Let's Take A Brief {PAUSE}

Hey there, you sailors of my heart,

This week has been filled with highs and lows you would not believe. However, since the lows are too embarrassing to admit, I'll stick with describing the parts that leave me feeling like the week has left me with a net positive life. Onward? ONWARD!

Be still my beating heart! I just came back from three hours of total immersion in poetry. For my Poetry Workshop class, we also read and analyze poetry written by current poets whom are very much still alive and kicking. One of these poets is James Arthur. Here's one of his pieces:

The sound begins with a furnace
clicking awake in a two-room house, answered
by a few, then more, voices: gauges,

and old-fashioned watches ticking out of synch, in growing number,
so their tip-tip-tip fattens to a moan, joined

by a horn’s upbeat honkity-honk, then ringtones and speakers
rehearsing drawn horsehair, air in a woodwind, mimicking

a hand slapping a polyester drumhead, but unlike
          these coarser frictions, playing the same, every time.
A car door bangs, a jackhammer hammers, and a bassline

          purrs through a wall. The sound congeals,
sucking in more, a mechanical syrup in an IV drip, the automatic

          ruckus of a robotic ocean, a symphony
                   no one wrote, confounding every pattern:

teach me the song that no one can sing, someday
          to be the song of everything.

I like it, so you don't have to. Some of his work is better, some of it is worse. But either way, he came to Bates tonight and our class (along with other poet students who were interested in hearing from him) spent a casual two hours with him where we talked about his poetry, asked him questions, and did a small poetry exercise that left us all feeling quite pleased with ourselves (or at least I was happy with my rough draft of the poem I wrote. And that everyone else wrote. My entire class is pretty talented. Anyways...). So, get this, the class asked a few questions of James during the first two hours about his undergrad/grad experience and his current situation as a poet. He went to Grad school at University of Washington where they paid for his tuition and gave him money for living expenses in return for him T.A.-ing ONE CLASS while he wrote poetry. THIS WAS HIS GRAD SCHOOL EXPERIENCE. I want this. I want this so much. I want this more than I want to orange juice right now, and I really really want orange juice right now. That's not even the best part of his career as a poet (I mean, hopefully not. That wouldn't be that big of an achievement).  His poems have appeared in The New Yorker, The New Republic, Poetry, Ploughshares, and The American Poetry Review. He has received the Amy Lowell Travelling Poetry Scholarship, a Wallace Stegner Fellowship in Poetry, a residency at the Amy Clampitt House, and a Discovery/The Nation Prize. His current occupation right now? Princeton is paying him to reside at their college and write poetry. That's it. That's all he does. Well, I'm sure he does a bit more than this, but that's the biggest part of it. I HAVE REALIZED WHAT MY GOAL IN LIFE IS. It is to follow in this man's footsteps academically and professionally. 

 Anyways, after those two hours, we all mosied on over to the Chapel where this weekly event called {PAUSE} is held. What happens every Wednesday night is that students (and apparently professional poets) perform, with long pieces of punctuated silence in between performances (which can range from dance to poetry to music to whatever you please). He read some of his poetry, with little anecdotes about what some of it might mean or how the poem came into being, and then after {PAUSE} was over, I chatted with him a bit and got him to sign my book (SCORE).  But let's go back to the beginning of my week, shall we?

Thursday night I was in my room working in a flurry of stress trying to find quotes for my 8-10 page paper that I was far from starting, though it was due on Monday. If you're thinking "Nicole, you'd have plenty of time to write that paper, why were you freaking out?", the answer is: it's because it's my natural state of being, of course. But actually, I just get anxious and need to finish papers at least 1-2 days before they're due. I like giving myself that extra time padding for edits and it allows me to feel less stressed while writing the paper, making my papers better. I didn't give myself enough time padding for this paper, however. So I was anxious. And a bad writer. Oh well. But I was going somewhere with this (downhill, it seems). Right! I was in a tizzy gettin' busy with my paper and my floor-mate Charlie pops his head into my room.

"Snow ball fight in front of Hayes House in ten minutes."

