Graduate presentation, w/ full transcript

*~Hey internet~*

I know there are a few people--especially advisors of mine--who wished they could have seen my grad presentation. Well, just so happens that my buddy Hillary was able to record video of my graduate presentation while I recorded the audio from the podium. Since I'm home, I married the two and added in my slides. I'm also going to post a PDF of the transcript if you'd rather read through it on your own.

The only thing I'll add is that the presentation could only be about 15 minutes long, and I wish I could do a full lecture on the material, but my classmates would have hated me (seriously, I got some feedback that said I didn't talk enough about my personal life. Some people don't like that academic stuff as much as I do. I am a special flower, even--especially?--among my fellow artistes).

*note: I know the Hide Behind is a "fearsome critter" all its own, guys. Relax! I'm cool. Just roll with the visual punch.

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fin

new podcast episode with Maisha Z Johnson (!!)

new podcast!

I did this one with Maisha Z Johnson (you may recognize her name from the Blog Hop I did a month or so ago) while I was at residency. If I sound funny, it's because I am trying to sound cool, because Maisha is really cool. (And maybe sleep deprivation is playing a part? Residency is like summer camp with drinking: late nights, early mornings, lots of socializing.) Here's some of the stuff we talk about: Octavia Butler’s Bloodchild and Other Stories; science fiction writing and women and people of color; what’s meaningful vs. what’s marketable in writing (and art in general); supporting yourself as an emerging writer; book cover art; kickstarter? non-profit status?; supporting POC, LGBTQ, and low-income writers; writing with LGBTQ survivors of violence (writing and art as healing); also plants are hard to keep alive.

Audiodidact is already five episodes old! Don't forget to follow us on Tumblr or Twitter or RSS, or just by checking in regularly. Daniel and I should be back on an episode-a-week schedule now, so look for Episode 6 around July 14th. 

Graduated

Being done with school is weird, man. Has it even hit me, yet? I don't think so.

This is me. This is me after presenting, after defending, after walking. I'm wearing a hood. I officially have a Master's degree.

It's nice. I feel refreshed (sometimes you really do need to set things aside for a month before you know how to fix them) and have a renewed sense of purpose. My work feels interesting again, and even important. That's why residency is great--people you admire give you hugs (literally and metaphorically) and tell you that they believe in you, and then you realize that you don't suck as much as you think you do.

I stocked up on books while I was in the states. These are the books, in case you (like me) get a vicarious thrill from stalking the bookshelves of people with good taste. I only wish there had been more time for me to buy comics. I read the first Lumberjanes on ComiXology, but I want  m o r e.

In case you are wondering, Chandler's "The Simple Art of Murder" essay is awesome, and I am stoked to finally own it in print (with four "novelettes"--seriously, that's the word they use on the back cover-- to boot).

So, yep, I have an MFA now. I learned that residency is an impossible time to try to get people to podcast with you, but! I DID manage to convince Maisha--who was visiting during that time--to hang out with me for 20 minutes and chat in the presence of a microphone. She out-cools me by like 10 million degrees, so I am pretty excited to put that up on the apiary/audiodidact tumblr later this week.

Ok, back to writing. I'm doing some major revisions while I still feel fresh and inspired. Hopefully I can find a residency-esque way to keep my confidence up when it does, eventually, ebb. If I could carry my advisors around in my sweater pocket to cheer me on and give me hugs, I would. Nobody hugs like Pacific faculty.

Peace out for now, bros. Keep the dream alive, etc.