Hey, remember when I was making resolutions? Yeah. They lasted for a while, and then they stopped, mainly because life got busy. And then the summer happened. But--she said, having survived the first full week of classes, and enjoying two days off this week before heading back for two days and then another weekend--her life is a hard one--it's time for a few more.
No, really. Being here is a little easier these days. I don't feel as lonely in my apartment, or at work, or in this state, as I used to, and I have a year of teaching behind me, and even in the past week no fewer than four former students stopped in to chat and talk about poetry and writing and waiting tables. But it never hurts to sit around for a while (in this case, full of olive-oil- and lemon-roasted chicken) and think about things that might be improved.
So, in September, I would like to:
*Send out poems, but instead of a Big Fall Submission, take some time and send out to a few magazines that are currently topping the list of Places I Would Really Like to Appear--not just for the name or the prestige (the prestige! the prestige of a literary magazine that, while a big deal in Literary Writing Land, is still read by basically nobody on the planet!), but because I have flipped through a recent copy and want to be a part of the next issue. This dovetails nicely with the next item, that being ...
*Get out more often. Get back to spending time at the library and at the campus downtown. Find new things to like about GRR. Wake up early on a Saturday morning, walk downtown, grab some coffee, and read books for a while in front of the statue of the dude who built our shithole of a house. This is not only a good way to find more magazines, but also a very good way to build a life with the B instead of shoehorning him into mine. I had a nice little existence here before him, but, as he pointed out recently, we can go to a different bar or try a different running route, and temporarily bypass my favorites, including Dirty Bar Around the Corner or The Running Route That Passes a Bunch of Old Houses and Then Goes Down a Big Hill.
*Quit giving things cutesy titles via capital letters.
*Do more work while at the office so that time not in the office is non-work time. Yes, Facebook, I am looking at you. Quit blushing.
*Get back to working out five days a week, once this purple cast is cut off and whatever may follow it is also removed and I can see, and bathe, my left foot again. Get back to running and take long walks around the neighborhood, especially since we are coming up on fall and some nice views.
*Roast a chicken, and bake a batch of cookies, every Sunday. Work my way through a bunch of recipes, get better at deglazing a pan, and have not only good food to curl up with before The Simpsons, but also have a week's worth of tasy leftovers for lunches. This will hopefully have the added bonus of helping me destress on Sunday nights, which, since I teach on Mondays this semester, have become a source of anxiety again.
*Wear more scarves. I own four now, and they make me feel smart. How smart? Smart enough to know that a red scarf does not actually increase your intelligence; smart enough to not care.
*Trek over to Kalamazoo and Flint to see those various folks who call them home; see some more of Smichigan en route.
*Write a poem that requires the counting of syllables.
*Read four books of poetry, starting with this one--fellow visitor, great cook, damn nice guy.
That's enough for now. The cookies from the oven--bittersweet chocolate chip with gray salt, for those of you keeping score at home--are cool. Have a happy labor, and don't break any bones.
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