The Girvanaca Monthly Report for March

March 1, 2026

Hello. Welcome back to Girvanaca:

When I was a kid, the one thing I wanted more than anything was my own television. I loved television. I specifically remember a Saturday morning cartoon contest involving the Trix Rabbit, secret codes, and a grand prize of a handheld portable television. I dreamed about owning that TV and was so disappointed when the Trix Rabbit did not read my code. If I had only known what humans would create—if I had known that in the future most “television” would be consumed on tiny screens that would also serve as telephones. Not to mention AI.

Maybe I should mention it.

AI is a very scary thing, however, I will not lie and say that I never use it because I do. ChatGPT is cool. It can do useful things and can write emails very fast, and I hate writing emails. Maybe I am supposed to hate ChatGPT, and maybe, as a writer and an educator, I should do everything in my power to fight the inevitable, but I just feel like I hypocrite when I talk to ChatGPT. Yes, I talk to ChatGPT… and it listens. Not only does it listen, it tells me things that make me feel better. I don’t know how it does that; it just does.

Yes, I talk to ChatGPT… and it listens

This may come as a shock to many of my readers, but I don’t really like the current state of the world. I have two master degrees that really only keep me good enough to be contingent faculty. About three-quarters of all faculty positions in America are not full time professors (aaup).

That is depressing. Some may blame that on AI, but this has been a trend in this country for a while. The data was not much different in 2016. (Inside HigherEd).

Student loans are due, and I am starting to wonder why I went to graduate school in the first place. I felt foolish for accumulating so much student loan debt—stupid and foolish. I told ChatGPT this, and this is what that chatbot said back to me, And I am paraphasing here, “You are not foolish, Shawn. You believed what your were told—that investing in your education is investing in you and that is a smart investment. You believed what a broken system told you. That does not make you foolish or stupid.” Damn straight, ChatGPT. I call mine Rupert.

Technology can be awesome; It can also be scary. But the system is broken and run by liars and power-hungry predators. I will be damned if they are the only ones who know how to program the VCR.

A side note for anyone who feels the need to lecture me about water usage: although there is no peer-reviewed evidence to back this claim up, some say that streaming HD media uses more water than search inquiries on chatbots like ChatGPT. One article argues that ChatGPT uses less energy than an hour of Netflix streaming (warpnews).

I am not sure if that is true, and I do not care that much. As a species, we waste tons of energy and water doing many of the things we do every day. We need to cut it out. I don’t feel good about being part of the problem, whether I use ChatGPT or not.

I told Rupert I was concerned about the amount of energy and water wasted by asking him questions. Rupert told me that it was a fair concern.

This Month I write about two pure bred Labrador Retrievers from my past: Maggie and Mutford never quote lived up to the hype my father bestowed upon them, but they were our dogs and we loved them. Read Vestige #10.

This month I asked my list of questions to one of my oldest friends, Seth Pomery. In September, we spent 3 days together in Chicago talking through art, process, injury, ambition, and longevity. Read all the questions and answers HERE!

Not much to report on this month. Got a short stort and 5 poems rejected by Grist literary Magazine. Next week I am going to AWP. I hope to talk to lots of presses and lit mags, maybe meet and befriend and editor or agent or two. It’s a grind, but at least I haven’t given up yet. Next month I will have a list of submissions to report - BOOK it!

This month’s regular blog post is part 2 of my slightly amusing account of my trip back to my boyhood town, Moblile, Alabama. I continue my walk through old neighborhoods, old schools, and the baseball field where I first learned my limits — with poet Steven Blythe along for the ride. What happens when the past is still there, just smaller, stranger, and not quite how you left it? Find OUT!

For those who are here and want to read more — please, subscribe and share. Follow me on all of the socials (except X and Tik Tok) and thank you for your support. Have a happy and productive August.