TripWillis

Yay, go!

Recusing myself.

I am considerably whiter and less handsome than James Baldwin, but don't let that fool you. I'm J.B. to the bone.

Will I see you at the open house? I'm still a little torn between CUNY and Rutgers, but I'm excited to go find out more!

cquin! I didn't see that FSU and Wake Forest came through. Congrats! You've been on a tear lately!

I'm glad you're back on the board! How was Durham? You should be very proud of your 2/10 (especially considering where you got in, whoa!). Did you see that arrivant went 1/12 with an acceptance at Columbia?? Crazy! That said, I understand what you mean. I got all three of my acceptances on the first week of February, then 6 rejections and 1 waitlist thereafter. Kind of hilarious how it worked in streaks like that. The opening 3 made me think I was gonna run the table and have to choose between Harvard and Yale. Oh how naive I was. Really, with the fact that Buffalo didn't offer funding and with a high position on the Rutgers waitlist, I'm probably looking at 3-7 overall, which is the grad school equivalent of the Red Wings reaching the Western Conference Finals, if you think about it.

Too many to choose from, but I'll do my best: "One only has to open one's eyes to understand the daily life of the one who runs from his dwelling to the station, near or far away, to the packed underground train, the office or the factory, to return the same way in the evening and come home to recuperate enough to start again the next day. The picture of this generalized misery would not go without a picture of 'satisfactions' which hides it and becomes the means to elude it and break free from it." -- Henri Lefebvre, "The Right to the City" "All writing is pigshit." -- Antonin Artaud "...the people who are the readiest and eagerest and willingest to swallow miracles are the very ones who are the hungriest to see you perform them." -- Hank Morgan in Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

See? I hate that. Just be factual and cold. We don't need sunshine blown up our...

I can't tell you how much I would love to be decided right now so I can stop the madness.

Bjork was INCREDIBLE. I was close enough to say hi for you, cquin. But not as close as when I saw her at the New York Hall of Science two weeks ago. 800 person venue for motherfucking Bjork. Fuck. Sorry for my language. She is a goddess. Myriadways -- I've seen Sigur Ros 3 times and it's basically a religious experience every time.

Just thought I'd share that I'm in line to see Bjork right now. This has been such a good month!

Holy smokes! 1/12 with an acceptance at Columbia is a pretty awesome story! Cliche alert! Fit and focus strikes again.

Hmm, I guess I got a couple of what they refer to as "soft rejects." So I got 1 of 2 types of form letters, one as impersonal as the other, just slightly tailored to be a tad more comforting. I'm still not sure it makes sense to do anything other than be professional and factual.

I just now noticed someone posted this comment from a rejection on the results board: "I trust that you have been, or will soon be, admitted elsewhere to a university of your choice, and I should like to take this opportunity to wish you luck and success in your graduate studies." Did they put that in everyone's letters, or did they personalize it? I'm just curious, because I have gotten a few letters that say something to the effect of, "Your qualifications were impressive," etc. etc. but I always just assume it's generic and they say that to everyone. To be honest, it drives me crazy. Why would you want to extend compliments in rejection form letters that might not actually be true? After all, doesn't a rejection often mean that they were NOT impressed by your qualifications? Personally, I like it when they're just cut and dry: "We offer 10 spots and we got 400 apps -- don't take it personally, but you weren't the first choice. Best of luck." The faux niceties kill me.

I'm so pleased to see so many people, regardless of orientation, considering adoption on here! There are too many unwanted children in the world! I've heard agencies are less likely to allow couples to adopt after age 35, which I suppose I understand a little, as my Dad was quite old when I was born and dealing with his declining health at such a young age has been an incredible burden on me, both emotionally and in terms of resources. Ideally, I guess you wouldn't want early 20-year-olds to have to take care of their parents. Then again, isn't early 30s like that perfect time to adopt/conceive? It's like, you're no longer a stupid 20-something, but you're still young enough to be stable for your child.

Can't remember where I read this, but someone made the point that lower-to-middle class people used to get married BEFORE they had anything, that that was part of the point -- building something together. That said, I understand what you mean. I'd like to get married to my current partner, but I have no idea what our timetable is like on something like that. During grad school is either the perfect time or the worst time. No idea. We're also both LGBT and are a little unsentimental and non-traditional when it comes to the concept of marriage (oh brother -- that's what happens when you stick a literary scholar and a social worker together; no one is allowed to think anything is romantic or fun anymore). I want it to happen, but for all the right reasons and in the right conditions.

I'll be 28 in three months. With any luck, I'll be 34-35 by the time I get a TT job (hopefully). The biggest thing I'm concerned about is when to squeeze an adoption in there. The timing on that seems horrendous. I do want to help raise one child so the next generation of children isn't a total army of bigoted Rick Santorum Jrs. That'll be tough.

That's fairly close to my field, at least the 20th/21st C American part.

All of this is SO helpful rainy, thank you! I hope that if (probably more like when) I decline Amherst, you get in. Have to visit to be sure, but it's pretty likely. What's your area?

I would also like to know the answer to this. My waitlist school has been very friendly and open, but I don't know what the etiquette is.

Haha I get it. But not really. I've never read Ulysses. :ph34r: :ph34r:

If it is, it's accidental.

Too late. Fortune theory died 15 minutes ago. We have now entered the reign of Metaphysical Dartboard Theory. Each area of the board corresponds to a different principle about the curvature or angles of our universe and their relationships to a divine prime motor. Add x principle to y literary passage and expound. Solve for Edith Wharton.

I've added Yale to implicits -- I feel like with all the bridge program acceptances up that it seems likely the cohort's all been notified. Then again, I could be jumping the gun. Would be incredible to get in. Really happy with my results so far, but this would just be... yah.

Just checked again. Rejected. "Many qualified applicants" etc. etc.