Something to mull over

This is more for my own reference than anything else, but I'll leave this entry open for reading, because I'm not discussing anything really personal or private.

Last night I got pulled into an after-work outing to Navy Pier with a few women from my department. We went there to see Avatar in 3D on the big IMAX screen.

We were about halfway into the film when out of nowhere, a name that I've never heard before, and that was not related at all to the action onscreen, popped into my head: Chris Abernathy.

I don't know anyone with that name. But it seemed important. And it lingered in my mind even after I turned my attention back to the action onscreen.

Eventually I decided that this must be a name that I should use for a character...and I filed it away for future reference. I started thinking about who this person might be, and since nothing concrete emerged, I concluded that he must be a part of a story I have yet to work on...possibly a central character in whatever I write after I finish the wrestling novel.

And then this morning, I thought of the name again. Only this time, after hearing the first name Chris for a few minutes, there was a shift and it changed to Brian.

Brian Abernathy.

I still have no idea who this could be, but something about it feels absolutely right.

I guess I'll have to wait patiently for Brian to reveal himself further, and be ready to listen and record whatever it is he wants to communicate to the rest of the world.

As much as I recognize that writing is mostly about hard work and persistence, and focus, I also feel that a tiny part of it is a bit mystical. This is one of those times.

A decade in review - 2003

As much as I'd like to go back and expand upon the 2002 entry, I really don't have all that much to add, so I think I'll let it stand as is unless I think of a bunch more things to mention at a later date.

In the meantime, on to 2003, when life picked up just a bit:

I was still working in my admin/editorial position in my academic department. At this point in time, I really liked it and things were going great.

I was also becoming quite prolific as a music reviewer/band interviewer. One particular PR rep liked my write-ups so much she started deluging me with all the bands she represented. It was much more than I could keep up with, and my music library got huge!!!

In addition to my work for Coolgrrrls.com, I also became a regular contributor to another music site, Punkrockreviews.com.

Mike and I went to Dublin, Ireland for a second time. We spent a bit longer there this time out, and were better prepared to adjust to our jet lag. This was the trip where I had my first taste of Irish whiskey (well, maybe more than just a taste) and Guinness, but not together of course!

Whilst in Ireland, I was selected to enroll in a special invite-only fiction seminar class for the spring semester. The instructor? Visiting writer and Scottish wunderkind Irvine Welsh! That was a nice feather in my cap! :)

Working with Irvine and having him validate my abilities by telling me he thought I was good gave me enough of a confidence boost to try to expand my horizons even further. So I put together an application and was accepted to partake in Tin House Magazine's first annual Summer Writer's Workshop. Admission was competitive, but I got my first choice for a workshop leader, Chris Offutt. This allowed me to visit Portland, OR for the first time. This was also the first time I'd been away from home without a companion since my semester of college in Milwaukee in 1996-97. This trip is what kickstarted my love for the Pacific Northwest. I was there for about five days.

After the last session of my Tin House workshop, I made an impromptu decision to fly to San Diego instead of heading home, which allowed me to link up with Mike for a trip to the San Diego comicon. I had to fly from Portland to Vegas to San Diego, and I still want to write something based on a title I thought of during my Vegas layover --- that being "Two Hours in Vegas." I think it lends itself to either a poem or song lyrics, but it's possible there is some prose to be squeezed from it as well.

Came home from San Diego to find that my academic department was doing a farewell reading/party before Irvine returned home to the U.K. They invited me to participate as an opening act, and I got to join my fellow classmates on the stage at Metro, where I shared a short excerpt from the aborted novel. Considering the venue, I made a last-minute decision to incorporate some Metallica song lyrics into my piece, and even though I was scared to death I sang them a capella. Lucky for me, this risk was well-received, and I was told by a few of my fellow readers that aside from Irvine I got the biggest pop of the night.

After doing a good job on the reporting for the alumni magazine article at the end of '02, Sam Weller pulled me in yet again for reporting and writing duties, this time covering an event Columbia was hosting, a panel discussion that was part of a festival about asian women in arts and culture. Coincidentally, one of the panel presenters was Jenny Choi, who I had written about previously. After attending the panel, it became apparent that there was a bigger story than any of us expected, and so my assignment evolved from a brief news capusule into a full-on feature story. I busted my ass doing interviews with all the subjects involved and conducting research and drafting the piece. When all was said and done I had earned a shared byline for my first ever cover story. I was even more proud of that than the fact that they paid me pretty well! I thought this magazine would continue to provide me with a source of assignments and income, but alas, that issue was their last before they ceased publication.

My nephew was born.


I read my fiction on the radio for the first time, as part of WNUR's The Lit Show. WNUR is the radio station run by students at Northwestern University.

This was the year that I met Antonia Logue, an Irish writer who at a later date would prove to be another amazing mentor. She came to interview in the spring for a tenured faculty position starting in Fall of 2003, and I got to be the sole member of her welcoming committee (this due to the fact that my love for Irish people and their culture was something that was very, very well-known). I had to meet her at her hotel and walk her over to the office, and we hit it off immediately. That fall, I took her class on Irish Writers, and it was one of my favorite classes of all the ones I've taken at the graduate level. She even brought in her friend Billy Corgan as a guest instructor for one session.

I kicked off what has become almost an annual tradition of seeing live music on or around my birthday by seeing Rancid at the Riviera on November 23rd. It was a great way to celebrate, even though my ears rang for three days after thanks to me not wearing ear plugs.


Finally, in December of 2003, Mike and I attended our first ever IWA Midsouth show at the Highland Center in Highland, Indiana. We walked in not expecting much, and walked out with our minds blown. At the time, it was just exciting to have found a new source of inexpensive wrestling entertainment. Little did I know that this was only the beginning, that in the coming weeks, months, and years, indie wrestling would play a much larger role in my life.

That's about all I can think of for now. As you can tell, it was the year where my main focus was in the area of professional development. I'm sorry if these sorts of details are not interesting to anyone but me! :)

We interrupt this year-in-review series with an important emergency bulletin!!!!

Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins are no longer romantically linked.

http://omg.yahoo.com/news/susan-sarandon-and-tim-robbins-split/33121?nc

Normally I have little-to-no interest in celebrity gossip, but this? This caused a little piece of my heart to die!

They were supposed to be untouchable, you know? The one Hollywood couple that was gonna continue to rise above all the bullshit and make it! Especially since I love, love, love them as individuals and as a couple.

I idealized their love.
Guess that was a dumb move. :(