I am currently at my desk with a dog squeezed into my chair with me. She hates thunderstorms, and we are getting what is being described as a Summer nor’easter. Some places around me are getting over 5 inches of rain, which sounds awfully high. I am not an expert on precipitation unless I am eyeballing snow totals, so I am not sure if the number actually is high or not.

She keeps putting her head under my arm and flipping it so she can squeeze under. It was cute for the first hour. Now? She keeps hitting the same spot, and my shoulder is getting sore from all the action. I have elected to banish her, and she is now under my desk curled up at my feet.

Speaking of my chair, I have been gearing up for MFA applications and also just writing for fun, so I have been sitting a lot. I put on like 10 lbs this Summer as a result. The cool thing about my body is that I can drop it as fast as I gain it. I do so through intermittent fasting.

It is going really well except for the fact that I woke up in the middle of last night to eat a big blob of peanut butter out of the jar. Fuck.

Sitting in my chair, writing away, and getting fat isn’t a bad life, although it is a bit unhealthy.

The thunder here just sounded like a building collapsed. Wild.

What I have been writing is some exciting stuff. I want to share some of it so badly. I need to wait for now while I apply to a bunch of places. I have written a new Trailer Park Files as well. Honestly, after posting it, I could’ve done better. Character parades are fun, but we need to get into the deep lore.

I still have a semester left before my Bachelor’s, which is why I am prepping for the MFA applications. I did this thing where I took all of my required courses and now can take literally whatever I want. Evidently, I have never taken a creative writing class before, so I signed up for one. I am also taking a course on media literacy, one on writing for the media, and one on Puerto Rican literature. As with most semesters, I bury myself in classes with lots of reading and writing. It’s like a warm blanket.

I do need to do my exceptionally late taxes to finish registering, which I should probably be doing instead of this.

I am always open to learning more about writing, and as I have grown, I have learned how to accept getting my work broken down. If you already think your shit is great, you’ll never improve.

On the subject of MFA programs, I talked to my advisor about my awesome grades and how totally sweet I am. Evidently, while all of that is great, I need to network.

The word makes my skin crawl. While I knew this was inevitable at some point, I have spent my time at college floating around in the background. Not only have I never actively attempted to network, but at Springfield College I actively resisted attempts by my professors to draw closer to me. Is this a smart thing? Of course not, but it is what I did.

I do have one professor whose balls I blew off last semester with my presentation on the Chinese Classics, so I have one!

It’s a start.

Until next time,

JTC