This is the Beginning of the Rest of My Life

There is always something refreshing about coming back to school from a break. Despite the fact that my Spring Break was neither relaxing nor warm, I've come home feeling energized, ready to work and ready to learn. The weather is warming up, and blades of green are poking up through the brown.

Today I have gotten things done I should have done months ago. Things are piling up around me, but I am not panicking, although I am shaking (which may be because I drank too much coffee today). I met with my interim adviser today, and told him about my internship with the American Scholar magazine this summer. The 15-minute appointment turned into a 20-minute discussion about the future of printing, the future of journalism, and my own future. Everything began to sink in: I will be living in D.C. this summer, and I will be working at a real magazine, in the real world. No more college coddling; I'm playing with the big boys now.

To be honest, I'm terrified.

I feel incredibly grateful to be given such a wonderful opportunity, but I'm worried something might happen and the whole thing will fall through. That may partially be my paranoia, but it may also partially be the fact that I have never played this high in the rankings before. My biggest question to myself is: Can I handle it?

Of course I am afraid I will fail. That's just how I am. But I also feel rejuvenated, powerful, like I am taking the first steps toward a life I can't imagine but know is there. The feeling is quite foreign to me.

rE-view: Politically Correct Bedtime Stories

Politically Correct Bedtime Stories: Modern Tales for Our Life & Times by James Finn Garner

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is a hilarious little collection of re-told fairy tales. In his versions, Garner points out the "negative" cultural influences in each original story, such as sexism, class distinction based on wealth and other numerous stereotypes. The results are highly entertaining and contain new morals that are more relevant to today's audiences.



Patriarchal influence and the oppression of women are present in nearly all of the old fairy tales, something Garner explicitly points out. Stories that normally end in marriage (as the only means of "success" for a woman) are changed entirely. These include Rumpelstiltskin, Rapunzel and Cinderella.



However, some of the changes Garner makes are not entirely positive. A few of the stories, like Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Pigs, use violent and murderous tactics to resolve problems. While some people may find these new versions "immoral," (and probably cringe that their sacred bedtime stories were messed with...) I feel the need to point out that the originals were not entirely "moral" either. I think Garner does this not only to point out the offensive messages in the original tales, but also to show how ridiculous it can be to be obsessed about being "politically correct." The Three Goats Gruff displays this theme the best.



Garner's collection is fun and interesting, and points out the flaws in both antiquated and modern viewpoints. I think he is trying to tell his audience to simply try and be a good person and live a good life. Otherwise we'll all end up paranoid we've offended someone just by existing.



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Dear Kevin,

Author's Note: This poem was written in response to a poetry collection by Kevin A. Gonzalez called "Cultural Studies." The collection was both aggravating and inspiring, thus the hard but tender feel I was going for. It is only a draft.

Dear Kevin,

I suppose all of your pain makes it okay to be a prick? But that’s no way to start a poem, is it? I’ve already filled all of the question mark cups allowed—soon the bartenders in my workshop will cut me off. Drinking words is a tired metaphor we both still serve. Let’s move on to places—I’ll sip New Glarus, you can savor San Juan.

An ampersand is just a child curled up & hugging his knees. I am that child & you—you are nestling in its curves, nursing your mitt hand which I’m sure all of those women-poets told you was much too small for baseball. But it’s stylish to be vegetarian—it’s even more stylish to make fun of vegetarians.

Dear Kevin, it is okay to be afraid. Ghosts are merely rain-soaked jackets we have sloughed off too early. Yours is molding on the beaches of Puerto Rico & mine is frozen in the ravines of Wisconsin. We are all someplace-people. We all come from hate-filled question marks. We all have coat-covered ampersands shivering inside our chest cavities.