From the French word "coller"

"The world is splitting open at my feet like a ripe, juicy watermelon..."

I write only because

I went back to work at IUSB this week and am starting back at Indiana Tech next week, which means summer is officially over.  It was a great summer full of baseball games, beaches, breweries and distilleries, bike rides, fireworks, road trips, and great summer reads.

Highlights from the summer:

1)  A family road trip to Nebraska with my parents
2)  A family road trip to Missouri/Arkansas with my husband and in-laws
3)  Katy Perry concert with my brother (yes, I love Katy Perry)
4)  Weekend visits to small towns in Michigan for antiquing and visiting breweries (and an organic distillery!)
5)  Watching my brother play a million baseball games with his summer travel team (he is now a senior in high school!)
6)  Getting to spend time with my best friend, Dee (even if it was in the hospital, but she gets to go home tomorrow!)
7)  Finishing off the summer with a SilverHawks game with my husband for Bethel College night (where he is a graduate student)

And, of course, I have to share my reading list from the summer:

Book of Hours by Kevin Young (poetry)
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
Nine Stories by JD Salinger
Franny and Zooey by JD Salinger
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Bone Palace Ballet by Charles Bukowski (poetry)
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Letters Home by Sylvia Plath (my current reading material)

I spent the summer absolutely mesmerized by JD Salinger.  If you haven't read his work, you should.  This was the second time I had read Catcher in the Rye and I loved it even more the second time.  Franny and Zooey was a little more difficult for me to get into, but I loved Salinger's short story collection.  Brilliant.  And then there's The Bell Jar.  Before this summer, I knew of Sylvia Plath and had read a few of her poems in college, but I became enthralled by her writing this summer.  I absorbed every bit of her "life story" in The Bell Jar and skimmed through several books of her collected poems.  And then I found an old copy of Letters Home at a secondhand bookstore and have hardly been able to put it down since.  If I want to be inspired, I read Plath. If I want to be depressed, I read Hemingway.  (I tried my hardest to read A Farewell to Arms this summer, but just could not get into it).

And I got lucky with my own writing this summer.  I had four poems published in various literary journals and magazines over the course of the summer.

Follow the links below to see some of my work:

2River View (2 poems)

http://www.2river.org/2RView/18_4/default.html

FIVE2ONE Magazine

http://five2onemag.onimpression.com/search/label/Kristin%20LaFollette

Futures Trading Magazine
http://futurestradinglit.weebly.com/exchanges/futures-trading-22

I'm still writing as much as I can (in as many different ways as I can).  Poetry.  Blogging.  I have a longer piece of narrative collage in the works.  And I'm still working on photography, painting, and collage-creating.  And school is back in session.  Let the busyness begin.

Here are some collages I've been working on.  Until next time, my friends.

An ode to Sylvia Plath.  Still a work in progress.

St. Andrew the Apostle...or The Old Man and the Sea.

The inspiration came from a tattoo I drew up for my best friend.  She got the tree tattooed on her foot.

 

New Year, New Writing, New Food...

My poor blog has been neglected the past several months with the typical busyness of life.  The holidays have come and gone and I enjoyed my wonderful month-long college professor Christmas break. 

One thing I managed to accomplish over Christmas break was to FINALLY visit an allergist.  After years of having random bouts of anaphylaxis and ending up in the hospital over an unknown allergen, I finally went in for testing.  As it turns out, I was allergic to essentially everything on the panel except for the foods they tested me for.  I've never had issues with food allergies (except for the occasional problem with some food dyes) so I was happy to hear that I could keep enjoying gluten, but I was severely allergic to all the animals and plants they tested me for as well as mold and dust mites.  So my doctor said to avoid further situations where I can't breathe and have to be rushed to the hospital (which could end up happening more and more as time goes on), I needed to start an allergy shot regimen.  I went in a few days later for a series of 16 allergy injections and have been getting one weekly ever since.  Is it a pain in the butt?  Absolutely.  I just hope it helps relieve my symptoms.  I've got 8 more weeks of weekly shots to go and then shots every two weeks for awhile and then shots once a month.

