan base that isn't as broad as, say, the New York Rangers.

This is not just business, but politics. This is about the NHL having a deal that Bettman came up with, or one that the owners came up with, and not one the Players' Union came up with. This is just like the Democrats putting in a provision in a bill that Republicans favor and conceived and then the Republicans voting against said bill (or vice versa, the Democrats not voting for a Republican bill, etc). If the NHL Players' Union gave Bettman a CBA that he wanted, he'd still reject it. It's not about the fans, not about hockey, not about the players. It's Bettman; he knows that NHL fans will take in their product because there is no competition for professional hockey. He is acting like the cinema owners from my post about giving a shit.

Bettman needs to be fired by the board of directors, trustees, owners, whatever. If his hubris is so large that he can automatically put the lockout on the table as a first option, then he's far too dangerous for the sport. It is representative of short term thinking, not realizing that all of this will begin to turn away fans, especially young fans or new fans. It is within the self-interest of the league in the long run to be able to continue creating new markets for sport, which Bettman might point out it has done with the 'Winter Classic.' Yet, the NHL rose because of players like Ovechkin and Crosby, and because dedicated fans went back. It will be hard to foster new markets when there's a strike or lockout every six years that sets the NHL back.

Bettman is not good for the long term growth of hockey, and, really, he's not too wonderful for the short term.

When you watch the Super Bowl, no one completely boos Roger Goodell. Yet, take a look at this clip from the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iHJuBECBkU.

You may think, this was in Vancouver, where Vancouver just lost a hard fought final to Boston, but take a look at this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQqkjxNSWZ0. He's not just booed at Stanley Cup Finals, but drafts. DRAFTS!

The NHL should do the following:

1) Make the CBA good for 8-12 years. We've had 2 lockouts already in the past 20 years.

2) Create a revenue sharing system, so small market franchises can survive and develop depth in their roster. If you want a good fan base, you have to have good teams and success. No shit.

3) Fire Gary Bettman.

An Update on Portfolio Work and Life

I'm closing in on the first day of school next week, which will ultimately bring me back to 40 hour weeks to its benefit (yay money) and to the detriment of my writing output. High time to give myself a self-awareness check.

This summer wasn't quite as a fruitful in prose. I do have a few 3 page stories, though a couple of them are pretty rough. I do have an 8 page story, about an elderly man driven to extremes at a country buffet, that I think has a great deal of potential. I still have the ten page story that is 'country noir' that I want to complete by next Thursday. I also want to make another piece of flash fiction. We'll see how this goes. Lately I've been playing with elements of the grotesque, as per my Flannery O'Connor and South Park influence. I am starting to find something a thematic groove, as my sense of place in Northeast Georgia and Southern Appalachia has become something of an enabler, lending me some wonderful characters. I do think my character work has gotten better. Hopefully if I can get a couple of stories in before Thursday I can at least revise some material that I've got. I still think my "Teeth" story has some potential, so I do think it'll help in the long run to have that piece. I also still have the 'Hostage' piece, about the kids who take their classmate hostage. There's some problems in the late acts that I need to revise. 

I have realized, though, I need to get back to writing some scripts, which will happen soon. I have also realized that poetry is more enjoyable for me to write, and consequently my output has more weight. Much like my prose this Summer, my poetry has been something of an exploration of my region and place and I've received some positive feedback from friends on certain poems. I certainly feel that "Alabama Coastal Plain" has some potential in being published, as does "Thunderstorms."  I do feel like it would be worth my while to place the emphasis of my portfolio on my poetry. 

Besides publication, my poetry and prose are going to be hopefully important soon in my attempts to graduate school.

I had hoped to explore the option of getting a teacher position while not certified, but unfortunately the position I was most qualified for, and for the school I have experience and contacts with, did not come to me. I did not get interviewed. I have not been interviewed for any teaching job. So graduate school will have to be a priority. 

I intend to continue substitute teaching because it is the best thing for me, but I am looking at grad programs now. I hate this, because the MAT just seems incredibly expensive and incredibly risky given the job market for teachers. I do hope that another year (and hopefully more) of sub teaching will contribute to me having some room for work due to my experience. I know this; if I'm going into a MAT program I want look into expanding my contacts. That means somewhere outside Gainesville and Habersham; no Brenau and no Piedmont. North Georgia and Georgia State are my top two. Georgia State has the best vibe to me; the person I emailed was wonderful, their instruction is based on developing constructivist curriculum, and they are near Decatur, which I wouldn't mind living at. Plus it is in an urban setting, which is something that might be able to get me jobs in Chicago or Seattle if that comes up. North Georgia has the benefit of a really quick program, low costs, and proximity to both the rural mountains and to really high paying teaching jobs in Forsyth County and, in a good drive, to North Fulton. They also give certification in the first year and they have a post grad program, but I'm not sure if I'll do that; there is no Government funding for that program, which means out of pocket and private loans. 

I am, however, determined to explore the option of fully funded graduate programs, though. This means MFA programs, like NC State, Oregon State, and Oregon, as well as PhD programs like the PhD in CW at University of Illinois in Chicago. UGA also has a PhD program, but I think I'd like to look at getting out. 

I am quite optimistic. That may change.