Tuesday, December 05, 2006

A Story about Stories: Holy Days/Holidays

The semester is over at USC. I have no coursework left for my MA. All that remains is grading and a final exam that I have to proctor. I am now transitioning into writing my thesis, a collection of short stories that focus on the way holidays change over time. Sometimes these shifting conceptions of holidays simply reflect cultural patterns (the merchandizing of the early 20th century or 1950s), but in other cases larger ideological shifts are reflected (the secularization of religious holy days, more cynical views on holidays like Valentine's Day or New Year's resolutions).

I have drafts of five stories, two of which have been rewritten. If anyone wants to look at one or two and give me feedback, I would love to hear your opinion.

In other news, I am also applying for grad school again. This is what? Round five? God willing, it will be the last time, following which I will be granted a PhD.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Goodness. Your alive. I was starting to fear that NPM had committed Dead Air upon your person and locality.

You made it through end of term in completion. Most excellent is this notable.

Now for the sweet good-n-stuff. (Speaking of which, I am definitely interested in the reading of, also feedback offering on, short semi- (or fully-) fictitious works of penmanship. Submit via e-mail with chocolate coating please.)

RD said...

Send me some stories, I would love to read them. You can send them to rogdixon@hotmail.com.

-Roger

JohnFox said...

What? More school? Where? The USC PHD in creative writing? Or are you leaving us poor saps to seek more graduate study elsewhere? Thanks for the link, by the way. And love the site.