Also, my husband and I have made a huge lifestyle change.  I've been vegetarian for close to 16 years, but at the beginning of the year, Justin and I decided to start a plant-based, whole foods diet.  (I'm not completely vegan.  I don't do eggs or milk, but I still do cheese.  And Justin does white meat three times a week).  We've been doing it for a month and a half now and I feel great.  We've been trying to do mostly organic foods with a big part of our diet being fresh fruits and veggies.  I'm also sticking to only water, unsweetened tea, or almond milk.  We've been making lots of trips to the local Farmer's Market (love it!) and find ourselves at Whole Foods 2-3 times per week picking up various items.  It has been wonderful!  I love feeling healthier and committing to supporting the local economy and organic farmers.  I think this new diet is here to stay.  

Also, I started teaching an art and humanities class this semester at Indiana Tech and I LOVE it!  Art is a huge passion of mine and I love being able to teach my students about it.  It's definitely my favorite class that I've had the opportunity to teach so far.  I really do love my job!

I've been staying plenty busy with work and teaching at two different campuses and trying to write as much as possible.  This past week, I had two of my poems published in Dead Flowers:  A Poetry Rag.  Here's the link to the magazine.  My poems are on pages 5 and 6!   

http://www.bohemianpupil.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/VOL2_NO6.pdf

There is something so satisfying about seeing your work in print.  I'm so excited to see where my writing career takes me. 

Justin is in Florida this week on a business trip (lucky him since we are supposed to get a ton of snow here!) and I've been staying busy with Super Bowl parties, working/grading, writing, sketching, etc.  But I miss him and can't wait for him to get back!  Oh, and I've recently become addicted to the show "Orange is the New Black."  What can I say, I can't stop watching it!

Getting Back to Faith & Trust

When people ask me what I do for a living, I tell them I teach in the English departments at Indiana University South Bend and Indiana Tech by day, but by night...I'm a writer.  What I mean when I say that is that writing is what I identify with.  It's who I am.  It's not only what I do but it's how I express myself, and every poem or piece I write contains a piece of me.  I'm an introvert, and it isn't easy for me (or any introvert, for that matter) to express myself to other people, but through writing, I feel like I can do almost anything.  It's the way I cope with and see the world.  It's a part of me. 

And this is why I'm writing today.  My heart has been so heavy lately and I finally asked myself why I haven't been writing it all out.  After all, it's my coping mechanism.  Lately, I can't help but feel like I'm on edge...like I'm expecting something bad to happen.  Like the world isn't fair.  Like I've been cheated.

I know so many people are going through so many horrible and devastating things in their lives right now.  I know that, in the grand scheme of things, I have no right to complain about my life.  But I'm going to put all this out there with the hope that it will help me see some positivity and light in situations that I have felt very sad about.  I know God can bring us through something terrible and show us something brilliant in the end.  He's done it before, and I'm trying to remember that he's working now.

When I was 17 years old, my father almost died in a serious accident - an accident that my then 9-year-old brother witnessed.  As you can guess, I coped with the situation of watching my once strong father deteriorate both physically and mentally and my young, sweet brother's brain affected by the horrors of trauma by writing.  The doctors gave my father a 1% chance of survival, but God brought us through that and he survived.  But nothing has ever been the same.  My dad just had his third spinal surgery this past Monday, 7 years after the original accident and he continues to struggle with a multitude of health issues.  My father survived the unsurvivable, and I thank God every single day that we still have him with us.  But why do things like that have to happen to begin with?  Why did my sweet brother have to struggle through years of reliving that trauma?  Why did we all have to watch my father spend months in the hospital in rehabilitation for a broken neck, back, and traumatic brain injury?  Why do we have to watch him suffer through epilepsy? 

