Notes About The Poem

everything's fine

Paris is about attitude and the art of slow living, where nothing’s urgent and everything’s fine.

But if you’re in school, that’s not true. I just began a group project (gp), and to paraphrase William Shakespeare, the storm has come again! GPs are big affairs with slow moving parts, like conceptualization and collaboration - and all that happens before any actual work is done.

Some cultures treat deadlines like casual suggestions but I get absolutely hinky in the loom of deadlines - I pace, chew fingernails and fret.
The other day, a TA (teaching assistant) asked me if I was trying to “prove something.”
The French invented ‘laze faire.’ after all, but I’m American enough to have dismissively said,
“I’d like to prove I can complete the assignment on time.”

Let’s get poet-y..

A trial comes, like a cloud, so dark it should thunder
but there’s no bromide, offer of shelter or tent to mock the storm,
it’s for us - as strangers - to return results which opinion crowns fair.
.
.
Let’s sing the blues:
O.K. I'll Play the Blues - Deanna Bogart
Emotions and Math - Margaret Glaspy
Preachin' Blues by Larkin Poe
Copyright © | Year Posted 2025

Poem

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Fallica Avatar
November 9, 2025 at 5:13 AM
<3 . Oh gosh. . . We had a four-person group project in Nursing school. Reiko and I did the whole thing. We’re still close friends. The other two were nursing aides, who worked nights, had kids, traveled more than 40 minutes to get to school, and were unsupported. Rake and I had NO problem leaving their names on the project. . . . I've posted a story for you, ‘USA at 70 mph’, on PS.
Vionet Avatar
November 9, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Oh yeah, there are evil strategies - but I think everyone knows how it works. I volunteer to put it all together in the end, which makes me the final editor. Like you said, when we all get an “A” no one complains about their parked work - I know I wouldn’t. And if there isn’t that “A” and the work that replaced mine was poorly received, then I can appeal it - it’s a win-win. I like win-wins =]
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