What's Up Doc?

In college
I called
all my PhD
teachers
"Doc"
a term
of endearment
and because
I knew
even then
I wouldn't
get much chance
to use
the moniker
often.
They all
tolerated it
to various
degrees
but
my calc prof
really got a bang
out of it
I don't recall
her name
probably because
I always
called her
"Doc"
and calculus
is some
fifteen years
in the rearview
but I remember
her clarity
and humor
in the classroom
and her eyeroll
and grin
whenever
I called her "Doc".

Portent of the Future

Years ago
I went with my sister and mother
to Brown University
scouting the place
for my sibling's potential
collegiate home
and I don't remember much
as I was twelve
but I do remember
the soda machines
which could be charged
to your meal plan
with your student ID
as it was 1996
this was quite breathtaking
and technologically advanced
how easy
how convenient
how delicious
what a marvel
higher learning must be
I thought
what wonders the future must hold
for myself
and the world.

I was wrong and I was right.

I Miss The School Bus

Yes,
it was a pain to get up before the sun
and trudge out to the street corner
where me and my fellow lethargic students
gathered to begin our cross-town school-trek,

But that mobile corridor
with the uniform brown upholstered seats
was always warm and mostly safe
save for those times when some delinquent
would light fires in the way way back
or provoke the mostly docile bus driver.

We trundled along,
lulled by rhythmic blasts of hot air in winter
sparing breezes from cracked windows in summer
and the constant jostling from the overused shocks,
content and mostly quiet with our whispered preteen scheming.

It was a floating island in-between
a safe harbor, home base, a steady place
where all was changeless waiting
accompanied by Top 40 hits
like some prepubescent Brigadoon.

Adulthood can be weighty
and looking back
youth, although torrid
was mostly simple.

Hindsight Hour: Conclusion

After two years and two seasons I put this project to rest with the release of these last two episodes. It started as a very vague concept and, over time, developed into something I'm really proud of. I've learned a lot about narrative more specifically narrative improv and I think through the repetition of some of the scenes and themes have been able to highlight some interesting and cool interpersonal commonalities. Over the total 14 episodes there is a lot of great performances and content. Some hilarious stuff and some real honest-to-goodness emotion. I'm grateful for all the time and effort that went into this, doubly grateful for the generosity of time and talent from a list of incredible collaborators top of that list being Tim Joyce my director and podcast partner for four years running. It's been a fulfilling experience, thanks to all who listened.

Domestic life. The first triplet of scenes addresses the contentiousness of cohabitation, the last scene tackles a pregnancy scare.


Growing pains. The first scene depicts the age-old dorm-room pot-bust. The second couplet delves into a student-professor stand off

Season 2:
Directed by Tim Joyce
Improvised by  Damian Anaya, Mike Brunlieb, Sarah Cowdery, Laurel Krabacher, Rosie Moan, Jimmy Pennington, Meaghan Strickland, and Andel Sudik

One Down, Three To Go

After the Chicago comedian exodus of last year a lot of the people that remained were forced to assess where they were and where they wanted to go. I didn't and don't have any desire to move to one of the coasts to try and make it, but I realized I wanted to take my shot, take the next step forward and to me that meant grad school.

The past month and a half I've been getting together various items for applications to poetry MFA programs. It's been an intensive process- selecting poems, revisions, writing statements of purpose, securing letters of recommendation and transcripts. It's an odd experience, trying to represent yourself in an honest and succinct way in an effort to be accepted.

The application process lends itself to second-guessing and doubt, I've found that trying to anticipate and cultivate the image of a good applicant is tempting but ultimately useless. I don't know what these various institutions are really looking for and the truth is just as likely to get me in as something fabricated.

Today I submitted my first of four applications. Even if nothing comes of it it feels good to have set the goal and to follow through on it. Sometimes taking the action is more important than the result.