The recipients of the MacArthur Genius Grants for 2012 were announced yesterday and I was mighty surprised that I wasn’t among them.
Da noive!
Seriously though, the fellows have me scratching my in-dire-need-of-a-vigorous-shampoo-head. Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Diaz? He’s already well-known, is an incredible writer and probably makes a decent amount of moola each year, why did he get it? Same with David Finkel, an editor at the Washington Post. Of course, these two men are talented, but I was of the belief that winners of the $500,000 no-strings-attached stipend were usually struggling artists or scientists.
Oh how mistaken I be.
What also surprises me is the nomination process. Turns out it is shroud in secrecy — one can’t nominate him/herself — the fellows are nominated by an anonymous group or an anonymous person, then those nominees move onto an even more anonymous group to be voted on yet again anonymously.
Why do I have visions of this particular scene when I imagine what the whole anonymous nominating process is like?
Got it … I think. Not only do I have to get my ass in shape, buy yet another g-string and fancy head dress, I also have to prove to the fucking world I’m a serious writer who could use the $100,000 stipend paid out over 5 years, no-strings-attached.
So, how do I go about being nominated anonymously?
Guess I have to stop scowling and spitting at strangers on the street, on the CTA and in the holding cells from now on. Time to hone my flirting with cops to get out of those indecent exposure and lewd behavior arrests. And–this one hurts the most–I’ll have to discontinue going to my local OTB facility wearing just my Daisy Dukes, halter top and cowboy boots — no matter what the weather is. Also, time to stop dotting my i’s with little hearts and kitten faces.
Crap. There goes flipping people off randomly from now on too.
The goal here is to get folks to see me as a serious writer, who knows how to behave like a lady writer out in public.
This puts a serious damper on my social activities.
I dunno — but all that eccentric and anti-social behavior you describe suggests “serious writer” to me. You could also try working in the post office for a few years. It seems to have helped Bukowski.
Oh … the agony of defeat.
Between you and V *both* not being nominated, just proves there’s something hinky about their whole process, Eyes Wide Shut or not. I call shenanigans.
Madame Weebles,
They might also be too good for their dumb ass grant, one might think…
Le Clown
Dude, you just need a good Chicago-style campaign manager. You know, somebody familiar with shady politics, with a lot of friends online, with no job, living semi-anonymously in some hole-in-the-wall town … like, oh, say, Fresno Ohio – or something like that…….
You know that I feel your pain — and plenty of my own since my left knee coincidentally happens to be killing me these days.
time to grow a new knee.
You nominate me and I’ll nominate you. Although I will wind up spending most of the money on a SERIOUS attitude adjustment for myself….
I like your attitude! Consider it done…anonymously.
I may have to spend part of your half mil, creating he illusion that I am a genius,
as long as it’s done anonymously that’s fine.