magicicada

13 chapters of Une si longue lettre read in the past 2 days. one response page written. one midterm to write tomorrow. the prof has already given us the topic and i almost wish that she hadn't. oh well, i get to sleep! that is a BONUS!

also, despite the fact that i have one (1) semester after this one, i found myself checking the Minors listing today to see if there was ANY way that i could take just one extra course and get a minor. because, of course, having two majors just isn't enough.

btw, if i had it to do all over again:

minor in Hindu-Urdu, World Literature, and possibly Outdoor Adventuring. also, i would take the study abroad trips to Oxford, Lille (France), India, and no doubt five others if i let myself peruse the study abroad webpage.

I have cancelled my hotel room reservation for AWP. there was a brief twinge, a brief, oh heck, i could run up there real quick and... but it is for the best. next year they will be in NY, NY which is technically farther, but easily accessible by train.

In other news, very briefly, I have sent in my 3 poems for the NC State Poetry Competition. It's always an angst-filled selection process, but this year was decidedly worse. In short, I know what I've been doing wrong. I *think* I know how to fix it, and I'm confident that, at the least, I should be able to get much closer to the mark. However, the problem is that I now have a whole oeuvre that is looking far sparser than it had mere weeks ago. While there may be a component of Workshop Syndrome involved, I can actually see where submissions have been accepted/rejected based on their relative solidity. I'm on the right path now, but the deadline for submissions was postmarked by this Wednesday and I did not want to risk missing this.

As a result, I sent out 1 poem that feels lightweight, but well constructed, 1 that is a complete rewrite based on workshop recommendations and 1 *brand new* sestina written as an exercise. the rewrite still feels slightly short of perfection, but that's ok. In a new twist for me, I actually submitted the original of this poem last year. However, there is a new title, and a new judge (for each year) and I feel better sending this than anything else off the B list. and the sestina... i like it. i wish that i could have had time to get some critique, but i spent virtually the whole weekend revising it and it's brethren. The worst part, dear poetry fans, is that now that I've actually sent them out, I'm afraid to get critique. I don't have a choice about the class, but the rest of you will need to wait until the end of March when I'll know how I did. For a teaser, the sestina is titled Sestina Magicicada, the magicicada being the scientific name for the 13 & 17 year cicadas.

p.s. I'm also getting two poems published in the NCSU Literary Mag, Windhover.

FLF 202 - B+

I am not sure that the fact that a B+ is just a whisper away from an A- is consoling or taunting. I worked my butt off this semester, but I have been consistently getting lower grades on the compositions and the final exam was 2 essays. GPA falling, but it is a slow and gradual fall. It is now at 3.792 overall with the French major GPA at 3.667. The prof warned that for those going onwards, a low grade in this class could hamper us, but I think that a B+ is still in the acceptable range.

FL 393 (HINDU-URDU POETRY) A+
FLF 201 (INTEMED FRENCH I) A-

HELL-O! Semester avg 4.0 - not too shabby for someone denied admission for poor grades, wouldn't you say?