"All the ladies who truly feel me, THROW YOUR HANDS UP AT ME!"

Don't ask why, but a few days ago, a friend of mine sent me an email asking how we went from "Independent Women Part 1" to "Single Ladies." And you know, she has a point.  It kinda makes me sad.


Back in 2005, we had:

Question: Tell me how you feel about this

Try to control me boy you get dismissed

Pay my own fun, oh and I pay my own bills

Always 50/50 in relationships

And now Beyonce's giving us:

Pull me into your arms 

Say I'm the one you own

If you don't you'll be alone

And like a ghost I'll be gone

She's willing to stick around as long as the guy wants to "own" her?  Wack.


It's only fair to concede, though, that another lyrics site listed that second line from "Single Ladies" as "Say I'm the one you want."  Not own. Either way, in "Single Ladies" she's all, WHY DIDN'T YOU BUY ME A RING. Whereas in "Independent Women Part 1," she let's us know that she buys herself THE ROCK SHE'S ROCKIN'. I liked her better then, even if she did make one of the best videos of all time for "Single Ladies."


I do like the way she spoofs June-Cleaver-housewifery in her "Why Don't You Love Me" video, but I get nervous every time I watch it.  I worry that at the end she's not going to say "... dumb!"


This song, "Independent Women Part 1" has been on my mind, you see.  So yesterday after writing camp, I made this wall-hanging for my best friend from high school, featuring the first few lines of the lyrics:

And now my fingernails are filled with black paint and look like this:

marathon, sans running

I liked that writing marathon.  It reminded me of how difficult it is for me sometimes to get started with my writing, a good lesson just before the school year starts and I start asking students to write, write, write.

I also liked it because it reminded me of my own versions of the writing marathon in college.  Whenever I had a major essay due, I would start it at home, and, when I inevitably got stuck, pack up my stuff and move to the library.  And on the way, nearly every time, it would come to me, the idea I needed in order to be able to move on with my essay.  I'd use that idea in my writing until I ran out again, and then I'd pack up my stuff and move to a coffee shop.  Same routine.  Then on to a different library, a different coffee shop, back to my couch, to my room, to the shower, back to the library, etc.  As you can imagine, all this packing, and walking, and thinking, and writing took some time, so I'd always have to start my essays way earlier than the due date.  I just can't work under pressure the way procrastinators can.  Writing well is not a sprint for me; it's definitely a marathon.

Is this bad?

It's not that I have writer's block or anything, but I can't possibly write this morning.  I just left a meeting, and I have to go to another one shortly.  And my list of things to do is getting pretty overwhelming.  So whereas usually I find it lovely to spend some extended time playing with words and ideas, today the idea of doing so makes my heart rate increase.

fodder for editorials

Tavi Gevinson is, I think, the coolest.  She has interesting and smart things to say here.  And here.  Talk about writing with great voice.  Dang.


And here's an article about the JetBlue flight attendant that Ms. Iverson and Mr. Rayburn were talking about.  I like that the headline of this piece uses the word "ruckus."  Great word.


If I were to write one about Sheriff Joe, I'd reference the work of these lovely local people.

missed the memo

Yeah, I didn't realize that our morning writing was supposed to be blog writing.  I worked on a "syllabus" for one of my classes this year.  I guess only those writing camp-ers in my group will get to see today's work.

getting started: college essay examples

It's been several years since I wrote my essays to get into college.  I remember that the question for Marquette University was something along the lines of, "If you were going on a cross-country road-trip in a car without a radio, who in the world, alive or dead, would you pick as a passenger?" I wrote about Janis Joplin and how I admired her strength.  But then I double-checked the lyrics to one of her songs that I wanted to quote in my essay.  I had always thought that the line went, "I'm gonna show you, baby that a woman can be tough."  Actually, it's "I'm gonna show you, baby, that a woman can't get tough."

WHAT.

So instead of writing about an empowered woman from whom I could learn, I wrote about how I would try to understand why she felt that way in spite of her wild success and lasting influence.  I was going to try to change her mind, I wrote.

Anyway, in looking for examples of college essays to refresh my memory about how they work, I found this site with lots of examples of essays written by teenagers today.  I especially like this one, titled "Waiting for the Bus," because even though it's about the applicant who's writing it, it's got a few interesting characters in the mix, like the guy in the first sentence, "a 38-year-old Filipino man named Peter who smelled like stale tuna, dirt, and a dream deferred."  I really like the way she's combined physical details with more ephemeral descriptors.  And I'm a big fan of the Langston Hughes allusion.

Grad school applications, though, are different from applications for undergraduate study.  No fun road-trip questions.  Here's the question I have to answer:

Please describe your previous academic work in your proposed field of study and include a personal statement regarding your goals for graduate study and a professional career. In your response, list memberships in honor societies and professional organizations; scholarships, prizes, honors, or other recognition; and give titles of publications, major papers, or theses of which you are author or co-author (if published, give citation). Please also describe any relevant research experience and what you have learned from it, and other educational and life experiences that you feel are important and relevant. If you have specific interests in your proposed field of study or are interested in working with any particular faculty members, please tell us about them. Please limit your response to 1500 words.

I'm torn.

I was just going to fake blog here to give y'all an example of what we mean when we say we want you to reflect on what you've learned each day, but now I'm thinking I'll actually just do the project as well.  One does not outgrow inquiry, ya know?  That's not the part I'm torn about.  That I'm sure of.

What I'm torn about is whether I should work on my understanding of college essays or on some sort of fiction.  See, I'm thinking I want to start grad school in January, so if I worked on a college essay now, I could cross that part of the application off of my list of things to do.  And do I ever love crossing things off of my list of things to do.

That being said, I'm afraid of writing fiction.  I don't think I've written a piece of fiction since fourth grade when we had to write a story each week that used all twenty spelling words.  It's good to confront something scary every once in a while, right?  Maybe not.  

I think I'm just going to have to sleep on it.