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When I'm not here, you may find me wandering the pages below. (If I'm a regular visitor to your site and I've left your link off or mislinked to you, please let me know! And likewise, if you've blogrolled me, please check that my link is updated: thisroamanticlife.blogspot.com. The extra (a) makes all the difference!)

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For posts on frequently referenced topics, click the buttons to the right.

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Body: in sickness and in health

I won't lie; this body and I have had our issues with each other for many years. Body image -- sure. Physical and mental overextension -- comes with being a Type A kind of girl. I still struggle with these things, so they show up from time to time in my writing.

More recently, illness, pure but not simple, has added itself to the mix in a multi-system sort of way. And the challenges in figuring out exactly what's gone wrong are many. As problems have revealed themselves in the last few years, beginning with reactive hypoglycemia in late 2008, I've documented them here, partly to gain a little clarity on managing complex conditions but mostly to give voice to vulnerabilities I feel but don't normally share with anyone face to face. Better out than in, they say, right? (Oh yes, humor is one way I deal.)

The links below cover the different angles I've examined (and from which I've been examined) within that experience.

Travel: neither here nor there

When the person you're married to lives two time zones away, you log a fair number of frequent flier miles. And if you blog about commuter relationships, you log quite a few posts en route too.

Since we're no longer in separate places, I blog less often from airports. But we do travel -- together now! -- which is much more fun to write about. So in addition to thoughts on our years of commuting, the links below cover the places we've been as a pair and, in some cases, the adventures that have happened on the way.

Writing: the long and short of it

Why do I do it? Good question. Maybe it's not so much that I like to write but that I have to write, even when the words refuse to stick to the page. Believe me, I've tried doing other things like majoring in biochemistry (freshman fall, many semesters ago). Within a year, I'd switched to English with a concentration in creative writing and wasn't looking back.

After graduating, I taught English for a few years and then worked as an editor, which I still do freelance. In 2007, I applied and got into an MFA program at a place I like to call Little U. on the Prairie. I finished my degree in 2011 and have been balancing tutoring and writing on my own ever since.

The following links cover the writing I've done about writing: process, content, obstacles, you name it. It's not always pretty. But some part of me loves it, even when it's hard. And this is the result.

Heart: family and friends

I'd have a hard time explaining who I am without being able to talk about the family I grew up in as well as the people I've met beyond its bounds. But even with such context, it's not easy! In the simplest terms, I'm a first-generation Asian-American who has spent most of this life caught between cultures. That, of course, doesn't even begin to describe what I mean to, but there's my first stab at the heart of it all.

That's what this group of posts is reserved for -- heart. The essential parts of my life whose influences I carry with me, for better or worse. The links below cover what I've written as I've learned how these forces work within me, for me, against me, in spite of me. They anchor me even as they change me, and they keep life interesting.

Recommended reading

What do I do when there's too much on my mind and my words won't stick to the page? I escape into someone else's thoughts. Below is a collection of books and articles that have been sources of information, inspiration, and occasional insight for my own work.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

So, so, so close


You know how that last mile before you get to your destination seems like the longest sometimes?

Yes.

I've been on that mile all this week because of the 25-pager. But I turned it in last night and gave my last final this morning. The end is practically here!!!

Hmm, that was a bit apocalyptic. Sorry, wasn't what I was aiming for. Ahem.

I've graded half the exams (the ones from Tuesday), so just the ones from today are left. I'll do them tomorrow -- it's been quite a day and there's a farewell get-together at a fellow writer's place this evening that I intend to go to. Drinks and dinner, lots of talk, thoughts of summer and no more deadlines (for a little while).

I had my thesis prospectus meeting today -- an informal meeting of my committee of professors where we workshopped my proposal and laid out a plan for the next year of work. Though in my case it was more like throwing the plan out the window and just generating angles from which to approach my topic. It's a messy one, so the structure I tried to impose on it in my chapter outline was important but also premature. I'm not worried; I'm glad my professors are encouraging me to experiment and explore ways of telling the story. This was actually the second meeting we held as the first opened up so many ideas to talk about that we ran out of time. I'm still a bit amazed about that. At any rate, I have a juicy reading list for the summer (sources for inspiration the committee and I brainstormed together) and lots to think about.

