Day 2
It’s fat, full moon city and it’s my city. I remember it as though it’s streets were tattooed onto my palms. The day is long and full and I only hit a lull once, quickly relieved by a few bites of chocolate. The air is bright, clear, with billowing clouds above and crystal blue patches between. The trees are a dark, musty, deep green and while there is no humidity, the water is always nearby. Towering mountains stand ever-present in the distance.
I wake up and wear my pajamas to Trader Joe’s, where I snatch a bottled fruit smoothie from the grocery aisle and drink it before paying. With a little food in my system, I muster the brainpower to buy food for the next two weeks at the residency, Trader Joe’s discount prices and healthy selection a luxury I’ve missed since leaving Oregon. Among my favorite items: goat cheese (same brand, same size) that costs $8.99 in BigCity, NC that’s only $3.99 here.
I have had only one shot of espresso (in the Atlanta airport, for moral support) in the past ten days. This is because caffeine is horrible for anxiety (which I have plenty of at the moment) and colds (which I’m still getting over). It’s a near sin to be in this city for more then 48 hours without drinking coffee, but that is the way it must be for now. So I skipped that ritual and went straight to work, which consisted of starting to read Pete Fromm’s novel, As Cool As I Am. I’ve been wanting to read it since I started the MFA program but am only now making the time for a novel.
I left the day intentionally open so that I could pause and start to feed the creative spirit with some reading. I also left it open to practice and time my speech and reading from the thesis because it’s all happening this Saturday. My buddy KL and I will share a time slot and we each have 30 minutes, no more. It’s imperative that I do not go overtime.
Besides performing well at the upcoming reading, what I am most anticipating is seeing my fellow graduates (we’re a class of seven, in all) read from their creative manuscripts as well. I’m also hoping to use this time to start some new stories or dive into some literary magazine research (for potential submission markets). I’ve been so focused on magazine work lately that it feels too long since I’ve devoted more formal time for my creative writing. Here’s to inspiration!
