My first class was the literary magazine. I miss Open (who took a leave of absence this semester and went to Tennessee) but it was good to see the rest of the guys. (That's Toker, Probst and Wayne, for those of you playing the home game.)

I had a hard time getting anything accomplished, quite frankly. Our class has never been big on productivity. We're better at sitting around talking politics and eating bagels. Toker suggested that we create a poster of Laura Bush holding a coat hanger and smiling. The caption would read, "This is your choice."

Sad, but oh so true.

After a stop at Starbucks for free drinks (my latest addiction: the latte) I headed over to Collaborations. This is taught by my Keats professor, whose lectures put me to sleep last semester. He actually lectured today, which was as tiring as ever. But he laid out the rules of the class, and explained what we'd be doing for the rest of the semester. None of it involves lecturing, and I guess I can live with one lecture. Especially since it's now over with.

The class will be divided into two groups. Each week, the class will have a theme (such as "death," "lost and found," and "heavenly bodies and their influences"). Each person will write a short poem on that theme. The members of each group will give their poems to the other group. The two groups then split up, and use the poems written by the other group to create new collaborative poems. At the end of class, we read the results aloud.

There's also something about bringing a stack of index cards with single lines of poetry, but I'm not quite clear as to what's going on with that. We will be producing some type of chapbook as an end product. Each class will also feature music that relates to the theme, food, drink and merriment.

I love the way he described the purpose of the class. He said that the object of collaborating is to uncover the latent persona that exists inside the group dynamic. The latent group persona. That's just fabulous.

So, he divided up the groups himself. I don't really agree with the way he did it. He said that he was working based on pre-existing bonds between the students. I guess he wanted to put students together who already knew each other. He said he took into consideration the fact that first year students tend to bond together, and likewise with second year students. He also considered who is on the staff of the literary magazine, and he also considered that Joey, Laurie and I had our own workshop together.

That said, he divided up the groups. I ended up separated from Joey and Laurie, which was disappointing. I also was separated from the brand new students (there are two in the class). This is also disappointing, because I was hoping to get to know new people. (And um, one of them is a cute guy.) And I also ended up in a group with the entire staff of the literary magazine. Now, I love those guys, but if anything, I am sick of working with them! I wanted to work with some new people.

I know, this sounds like a bummer. But really, it's not. Because there is one thing that trumps all of the above disappointments: Mickey and I are in the same group. It might be the only class we have together this semester, and we get to spend it in close proximity. You can imagine how hard it was for me to keep the smile off of my face when I heard the assignments.

And after class was over, I asked Mickey if he got my postcard. He said that he did not, but he was excited that I had thought of him, and said that since it was from Amsterdam, he would be sure to frame it and hang it on his wall. Then he hugged me. Oh my. What a nice first day of school.

Did I mention that he got even better looking over the winter? I think I may have mentioned it. Sigh.

I confirmed that my feature reading, my very first feature reading, is going to be in April. I am going to be co-featuring with (of all people) Mickey's wife. On the plus side, this means Mickey is definitely going to be there. On the minus side, I think I'll be even more nervous. I don't think he has ever heard me read before.

I am still trying to decide who, if anyone, to invite to the reading. I'm tempted to invite my friends, to show off Mickey if nothing else. But it's also my first reading and I get stage fright. I think I need to practice a lot. I'm going to pick out my repertoire in advance, and practice it until I feel comfortable. If I find some volunteers, I will be able to practice in front of an audience.

Plus, I'm going to make sure I'm really drunk.

So, if you're really interested in going to a poetry reading on a Tuesday night in April, e-mail me. I'm not guaranteeing anything, but you might be able to talk me into it.

Today was my first Dickinson class, and I am so excited about it; I've always wanted to learn more about her. Keats, frankly, bores me. A couple of the lectures were interesting, but it was definitely a medicinal course.

Dickinson, on the other hand, interests me greatly. She was a groundbreaking American poet. She was quirky, macabre and eccentric. She rejected traditional form, and she rejected the Puritan concept of a "vertical" God. She and Walt Whitman are the parents of American poetry, and I am her descendent. Heck yeah I'm interested.

The first lecture was fascinating, as the professor went into Dickinson's context in detail. One thing she said really struck me. She was talking about how the American ideal became, after Dickinson and Whitman, a sort of hyper-individuality. Each person feels that they have to break new ground, and each generation wants to reject the generation before, and find their own unique voice. This is the American ideal.

It clicked in my head, how this connected to my Collaborations class. My professor said that the purpose of collaboration is to find the group persona. Well, isn't that what each successive American generation is trying to do? Of course; it's just on a different scale. Only we aren't approaching it by collaboration. We're trying to create a generational persona out of each person's hyper individuality. It's the great paradox of American poetry!

You know, I walked out of that class on such a high. I love being intellectually stimulated. What a turn on.

And speaking of turn ons, did I mention that Mickey's in that class, too? I thought that he was only taking the one class, but he is taking two electives this semester, and then two more next semester, and then he starts work on his thesis. And here's the most amazing part. I was talking to him, looking into those clear green eyes of his, and I actually retained all that information.

I must be growing as a person.

"Isn’t it sad for her that I’m the best she could do as far as a maid of honor goes? A maid of honor who begrudges every duty she has and publicly mocks the wedding. It certainly does suck to be her."