the skinny malinky

But now I’m back. I was buried in work, and then occupied with rebelling against work, then suffering from post-rebellion malaise. Now I’m returning to work, happily, maybe even with some enthusiasm. Since last we spoke, I finished a draft of my introduction, which felt significant. Though I will undoubtedly have to change it quite a bit once everything else is written, I felt at some point here in the middle of the dissertation that I needed some direction, and writing the intro seems to have served that function.  Speaking of intro’s, next on my to-do list is revising the intro for the anthology Patricia and I began editing oh so many years ago.  But, finally, the review process is over and a contract is on the way. University presses, take your time much?  I’ve been re-reading the articles, and making some notes for the authors, and that is the kind of work I really enjoy, thinking about people’s writing, and ways to help the brilliance shine through. On the top of my procrastination list right now is the R&R for an article that I just got back. Can’t… bear…. to touch it. But I will get to it soon, else this roll I’m on rolls off and leaves me and the article behind.

In other news: Looking for a job in a recession? I don’t recommend it. I got I think my 7th notice yesterday that a job I applied for has been callled off, not to mention the handsome pile of rejection letters that has accumulated. I wonder if Obama’s plan for federally-funded highway construction projects might include some post-doc positions… I still have a handful of active applications, but I’m making Plan B’s, which I’m feeling good about, and I’m in the very lucky position of being able to renew my funding next year, should it make sense to sit on the diss and wait to defend until something else opens up. I will say this about applying for jobs — it makes me really enjoy and appreciate time spent on the diss. The dissertation is a pure delight compared to preparing job applications. Pure delight.