Hello friends,

Didja miss me?  ‘Cause iggi and I missed you!

No, I’m not back from Ireland just yet but I am finally in a hotel that has reliable internet so I’ll be able to check in at least somewhat regularly.  Don’t worry, I’ll post pictures and share more stories soon enough (forgot the camera adapter at home so we’ll have to wait a few more days for photos).

Today iggi and I had a fascinating experience.  We went to a graveyard where some ancestors of my super-duper hubby were buried.  We found two gravestones dating back to the 1800s.  Then we went and found the house where some ancestors had lived way back in the day.  They don’t live there anymore, but there is a farmer who lives there and he remembered them and even tried to get us in touch with the remaining distant relative that still lived in that town (it didn’t work out because when the farmer phoned her, she wasn’t home).

iggi has also gotten into the Irish mood.  He’s made some friends, like his long-lost relative pictured below.  (You can see the family resemblance, I’m sure).

Later on in the trip, iggi met a sheep named Seamus and decided to bring him home with us.  I’m not sure where I’m going to put a sheep in our apartment, much less how we’ll get him into our building.  (I have a feeling that bringing barnyard animals home would make me persona non grata with the condo board.)  But iggi has just informed me that Seamus is imaginary and shouldn’t take up any space at all.  Apparently Seamus is also housebroken.

Speaking of sheep, I have not been able to hug a sheep yet and seeing as now we’ll be in Dublin the rest of our trip, I think the odds are pretty well stacked against me.  I did, however, manage to get reasonably close to a sheep and take a photo.

Kells Priory

In my imagination, this wasn’t a priory for real monks but actually a training ground for a brotherhood of warriors posing as monks.  *dun dun duuuuun*  There’s this young wannabe monk-warrior called Aeryck who has joined the priory because his beloved is betrothed to another and he has vowed to take a life of solitary contemplation.  When he arrives at the priory, he discovers the truth about the warrior clan and even worse: the clan is loyal to a ruthless knight who happens to be the man marrying Aeryck’s beloved.  So now he’s torn.  Loyalty to his brothers, which means being under the thumb of Sir knight or loyalty to his own heart?  *cue romantic music*  He chooses neither.  Instead, he runs off to join a band of pirates.  *arrrrrr matey!*

Hi everyone!  Today’s post will have to be short because I’m packing for Ireland.  We leave tomorrow but I promise I’ll do my best to post while I’m away and if I can, I’ll put up pics of some of the places I visit.

Today I wanted to direct your attention to the VP blog.  I did a post there earlier this week about how the MFA brought us editors together.  Since iggi and I are getting ready for our DIY MFA extrabloganza, I thought the VP post would be relevant.

Also, VP is still taking submissions so if you have any short stories or essays or poetry that you think would be interesting to a teen audience, check out the VP submissions and send it along!

Hello friends.  Today I have to write a not-so-fun post, so let’s see how fun I can make it, shall we?

You see, lawyer-hubby has been looking over my shoulder and insists that I include a disclaimer to this whole DIY MFA thing.  Here it is.  You ready?

1. iggi U is a fictitious university and is not accredited by any official powers-that-be.
2. Neither iggi nor gabi may be held responsible for any learning (or lack thereof) that occurs during a DIY MFA.
3. Participants in the DIY MFA should not expect any financial reward or compensation as a result of completing the DIY MFA.
4. Any person who includes iggi U or DIY MFA on their resume with the expectation that it will be considered a serious institution, is seriously mistaken.
5. No animals or iggis were harmed in the making of this DIY MFA.

The thing is DIY MFA is not about getting a degree or a shiny piece of paper.  DIY MFA is not about going to school and having the skies part on graduation day and a beam of light anoint you with learning and knowledge.  DIY MFA is not about credentials or school because DIY MFA is the anti-credential and the anti-school.

The whole point is that it’s subversive and goes against the institutional view of higher learning.  The whole point is that learning can’t be condensed into a finite number of years in a geographic location, but must be carried on through life, despite what curves life throws us.  The whole point is that DIY MFA is bigger than any school or classroom.  It’s about building a fulfilling writing life, setting up a plan and sticking to it, through this roller-coaster ride we call life.