I sent my thesis off to both Gerald Stern and my poetry guru, Kathleen Peirce. I have scheduled my comprehensive exams for the weekend of March 20th, and my thesis defense will occur on April 2nd. My MFA seems very reachable now.
This is a collaboration between Steve Craig, Bob Dorsey, Philip VanDusen and myself.
My last semester of my MFA degree has begun and things are going just fine. My new students seem great, I’ve been reading A LOT, and the first draft of my thesis is done. Cyrus and Nick have given me great advice, opening my thesis to some great possibilities. I’ll be working on these (mostly about structuring the book of poems) for the next few weeks, and then I’ll be sending the manuscript to Gerald Stern, my adjunct reader, for further comments.
This is a review of Louise Glück’s Averno
This is a review of Michael Earl Craig’s Yes, Master.
Karmatoburn created a new version of Metamorphoses. This inspired me to re-record the vocals, with some new harmonies, and other elements, to better sync with the new vision of the song.
Someone from our apartment building responded to our flier, saying her sister had lost the kitten when she was in the area. Thomas (which is what we called him lovingly) has been returned to his rightful home 
Found:
Yellow Tabby Kitten
He is about three months old and weighs less than three pounds.
If you are in the Austin area and he is yours, or you are interested in providing a loving home to him, please send an e-mail to found-kitten [at] estellaramirez.com.
This is a collaboration between Bob Dorsey and myself. It is based on a song by michael2 called Unfinished, which Bob rearranged and to which he wrote lyrics. I then provided a melody and lead and backup vocals. I altered the lyrics to meet my artistic needs.
I’m in my third and final year, writing my thesis. The thesis is meant to be a creative manuscript of my poems. The guidelines set it at 50 pages.
I gave about 25 poems to my adviser yesterday. He should be reading them and giving me feedback in a couple of weeks. These 25 are ones that either feel done to me or are giving me particular trouble. I actually have more like 60 to work with from my 2 1/2 years in the MFA program. I saved the rest to continue to work on because they’re bad, I know they’re bad, and I’m going to make them as interesting as I can before I start showing them to my adviser.
I’m also working on a narrative poem project for my Narrative Poetry class. It is a great challenge for me. I have two narrative poems in a draft stage. I think I’ll work on them today.
I’m reading Pablo Neruda and Federico García Lorca at the moment as part of my thesis work.
As part of my assistantship, I teach Freshman English Composition. So far I’m having lots of fun with it. It has taken me a while to find my current successful teaching style. I just keep trying to find ways to improve upon it. Sometimes, I take a step back and think, am I really the teacher? I’ve been a student so long!
It’s been a lot of work. Right now, I’m teaching two classes, which is just formidable when it comes to grading essays, but working with the students is rewarding.