I look at him and then look at my document filled with quotes. I look at him again.

"Come back in ten minutes when it's starting and I'll decide if I'll join then".

Well, ten minutes later Charlie comes in and says it's time for a snowball battle of epic proportions and I say "I'm busy" and go back to work for the rest of the night.

No, no, no, wait. That would be a horrible anecdote, and though I am known as one of the worst story-tellers of my generation, I don't think I'd be telling you this story if I stayed inside all night. Nope. Instead, I partook in a late-night snowball fight between occupants of Hayes and Chase House. It was glorious. I don't think I had really ever partaken in a snowball fight until then. We ran all around Frye Street, changing alliances faster than you could say 

"WAIT I THOUGHT WE WERE IN THIS TOGETHER" 

or

 "THERE WAS DEFINITELY A ROCK IN THAT SNOWBALL" 

or possibly

 "SNEAK ATTACK! NO WAIT I SHOUTED TOO EARLY--BLARRRGHLARRGHLARGH*". 

* The sound I make when getting hit in the face with a snowball

Anyways, then we all trampled into Hayes House where we talked about the upcoming BQDC and BEAM debate on whether colleges (or Bates in general) should divest from oil companies. I've been talking to people about it, but I am not yet informed enough to choose my side in what I believe to be the right choice yet. I'll let you know after the debate.

Friday night I was still in a panic trying to work on my paper, but after dinner instead of going back home to work on it, I decided to follow friends to the Ronj where an open mic night was occurring. It was the right decision. I listened to some beautiful performances, both in song and poetry (there was this one Freshman girl who recited a piece of her work and it was one of the most glorious slam pieces I have ever heard) and got to spend time with my two friend crushes, Grace Glasson and Catherine Strauch. I then went over to their rooms in Pierce House for a couple hours where Grace and I sang a quick duet while she player her ukulele because we both realized we sort-of knew the lyrics to a song we both love called "Bathtub" by Waxahatchee. It was a magical moment. Grace and I have decided to practice it more and perform it at an open mic event. Also this week we also decided we want to jam on our ukuleles together more often as well. But the most EXCITING part is that Grace has invited me to try and get "Overflow Housing" for next year with her and Catherine, which is a really complicated ordeal that is very hard to do, but if all goes well we'll technically live in an "off-campus house" but it's extremely close by (just as near as some of the on-campus housing), we still have washing machines and the maid still comes to tidy things up. The only change is that we'll each have a room to ourselves in a house with a kitchen, and the house will probably not even be completely filled up with other occupants. So basically because I didn't go back home and work on my paper, I've landed two new friends, an opportunity for some great housing next year, and a buddy to play ukulele and sing with more often. Oh and I went to a Purim Party Friday night as well. It was fine. 

Saturday night I just did general party things, including hanging out in Taylor's room dancing, talking and watching people drink for about two hours (it's more fun than you'd think), going to a school dance and then having a deep chat with my friend Alex after I ran into him as we both walked back to Hayes House.

Sunday I made embarrassing situations and mistakes occur after finishing my extremely average paper that was due the next day. But things got better because my parents called me, giving me advice about my Spring Break(<3)and then I talked to Grace about housing and Barbara calmed me down about other things. 

Monday through Wednesday proceeded without anything of issue or interest occurring other than me learning that my friend Colin is coming to Bates to judge our debate tournament the weekend of the 15th, and that Jack invited me to go to Portland with him and some friends (which hopefully I'll be able to do if I don't have too much work) this up and coming Friday. Good things are in the making. 

Well, I should go to sleep since I don't think I'll be doing much more work tonight (HA! Like I did any at all...) and the phone call I thought might happen doesn't seem to be happening tonight. Also, UGH, I have a math-y test Friday, another test Tuesday to study for and another 8-10 page paper about to be assigned. NO NO I SHALL STAY POSITIVE. I'M GOING TO ORDER FREE PIZZA FOR MYSELF TOMORROW NIGHT. Or maybe Saturday night. Either way, it's gonna be free and I'm excited.

Night, you navigators of my soul,

Nicole