I often think of my father when I think of what happened with my grandmother this past summer.  My grandmother was an amazing woman and one of my most precious friends in the whole world.  I could tell her anything.  She had been sick for quite some time, and on July 31st, 2013, she passed away in the same hospital my dad was in when he had his accident, just a few rooms away from where we watched over him and prayed for healing in 2006.  It wasn't one of those situations where the hospital called to tell us that she had passed.  As a family, we had to make the decision to stop life support.  We arrived at the hospital around 9:30pm on the 30th and she was taken off life support shortly after.  What followed was an excruciating night of watching my grandmother's vitals slowly drop off until she stopped breathing around 5:35 early the following morning.  I held her hand and was surrounded by my mother, my uncle, my husband, and my brother (the same one that witnessed my dad's accident).  It was one of the most awful experiences of my life.  Nobody should ever have to see anything like that and, honestly, I don't think I've fully coped with it yet.  I keep telling myself that I'm too young to already have a grandparent gone.  My grandma Nancy was the best grandma in the world.  I miss her.  I miss her stories.  I miss our talks.  I just wish I had had more time with her. 

There are very few people I can truly talk to in this world (one of the side effects of being an introvert).  But there are/were always three people I could count on - my husband, my grandma, and my best friend, Dee.  Dee and I grew up together.  We went to college together, roomed together for four years in college, and moved in together after we graduated.  We have been through it all together.  We have taken the most amazing trips together.  She was the maid of honor in my wedding.  She is more than a friend, she is my sister.  And this past year has been heartbreaking for her.  In April, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor.  She had three major brain surgeries in the months of April and May to alleviate pressure and remove the portions of the tumor they could get to, but her prognosis is not what we were all hoping for.  I can't possibly imagine what she is feeling through all this, but her strength has been absolutely astonishing.  Her faith in God has not wavered once.  In fact, her reliance on and faith in God has grown through this.  I wish I could grasp that level of faith.  I desperately pray for God to take away her illness, to make her well again, to let her have her old life back.  It's the same desperation I felt with my dad and my grandma.  That selfish desperation that something is being taken away from me.  My heart breaks daily when I think of what has happened to her.

But when did I stop believing in God's plan and have more faith in my own?  When did I stop fully trusting him and his ultimate plan?  God wasn't surprised by any of the things that have happened in my life.  He's got it under control.  He loves me and he loves my dad, my grandma, and Dee. 

So how can I get that faith back?  That trust?  How can I stop feeling like everything that matters to me in this world will be taken away by illness, accidents, etc?

Bouncing Back

Since I haven't been able to write or type, this is my first time back on the blog in awhile.  This summer has been an eventful one.  To start, I had surgery on July 9th to fuse a joint in my hand (the damaged joint was caused from an incident that happened when I was in high school).  I was having some issues so I went back to see my surgeon (I had already had three surgeries on it to begin with) and found out that the bone didn't heal correctly. 

So the next thing I know, I have a plate, three screws, and a pin in my thumb MCP joint.  It was a rough recovery.  I had a cast for a few weeks, was put in a splint for a month, and I just went back to see my surgeon last Friday to see how everything was healing up.  He took me out of the splint just in enough time for me to head back to work next week.  The incision is still healing up and my hand is very sore, but I'm working on getting it back to being functional again.

After I had my surgery, I spent two weeks with my parents.  My brother was home for the summer and could help me during the day since Justin had to work everyday until 5:30.  Being on so many pain meds drained my energy, but I was able to spend some quality time with my little brother and go to lots of baseball games.  Needless to say, I missed my husband and was happy to get home to him after I had my sutures and first cast removed.

My heart has been very heavy the past few weeks following the passing of my grandmother.  She passed away on July 31st, but I was able to be there with her when she went to meet Jesus.  She had been sick for a very long time and I know she is at peace, but I am missing her so much.  She was truly an amazing woman and I am better for having known her.

All of my writing and submitting paid off this summer as I had three of my poems accepted for publication at various magazines.  The first poem appeared in the July edition of Crack the Spine Magazine and two more will appear in the Eunoia Review around January!  I'm so excited about this opportunity!!!  Now that I have a little mobility back, I can get back to my writing.  (It will be a miracle if I have time to write this week because I have to finish prepping for going back to teaching - school starts Monday!)

