Project 25:365 (Jan. 15-Feb.1)
Updates on the Project
On Thursday, I officially began my MFA in Creative Writing. The one course I’m taking (trying to ease into it) is “Groundings in the Craft of Creative Nonfiction.” I was filled with incredible, somewhat unexpected joy on Thursday night. I really enjoy being on the other side of the classroom. My emphasis will likely be on fiction, but I also love a good essay, so I’m very excited.
Therefore, my entries for Project 25:365 may well include some nonfiction in the next few months. They already have, at least a little.
The last few weeks included the return to the land of sub-zero temperatures after a week and a half in Savannah, GA, where I attempted to paint some Spanish moss, along with the front of the best crappy bar I’ve been to in a long time (see the previous update). I find Savannah fascinating, as I told some of its residents the last time we were there:
Back in Minnesota, the semester started as the Spring semester usually does: horrifically cold. But returning to my classrooms and my students always feels like a relief, even when it’s stressful. I started my writing students with little notebooks and an activity I’ve been using for a few years.
Imagine my delight when my MFA professor handed out very similar notebooks on Thursday night.
I seem to have developed a thing for plants as I’ve aged. Holdover from warmer weather and live oaks, or lament for a dying planet? Beats me.
I went to the doctor and had a momentary panic about deep-vein thrombosis (everything’s fine; I’m just old and fat). So, while it looks plant-adjacent, I was actually thinking about my veins when I painted this:
There was also a random beach for some reason.
I’m trying not to let too much of the apocalyptic state of the nation infiltrate my daily art, but it was inevitable, I suppose. I wish I could just think about plants, but I can’t. I’ve been alarmed a lot lately.
And I almost got smoked by what I can only assume was an asshole:
I prefer to be in my head rather than in Trump’s America, so I envisioned the setting of one of the early scenes of my slowly-starting-to-make-sense novel.
Along those lines, today I posted a very rough recording (and transcript) of a chapter of a different story, set in my novel’s world. I envision it as episodic, focusing on other people, characters who are not part of the novel itself. If I decide to continue this story (which is mostly a procrastination tactic), I’ll actually edit it. For now, in the spirit of Project 25:365, it’s in a pretty raw form:
I never seem to know what kind of thing I’m going to post until I do it, but I’ve been keeping up. It’s been a fun month of making stuff, even stuff that’s half-cocked and poorly constructed, but I love it. One month down, 11 to go.