Oberlin Blogs

I have a lot going on, and the semester hasn't even started.

What if good intentions and a strong desire to "make a difference" aren't enough?

The second of two pieces I wrote during first semester about performances in Oberlin.

Not impressed? Well, I bet you won't believe what arrived in my mailbox this morning.

Living with a host family is a difficult adjustment after two and a half years in Oberlin's dorms.

I've already got crazy nostalgia for the long, lazy summer days spent lounging in the hammock on our porch, the nights of impromptu jam sessions with my more musically inclined friends, the smell of freshly baked bread rising up from our kitchen.

Once we landed at Cleveland-Hopkins Airport, I woke up and raced for the bus stop. After waiting outside for 10 minutes, I huddled indoors and discovered I had missed the last bus by 15 minutes. Gahhh.

I learned that there is a certain art to pie-making, kneading from the center out, making sure that the middle isn't too thin, and being careful to leave a slightly raised border along the outside so there's some semblance of crust after it bakes.

Drugs, thugs and racism: a smidgen of what I've learned so far on the border.

A list of recent distractions. This is what has been keeping me busy recently.

Tomorrow will be my first opportunity to listen to my completed mix, The Long Road Home. That last leg that seems to last oh-so-long will be much quicker this time.

In this post: rejection letters, romantic rejection, my petty impulses, The Kenyon Review , and children's publishing.