{"id":70,"date":"2008-10-22T01:09:08","date_gmt":"2008-10-22T08:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/?p=70"},"modified":"2013-03-18T22:21:30","modified_gmt":"2013-03-19T03:21:30","slug":"bailing-out-a-sinking-boat-an-excerpt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/2008\/10\/bailing-out-a-sinking-boat-an-excerpt\/","title":{"rendered":"Bailing out a sinking boat (an excerpt)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The most serious disillusionment in my life (apart from the false promise of young love) occurred when I was a student at the University of South Florida. It was during that year or two that I somewhat miraculously stumbled upon the notion that I wanted to be a writer. Only a sophomore and with a brand new major (having selected, then rejected, anthropology, philosophy, and psychology), I had somehow slipped by the guidance counselors and had enrolled in a senior\u2019s creative writing workshop. I suppose because it sounded far more enlightening than Composition 101. It was in that casual setting that I came face-to-face, in the most humbling, shocking way, with some truly brilliant young writers. I especially remember a young woman, rather unattractive with frizzy hair and a dumpy appearance, who was already being regularly published in the school\u2019s literary magazines, and whose work elicited gasps of appreciation from the others whenever she stood to share her latest musings. I was as in awe of her poetic solitude as everyone else, yet I bravely followed these future poets and novelists with my shaky and disjointed broken prose. On occasion, I was ok; more often I was just young. A month or two into the class, that the teacher took me aside and said that although I showed promise, I had no business being in a senior workshop, having only just that year declared the major. He couldn\u2019t understand how I was even allowed to enroll, yet I do recall he was trying very hard to be gentle. He explained the necessary prerequisites, and told me that he looked forward to seeing me again, after I had completed them. He didn\u2019t want to discourage me, yet with my fragile opinion of myself, discouraged I was, and I didn\u2019t write again (except for required class papers) for some six or seven years. When I did, it was for the silliest of endeavors, as editor and publisher of a David Bowie newsletter.<\/p>\nshare this:  <a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-facebook nolightbox\" data-provider=\"facebook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bostonsurvivalguide.net%2Fwordpress&#038;t=Bailing%20out%20a%20sinking%20boat%20%28an%20excerpt%29&#038;s=100&#038;p&#091;url&#093;=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bostonsurvivalguide.net%2Fwordpress&#038;p&#091;images&#093;&#091;0&#093;=&#038;p&#091;title&#093;=Bailing%20out%20a%20sinking%20boat%20%28an%20excerpt%29\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:10px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Facebook\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/addons\/extra-icons\/image\/social\/clearslate\/48x48\/facebook.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-twitter nolightbox\" data-provider=\"twitter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Twitter\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bostonsurvivalguide.net%2Fwordpress&#038;text=Hey%20check%20this%20out\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:10px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"twitter\" title=\"Share on Twitter\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/addons\/extra-icons\/image\/social\/clearslate\/48x48\/twitter.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-reddit nolightbox\" data-provider=\"reddit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Reddit\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bostonsurvivalguide.net%2Fwordpress&#038;title=Bailing%20out%20a%20sinking%20boat%20%28an%20excerpt%29\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:10px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"reddit\" title=\"Share on Reddit\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/addons\/extra-icons\/image\/social\/clearslate\/48x48\/reddit.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-pinterest nolightbox\" data-provider=\"pinterest\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Pin it with Pinterest\" href=\"https:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/button\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bostonsurvivalguide.net%2Fwordpress&#038;media=&#038;description=Bailing%20out%20a%20sinking%20boat%20%28an%20excerpt%29\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:10px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"pinterest\" title=\"Pin it with Pinterest\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/addons\/extra-icons\/image\/social\/clearslate\/48x48\/pinterest.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-linkedin nolightbox\" data-provider=\"linkedin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Linkedin\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/shareArticle?mini=true&#038;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bostonsurvivalguide.net%2Fwordpress&#038;title=Bailing%20out%20a%20sinking%20boat%20%28an%20excerpt%29\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:10px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"linkedin\" title=\"Share on Linkedin\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/addons\/extra-icons\/image\/social\/clearslate\/48x48\/linkedin.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-tumblr nolightbox\" data-provider=\"tumblr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on tumblr\" href=\"https:\/\/tumblr.com\/share?s=&#038;v=3&#038;t=Bailing%20out%20a%20sinking%20boat%20%28an%20excerpt%29&#038;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bostonsurvivalguide.net%2Fwordpress\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:10px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"tumblr\" title=\"Share on tumblr\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/addons\/extra-icons\/image\/social\/clearslate\/48x48\/tumblr.