It is not as easy to write a “wrap up” of my winter 2010/11 residency experience as it might seem. My brain is so fuzzy, I still don’t know what day it is. AJ and Phil do a pretty good job of summing things up on their blogs.

Good news: I’m working with one of the teachers I really wanted for my mentor: Joan Connor! Woot Woot! I am very excited about this. Phil worked with her last semester and in every conversation we had about the semester, he had something great to say about his experience with her as his mentor.

Bad news: I broke my foot. Seriously, I did. I broke it. The second to last day I needed to be taken to the ER and left with crutches and a strong warning to stay off my high heels for a good 12 weeks. (It hurt just to type that sentence. No… my foot didn’t hurt- my heart did) I’m also under strict restrictions for the first two weeks. Pretty much everything is outlawed. No driving, dancing, walking, ice skating, skateboarding. No nothing. If I behave the first two weeks, then I might be able to get a walking cast, but still no driving, dancing, etc for 6-8 weeks. No heels for the whole 12 weeks. No heels?  I still don’t quite understand. I am so lucky though to have an outstanding friend at work who is literally going to drive me to and from work for the next two weeks. Have I mentioned that she and I live a good hour away from where we work? I appreciate her so much.

Conundrum: Whether or not to attend the regular 10 day residency at Ender’s Island in July or a 7 day smaller residency in Galway, Ireland. At first glance, I’d tell anyone they would be silly to not jump at the chance to go to Ireland, but I’m confused. One thing seriously holding me back is the strong community we have on that little island. I know I could visit for a day or two if I chose the Ireland trip, but its not the same. I really don’t know what to do. All I do know is that I need to make this decision quickly.

Exciting news: I’m the Nonfiction Student Representative for my entire program! I will be working with Taryn and Colin over the semester to make sure the student’s needs are being met and questions are being heard. I’m pretty excited about this. I think I have a pretty good relationship with the administration, and I really care about the future of this MFA program. Also, I will be working with Aaron Perkus to develop my own page on Digication (Fairfield’s professional networking/storage/experimental/educational website platform). I’m excited because I think both him and Michael have some interesting ideas as to how we as students can utilize this for professional, educational and personal reasons. I’m excited that I can be one of the first students to mess around with it.

Searches: Someone found my blog after searching for “Trueblood Award” on Google. Umm, I thought I was the ONLY person who googled the TB Award? Well, out yourself. Who wants more info on the Trueblood Award? And what did you find about it on my blog?

I’m going to Atlanta to see the Emersons next weekend…. with a broken foot. I’m not quite sure how I will manage the airport. Wheelchair? Oh, no.