The balance. The horrible, horrible balance of it all

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

So I submit all my writing- pieces I’ve worked on for ages- and get roundly, soundly and utterly rejected. By everything from the Atlantic Monthly’s Student Writing competition (that’s right, kids, Stepen King won that. I’m lower than hack) to the “itty-bitty write a Jewish story and win a prize” competition. Even the University lit mag, which saw fit to award me a second place prose prize last year rejected me.

At the same time, I race around to get my first grad school application out on time. I have a very nice Chaucerian give me a reccomendation in a record two days because my history teacher neglected to tell me that he’d already sent my reccomendations off and then proceeded to ignore my e-mails asking him if he’d done it.

When I have a spare moment, I sit down and crank out a last-minute play for a scriptwriting competition.

My application does not get to the school in time. In fact, it doesn’t get there anywhere near the deadline. There will be no UCD this year for me, either. It’s looking more and more like I will be taking a third undergraduate degree, but at this point, I’m running out of degrees that interest me.

What I do find out today, however, is that while I have failed at everything I have attempted to put any amount of time into, I have won first place, a performance of my one act play and a hundred dollars. Because somehow, it turned out all right. Or everyone else’s was just bad enough.

I walk a fine, fine line.

AL

2

I’ll just say: sorry to hear about your grad application (why didn’t it get there in time? and what were your other undergrads?), but CONGRATULATIONS on your first accepted play! Great, that!

3

That sucks.

Are you in Dublin?
I assume so.
Can I ask where you’ve been studying?

(Yeah Yeah, I’m nosy. Friendly. But nosy. And a Trinners person.)

4

I just dropped in to appreciate your nick as well. :slight_smile: Hi.

5

I too was compelled to read after seeing the nickname. Congratulations, Ms. Plurabelle!

6

ok color me stupid, but could someone explain the nickname to me?

7

Osip, in James Joyce’s novel Finnegans Wake, there’s a character known by many, many names (as are all the characters in the novel), of which the one generally accepted as her “real” name is Anna Livia Plurabelle.

8

Moral of the story? Hardwork never pays off; do everything hastily at the last moment, and everything will work out in the end.

9

Thank you, Homer.

10

Thanks for the kudos…

Actually, I was at UCD for the joyce summer school. And I missed the application date for Trinity this year because of the same prof. I will never forgive him. Not unless he buys me a couple drinks.

No, hard work never pays off. In fact, I was one of the finalists for the design of the Delaware State quarter (I’m not a Dub, myself) with a design rushed out about five minutes before the last mail pickup.

And, of course, I’m the jewish incarnation- so that really makes me “Hannah Levy”

;j

AL