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-mail nolightbox\" data-provider=\"mail\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share by email\" href=\"mailto:?subject=Bailing%20out%20a%20sinking%20boat%20%28an%20excerpt%29&#038;body=Hey%20check%20this%20out:%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bostonsurvivalguide.net%2Fwordpress\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:10px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"mail\" title=\"Share by email\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/addons\/extra-icons\/image\/social\/clearslate\/48x48\/mail.png\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The most serious disillusionment in my life (apart from the false promise of young love) occurred when I was a student at the University of South Florida. It was during that year or two that I somewhat miraculously stumbled upon the notion that I wanted to be a writer. Only a sophomore and with a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"table_tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Bailing out a sinking boat (an excerpt) - musings from boston<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/2008\/10\/bailing-out-a-sinking-boat-an-excerpt\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bailing out a sinking boat (an excerpt) - musings from boston\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The most serious disillusionment in my life (apart from the false promise of young love) occurred when I was a student at the University of South Florida. It was during that year or two that I somewhat miraculously stumbled upon the notion that I wanted to be a writer. Only a sophomore and with a [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/2008\/10\/bailing-out-a-sinking-boat-an-excerpt\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"musings from boston\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-10-22T08:09:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-03-19T03:21:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"julie\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"julie\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/2008\/10\/bailing-out-a-sinking-boat-an-excerpt\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/2008\/10\/bailing-out-a-sinking-boat-an-excerpt\/\",\"name\":\"Bailing out a sinking boat (an excerpt) - musings from boston\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-10-22T08:09:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-03-19T03:21:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/ba760dcf14ea74dce5c3f654bf0b34fb\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/2008\/10\/bailing-out-a-sinking-boat-an-excerpt\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/2008\/10\/bailing-out-a-sinking-boat-an-excerpt\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/2008\/10\/bailing-out-a-sinking-boat-an-excerpt\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Bailing out a sinking boat (an excerpt)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/\",\"name\":\"musings from boston\",\"description\":\"screams, whispers and songs from planet earth\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/ba760dcf14ea74dce5c3f654bf0b34fb\",\"name\":\"julie\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/221161ec2bf0928bb8d13042515303c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/221161ec2bf0928bb8d13042515303c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"julie\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Bailing out a sinking boat (an excerpt) - musings from boston","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/2008\/10\/bailing-out-a-sinking-boat-an-excerpt\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Bailing out a sinking boat (an excerpt) - musings from boston","og_description":"The most serious disillusionment in my life (apart from the false promise of young love) occurred when I was a student at the University of South Florida. It was during that year or two that I somewhat miraculously stumbled upon the notion that I wanted to be a writer. Only a sophomore and with a [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/2008\/10\/bailing-out-a-sinking-boat-an-excerpt\/","og_site_name":"musings from boston","article_published_time":"2008-10-22T08:09:08+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-03-19T03:21:30+00:00","author":"julie","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"julie","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/2008\/10\/bailing-out-a-sinking-boat-an-excerpt\/","url":"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/2008\/10\/bailing-out-a-sinking-boat-an-excerpt\/","name":"Bailing out a sinking boat (an excerpt) - musings from boston","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/#website"},"datePublished":"2008-10-22T08:09:08+00:00","dateModified":"2013-03-19T03:21:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/ba760dcf14ea74dce5c3f654bf0b34fb"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/2008\/10\/bailing-out-a-sinking-boat-an-excerpt\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/2008\/10\/bailing-out-a-sinking-boat-an-excerpt\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/2008\/10\/bailing-out-a-sinking-boat-an-excerpt\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Bailing out a sinking boat (an excerpt)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/","name":"musings from boston","description":"screams, whispers and songs from planet earth","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/ba760dcf14ea74dce5c3f654bf0b34fb","name":"julie","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/221161ec2bf0928bb8d13042515303c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/221161ec2bf0928bb8d13042515303c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"julie"},"url":"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9257,"href":"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70\/revisions\/9257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70"},{"taxonomy":"table_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/table_tags?post=70"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}