life of a new professor…
August 30, 2008First, I have to say that I’m completely surprised that anyone is still visiting this blog. I don’t think I’ve posted in almost a month and a half? Must be all those people coming back to make Southpark characters.
So, what have I been doing? LOL. That’s a good question. Readjusting my identity mostly. Trying to learn how to go from being a grad student to a professional. Not that I wasn’t professional before mind you, but now I feel like I have some sort of image of professionalism to maintain. Or something…I guess this feeling loses something in translation. Suffice to say that I don’t feel like I can wander around the department in my Converse and torn up jeans with my hair all a mess.
I’m also learning how to shift into working in an office. I’ve always been a night-owl that has completed everything at 3 in the morning at home. Now, I am in the office most of the day for meetings and teaching and I have to learn to carve out the space between these activities to get my writing done.
When they tell you as a new faculty member that things will get busier than they were in grad school, you find it hard to believe. Especially if you get a job right from your Ph.D. Nonetheless, it is true. It does get worse, at least temporarily. I think it’s the meetings that do it. Suddenly, you’re going to faculty meetings that are designed to spawn more committee meetings, which will of course require more meeting time! Suddenly, the open day for writing is studded with these little meeting nuggets of joy. There are also student meetings, e-mails, etc. Ah well, I’ll figure it out eventually.
Outside of work, we’ve been through our first tropical storm. Thankfully, it didn’t do much damage here, but parts of the state were hit very hard. We only had a few branches come down, and we never lost power.
Scott is still settling into finding a job. There have been a couple of possibilities. I’m afraid of jinxing them, so I’ll wait until we hear the final word before saying anything 
escape!
July 6, 2008So it happened again. I left Scott alone with the dogs and somehow they all got out on their own Tour de Gainesville. Thankfully, this time it didn’t end in a dog missing for a week, nor did it end with a trip to the vet. Abby only made it a few feet down the street before she decided that she wasn’t doing the lost thing again and started running around in confused circles. The huskies found the nearest neighborhood dogs and hung out with them. Emma was the only one we were really worried about, but a rogue firecracker set her home at a run. So within about a half an hour we had everyone back. Phew!
from the rainforest
July 3, 2008Well, its not actually a rainforest. I think it’s subtropical. Anyway, after the desert it seems like a rainforest oasis. We’ve had thunderstorms at least once a day and its been surprisingly cool.
We did the trip from Arizona in two days so we wouldn’t have to deal with the dogs in a hotel (we tried it the first night, it wasn’t pretty–imagine a second floor room with two 60 lb. huskies who are afraid of stairs).
We love it here. I saw my office at work today and I have a window! Sounds pathetic I know, but do you know how many junior faculty have offices with no windows? I can take my bike into my office too. Big bonus!
Add to that the fact that we live on a street that looks like the one below, and what more could you want? Well, ok. I miss my friends–but other than that?
freedom of speech?
June 16, 2008I found this article on the BBC today and thought it was pretty interesting. Its about people who have been arrested for blogging about political topics in various countries. I was surprised by the number of people arrested and the average jail sentence. The U.S. has been involved in these arrests as well…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7456357.stm
Here are a couple interesting excerpts:
Since 2003, 64 people have been arrested for publishing their views on a blog, says the University of Washington annual report.
Arrested bloggers exposed corruption in government, abuse of human rights or suppression of protests. They criticised public policies and took political figures to task.
The report said the rising number of arrests was testament to the “growing” political importance of blogging. It noted that arrests tended to increase during times of “political uncertainty”, such as around general elections or during large scale protests.
Jail time followed arrest for many bloggers, said the report, which found that the average prison sentence for blogging was 15 months. The longest sentence found by the WIA was eight years.
It acknowledged that the true number of bloggers arrested could be far higher than the total it found as, in some cases, it proved hard to verify if an arrest had taken place and on what grounds.
The report pointed out that it is not just governments in the Middle East and East Asia that have taken steps against those publishing their opinions online. In the last four years, British, French, Canadian and American bloggers have also been arrested.
rubiks cubism
June 10, 2008My husband is one of those uber-geeks that can solve a Rubik’s cube in about a minute flat. Me, I have my own way of dealing with things…
moving on
May 30, 2008I’ve been less than vigilant in keeping this blog going. Ironic considering I’ve finished the PhD and in theory I should have MORE time on my hands. Ah well…
Part of the reason for the slowdown has been the debacle of this move to Florida. It took three weeks of phone tag to get a hold of the movers here, which culminated in a 10 minute visit with a representative who grossly overestimated the amount of stuff we have. According to him we have 4700 lbs. of stuff. We live in a 1 bedroom–I don’t think so!
This is coupled with an almost consistent flow of people coming through to look at the apartment. Normally, not a big deal. However, with four dogs these visits entail Scott taking the dogs to the park so that people can see the place without being love-mauled by bouncing furballs. Quite an adventure really.
Of course, the landlady hasn’t taken to any of the people that we brought in–so all told we have had six people come through. All of which have had their apps turned down for one reason or another. On top of that I get almost daily micromanaging e-mails about how to post the apartment on Craigslist. Hmpf!
Rant aside, we are really looking forwards to the trip down to Florida. Although I may need a steady stream of tranquilizers to get there…
“bucket list”
May 12, 2008I’ve been inspired by the number of “bucket lists” that are being created right now. In particular I’m intrigued by Reaperlist.com, which will apparently hook you up with people that have similar items on their lists. Another interesting site is 2Do Before I Die.
Maggie Mason contends that once you start writing down your list, you inadvertently start working toward your goals as well. I think she might be right. I changed my focus and started studying nomadic populations in Tanzania shortly after I started this list. Frankly, I’ve been lucky to get the chance to do so many things.
I’m a bit too ADHD to actually sit and finish writing the list, but here is the working list (and the items I’ve completed)–in no particular order…
1. Visit Africa
2. Visit Southeast Asia, China, and Japan with my husband
3. Own a farm with a horse and enough land for our dogs to run
4. Create a Zen garden with flowers, a Koi pond, and Buddha statues
5. Fix up a house
6. Learn how to meditate
7. Finish my Ph.D
8. Build a bicycle from the frame up
9. Race a horse
10. Raise a child
11. Fly a plane
12. Make peace with my mother
13. Go on a cruise
14. Visit Alaska
15. Learn to play the piano
16. Learn how to ride a motorcycle
17. Learn to bellydance
18. Ride a century (100 mile bike ride)
19. Learn sign language
20. Climb a volcano
21. Visit Hawaii
22. Travel on a train
23. Take a cross-country road trip with appropriate mix tapes
24. Ride in a hot air balloon
25. Learn to take beautiful photos (or accept that the ones I take now are fine).
26. Ride on a dogsled
27. Eat sushi
28…TBA.