After I get over this last hump, that is. Six days!
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4 comments:

French Fancy... said...

A 25 page paper sounds so intimidating. There was I putting my heart into a 7 page one and wondering how it would sound!

A theseis committee sounds the real biz. I do envy you - and good luck going the last mile. It will seem a day of weeks until you get to the final moment - and then I look forward to the next post when you will be beginning your new life

thinking of you

x

May 15, 2009 at 4:29 AM
This Ro(a)mantic Life said...

FF, It WAS intimidating. I normally work in the 7-page range myself. This was a research paper with lots of data to discuss, so that's why it was so long. Glad to be done with it!

May 15, 2009 at 7:52 AM
Good Enough Woman said...

I want to hear about your summer reading list!

And I'm so excited for your almost-to-the summit status! When you get there, give us all a big wave from the top.

May 16, 2009 at 10:37 PM
This Ro(a)mantic Life said...

I will, GEW! There might even be yodeling.

As for the summer reading list, yes, a post is warranted on that. I've already scoped out the holdings in the Seattle library system (hooray for online card catalogs) and it looks like they'll be able to supply most of the titles. Very exciting.

May 17, 2009 at 4:05 PM

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Thursday, May 14, 2009

So, so, so close


You know how that last mile before you get to your destination seems like the longest sometimes?

Yes.

I've been on that mile all this week because of the 25-pager. But I turned it in last night and gave my last final this morning. The end is practically here!!!

Hmm, that was a bit apocalyptic. Sorry, wasn't what I was aiming for. Ahem.

I've graded half the exams (the ones from Tuesday), so just the ones from today are left. I'll do them tomorrow -- it's been quite a day and there's a farewell get-together at a fellow writer's place this evening that I intend to go to. Drinks and dinner, lots of talk, thoughts of summer and no more deadlines (for a little while).

I had my thesis prospectus meeting today -- an informal meeting of my committee of professors where we workshopped my proposal and laid out a plan for the next year of work. Though in my case it was more like throwing the plan out the window and just generating angles from which to approach my topic. It's a messy one, so the structure I tried to impose on it in my chapter outline was important but also premature. I'm not worried; I'm glad my professors are encouraging me to experiment and explore ways of telling the story. This was actually the second meeting we held as the first opened up so many ideas to talk about that we ran out of time. I'm still a bit amazed about that. At any rate, I have a juicy reading list for the summer (sources for inspiration the committee and I brainstormed together) and lots to think about.

After I get over this last hump, that is. Six days!
Posted by This Ro(a)mantic Life at 6:06 PM
Labels: , , ,

4 comments:

French Fancy... said...

A 25 page paper sounds so intimidating. There was I putting my heart into a 7 page one and wondering how it would sound!

A theseis committee sounds the real biz. I do envy you - and good luck going the last mile. It will seem a day of weeks until you get to the final moment - and then I look forward to the next post when you will be beginning your new life

thinking of you

x

May 15, 2009 at 4:29 AM
This Ro(a)mantic Life said...

FF, It WAS intimidating. I normally work in the 7-page range myself. This was a research paper with lots of data to discuss, so that's why it was so long. Glad to be done with it!

May 15, 2009 at 7:52 AM
Good Enough Woman said...

I want to hear about your summer reading list!

And I'm so excited for your almost-to-the summit status! When you get there, give us all a big wave from the top.

May 16, 2009 at 10:37 PM
This Ro(a)mantic Life said...

I will, GEW! There might even be yodeling.

As for the summer reading list, yes, a post is warranted on that. I've already scoped out the holdings in the Seattle library system (hooray for online card catalogs) and it looks like they'll be able to supply most of the titles. Very exciting.

May 17, 2009 at 4:05 PM

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