The Pie Project

If only figuring out my post graduation life were as simple as pie. I'm mildly obsessed with this right now. I'm applying for a slew of fellowships, which are like post-docs for those of us with MFA's. I'm sending stuff to all the biggies, including the famous Stegner, and all I can do is hope and wait. Meanwhile I need to focus on my novel - I blocked out the whole day for it but haven't worked on it much, somehow, though I did write my personal statement for the Stegner. The fellowships are Option #1 (red slice) followed by Option #2 (orange slice), which is a job-that-is-not-teaching, i.e., that will give me time to write. Museums? Grant writing? Policy? Option #3 (blue) is teaching at a community college, ideally full time (bone-crushing, much as I love teaching). Option #4 (green) is teaching at some kind of private high school, maybe. Option #5 (yellow) is applying for PhD programs, but that's another story. In the case of 2, 3, or 4, we'll probably ju...

When I am not making any pie. I did make some delicious cherry cornmeal scones, but I can't write about that, it's treason. So maybe I'll just write about my life and try to figure out a clever pie-related lens through which to view it. If you can't tell from that last sentence, I'm pretty immersed in academia. Scrolling around online reading interviews with writers about who can tell whose stories, about "post-gay fiction," about identity politics. Love this stuff. Makes me feel like there's so much more to learn. I'm also writing comments on my fiction students' exercises (oh, man...) and working on a review about a Salvadorean novel for the VQR Young Reviewer's Contest. Is any of this about baking yet? Don't worry. I'm getting there. It's been a big week, with turning in the first draft of my novel, and the reading I got to do at a lovely wonderful hipster/dive bar . I was nervous no one in the buzzed crowd would pay attentio...

I just ordered this book from Amazon. Three hundred pie recipes plus a bajillion different kinds of crust from a bigger pie aficionado than me. Just what I needed! I'll pair this with the trusty J.O.C. (Joy of Cooking) to reach pie nirvana. Pie-vana? I probably need to stop with the pie puns. I almost titled this post Piecrastination... I really, really, really want to write about pie crust. But I'm up early for a reason, and it's not this blog. The coffee is fresh. Novel, here I come. I'm rusty after a long weekend away, and dragging my feet. It's hard not to treat writing like punishment, sometimes. But - that's the best way to kill it. I'm trying for the positive it's-just-creation (like pie) attitude. So, here I go: Word document, open.

This is my blog about pie, otherwise known as the pie blog, otherwise known as my #1 reason to eat too much buttery crust and not do my work. But I think it's good for me, anyway. Writing a pie, baking a novel: Simple ingredients, complex effect. Occasional disasters sometimes taste good. It’s time to expand my pie horizons, revisit old flames, procrastinate with flour, experiment. Fruits. Custards. Chess. Meringue. Peanut butter. The Joy of Cooking and I (and recipe makers of all kinds) are going head to head every week. Or hand in hand, I hope. You think pie is for old ladies? Neo-fifties housewives? Refined, Paris-visiting, cookbook-writing foodies? Sure, and more power to them. But it's time for a pie revolution. Pie is equal opportunity. It’s feminist, socialist, progressive, hip, down-to-earth, sustainable, and always lovable. It will not be labeled. But it will be…okay, I have to say it: eaten. So, welcome! I can't promise the shiniest food bloggiest blog of all the ...