So did I mention I graduated with my masters degree!?  That means I won't be going back to school this year as a student, but as a lecturer in the department of English, and that makes me happy. :) 

More on Summer

Despite walking at the graduation ceremony in May, my technical graduation (when they send me my diploma) doesn't happen until August.  This is because I'm still finishing up my thesis, the huge project at the end of your masters that you must complete to graduate.  IU South Bend's English MA program offers two concentrations to their students - literature and creative writing.  Mine, of course, was creative writing.  Most students completing a creative writing thesis do so by writing a novella, a collection of short stories, or a collection of poetry.  I decided I wanted to write a "narrative collage." 

This is really a fabricated term for a genre where authors combine imagery with written text.  My "narrative collage" developed into a story about a girl caring for her younger brother as told through small columns of written text and anatomical images and diagrams.  Back in April, I proposed my idea to a committee in the English department, they approved it, and I began working on what would become an 85-page project.  I also had to complete a "context essay" to accompany my project discussing the history of the genre and my writing process while working on the project.  That came out around 22 pages.  Both have been read over by my committee and approved to move on to the next step - my defense.  Thankfully, this will happen much sooner than I anticipated.  I'm scheduled to "defend" my thesis next Tuesday (July 2nd) and if all goes well, I will officially be finished with my masters degree.

I am excited to return to teaching this fall as a non-student.  Juggling teaching and graduate school wasn't always easy, and I'm glad that I'll be able to put all my energy into teaching this upcoming semester.  And I'm definitely glad to have this summer free as I will need the healing time. 

After an injury back in 2006 (long story), I have had three surgeries on my hand to restore function and mobility.  Unfortunately, it's never really gotten any better and after seeing several doctors in the area who suggested treatment options that didn't help, I decided to return to my original doctor/surgeon two hours away.  To make a long story short, I'm having surgery on July 9th to fuse the MCP joint in my hand.  This will eliminate all of the problems I've been having over the years (my last surgery was in 2008)!  Although I'm not overly enthused about having yet another surgery and spending my summer vacation in a cast, I will be so happy when it's all healed up and I can return to normal life. 

Today is Friday!  That means it's date night for Justin and I.  I'm going to try to get some writing done before he gets home and finish prepping for my defense on Tuesday.  Wish me luck!

By the way, did I mention Vampire Weekend's new album is amazing!?  Go listen to it!

Music & Writing

This summer has been a productive one so far.  I made a promise to myself that I would focus on writing this summer and I've stuck to it.  Aside from writing a bunch of new poetry, I've been submitting to various literary journals and magazines in an attempt to get published.  I'm also compiling a file of what I see as my "best" poetry for possible poetry collection submissions later on to some smaller presses. 

I've definitely been in writing mode this past month and I've been loving it.  I've got a stack of journals that I carry around with me in case an idea pops up in my head at any given moment.  And I've got some nice pens (a writer always needs a nice pen).  I've been typing everything up, revising, and then looking for literary journals that fit my writing style.  The Poets & Writers website (www.pw.org) has been EXTREMELY helpful during this process.  They have numerous databases that list every small press and literary magazine/journal you could think of. 

Apart from writing, I've been trying to catch up on my reading list and have been trying to expand my music library.  (It always helps me to listen to good music when I'm looking for ideas for writing or just needing to get into writing mode).  My current music obsessions?  Vampire Weekend, Benjamin Gibbard, The Black Keys, fun, Foster the People...and the list goes on.  I've also become a collector of vinyls.  Justin and I went to Urban Outfitters the other day and they have an amazing selection of vinyls featuring new artists.  Too bad they go for $25 or more when I can stock up on classic artists at vintage shops for much less! 

I managed to pick up a Dean Martin vinyl yesterday at the Salvation Army (my husband is a huge fan of Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and Sammy Davis Jr.).  I've never visited the scary looking Salvation Army in downtown South Bend, but it was actually very cool.  Not only did they have a ton of records to sort through, but they had a ton of typewriters.  (Unfortunately they were all electric).  I'm looking to collect a few vintage typewriters.  Does anyone out there have one to donate to a new writer?

On top of everything else this summer, Justin and I did our first official DJ gig at a wedding reception a couple weekends ago.  We are looking to actually get into it as a side business.  If you are interested or know anyone that is interested, let us know!  We are affordable and work hard to make sure every detail of the reception is perfect.