Almost April already.

The last month of school is always hectic. Even though this semester has been easy compared to my last three, there is always the slieu of final papers & projects that comes around the end of April. While I'm not looking forward to that, I am so looking forward to graduating. May 1ist, and I'll be done (at least for a year or so). I don't know what I'm going to do with myself, really. I'll have more time for photography, yoga, writing, and reading, and that's really all I could ask for.

Seeing people I went to high school with or people I know getting married or having babies (or both) blows my mind sometimes, for no other reason than that I cannot picture myself doing either for a good five years. The greatest committment in my life so far has been getting tattooed, and sometimes I find myself even wondering if that was a smart decision. All I can think about is how much I want to travel before I settle down. I think I may try to go on a week-long trip by myself, just to see if I could do it. I want to go to take a tour of the literary South, specifically Mississippi. Maybe going to Rowan Oak will inspire me to crank out the next great American novel. On the cover of my book, there will be blurbs from literary critics praising me as a female Faulkner and calling me the South's next great Gothic novelist. One can hope.

"The Hills" has started again, and we are going to the Braves home opener Monday night - right now, I couldn't ask for much more. Well, maybe a real job, but I'm still working on that.

This article is amazing, and this poem is how I might start living my life.

Charles Bukowski's "How to be a goood writer"

you've got to fuck a great many women
beautiful women
and write a few decent love poems.

and don't worry about age
and/or freshly-arrived talents.

just drink more beer
more and more beer

and attend the racetrack at least once a

week

and win
if possible

learning to win is hard —
any slob can be a good loser.

and don't forget your Brahms
and your Bach and your
beer.

don't overexercise.

sleep until noon.

avoid paying credit cards
or paying for anything on
time.

remember that there isn't a piece of ass
in this world over $50
(in 1977).

and if you have the ability to love
love yourself first
but always be aware of the possibility of
total defeat
whether the reason for that defeat
seems right or wrong —

an early taste of death is not necessarily
a bad thing.

stay out of churches and bars and museums,
and like the spider be
patient —
time is everybody's cross,
plus
exile
defeat
treachery

all that dross.

stay with the beer.

beer is continuous blood.

a continuous lover.

get a large typewriter
and as the footsteps go up and down
outside your window

hit that thing
hit it hard

make it a heavyweight fight

make it the bull when he first charges in

and remember the old dogs
who fought so well:
Hemingway, Celine, Dostoevsky, Hamsun.

If you think they didn't go crazy
in tiny rooms
just like you're doing now

without women
without food
without hope

then you're not ready.

drink more beer.
there's time.
and if there's not
that's all right
too.

First day of spring.

A post is long overdue, I suppose. A lot has happened since last Monday, tornadoes being the main thing. I didn't even realize there was a tornado Friday until it had already come through and done its damage; Saturday my mom awakened me from my post-Wag nap by repeatedly calling my phone, only to scream "MEGHAN! Get into the bathtub!" when I finally answered. Luckily, Decatur didn't get any damage, but I can't say the same for other parts of the ATL. Oakland, one of my favorite places to take pictures, got hit pretty bad. This is what the entrance looks like:

Note the trees blocking the entrance, and thus, demolishing any hope I had of getting into the cemetery to shoot. Mother Nature, you're breaking my heart over here!

I fired a (real) gun for the very first time yesterday, and it was scary and amazing. The wonderful Laura took Stephanie and I to American Classic Marksman in Norcross, and we all shot for about an hour. I forgot the name of the gun Laura brought with her, but we shot that and rented the kind of 9mm that cops use as well. I was really nervous to use the 9mm, but once I did, I couldn't stop! One thing's for sure, though - I need to work on my aim. Either way, it was so much fun, and I can't wait to go again.

On the school front, I am counting down the days till graduation. Even though I'm not walking, I still can't wait to take my last final and bid Georgia State adieu for good. Almost four years there is more than enough. If all goes as planned, I'll be graduating magna cum laude which I am pretty excited about. Plus, I haven't had a real summer in about three years (thanks, summer classes) so that's going to be awesome.

As for my current employment status, I still remain at The Wag, rather unhappily as of late. I've applied for various editing/writing positions around Atlanta and gotten a few offers through Monster (albeit in Madison, WI). I can't financially do an internship, but even so, I'm considering applying for an editorial internship with Jezebel. It's all very frustrating. Only 21 years old and my mind is constantly consumed with jumpstarting my career. Shouldn't I be out getting drunk and making mistakes somewhere? That seems to be what all my other peers are up to.

Since it is now technically spring, I need the weather to start acting like it and be in the mid-70s so I can go out and shoot all the fun things that spring in Atlanta brings! It's time for some serious day trips soon. I've got a list about a mile long of places I want to go. Just waiting for the spring weather to show its face.

¡Viva Mexico!

Cancun was amazing. It seriously was the trip of a lifetime. Chichen Itza & Tulum were both incredible. Swimming with the dolphins might have been one of the coolest thing I've ever done. All the bars were really fun, albeit filled with underage girls doing keg stands in skirts. Regardless, we met lots of fun people & had an awesome time.

Just a few pictures - even though they don't do it justice!

Chichen Itza:



Tulum:

Swimming with dolphins:

Coming back home to 35 degree weather and snow kind of sucked. I miss everything about it! The people were so friendly, the history of the culture was amazing, and the overall relaxed feel was the best. Oh, Atlanta. I wish you could offer me the same things.

I found a job in Marietta as an entry-level writer for a public relations, creative agency services firm. It pays pretty good, and it has all the benefits I need when I graduate (IRAs, insurance, paid holidays, etc). I've been working on my resume all day. If I could even be considered for an interview, it would be amazing. I'm really crossing fingers on this one. It might be just what I need to start a career in writing.