Something Shiny! - MeMeMeMeMe category

As if the job market in history wasn't degrading enough...

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:05:30 GMT

I got a fat letter today from An East Central College, to which I've applied for a job. I won't pretend that my heart didn't skip a beat when I saw it. I tore it open while I was standing at the mail box. What was it, you ask? It was a fundraising letter, asking for money. NO KIDDING. Employment: yur doin it RONG.

NaBloPoMo: Idiosyncrasies

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 04:07:03 GMT

The words "mani," "pedi," and "hairdo" make my skin crawl. I've no idea why, but they're like nails on a chalkboard for me (a sound which, ironically, doesn't bother me).

I hate watching movies. In the theater, rented, or on tv, I can't stand it.

If I have leftovers at a restaurant, I usually ask for a box, even if I didn't like the food. Why? Because I don't want to hurt the kitchen staff's feelings. (Who is this girl?!?)

NaBloPoMo: Gum vampire

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 19:49:01 GMT

I'm a gum chewer. Always have been. Gum was my candy of choice as a kid. I'd take any spare change I could scrounge up, walk down to Dutch Maid, and buy as much Apple Super Bubble as I could. (I'm actually pretty sure that stuff causes cancer. I bought a big bin of it a few years ago, as a present to myself, and I had to throw most of it away; it was stashed in our pantry and no matter what container I shoved it in, or how many layers of Ziploc separated it from the rest of us, we could still smell it.) I find myself chewing more and more gum these days, as I'm writing The Dissertation. I'd go through a pack a day, I'm sure, if I let myself. I'm like a gum vampire. It takes very little time for me to chew all the flavor out of a stick of gum, and then inevitably I'm left wanting more. I think it must be a bit like smoking. Go with me on this. My dad quit smoking years ago, after being a smoker for most of his life. He still says that when he's working on something, he feels like he needs a cigarette in his hand in order to concentrate. I think it's like that with me and gum. So there you go: you want this dissertation finished? Get me gum for Christmas.

NaBloPoMo: And then there were nine

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:47:59 GMT

So! The economy's down, I'm sure you've heard. And not only is this affecting everything from grocery prices to the impending collapse of our auto industry, it's also affecting the History job market. Lo! Who would have guessed? It seems that universities are, ah, more reluctant to hire redundant American History professors in a recession. Weird, right? I know this because job searches are being cancelled left and right, left and right, people! For a long time it was limited to jobs to which I didn't apply (note proper grammar! please hire me! AM SMART!). Now, though, the ax has fallen: University of Massachusetts Amherst, it appears, has cancelled their search. Considering that I never got any confirmation from them of any kind, and considering that I'm probably not, ah, Amherst material, I'm not too fussed about it. But it was one of the only ten jobs on my application list, leaving me wondering about the other nine. And (AND) some colleges are actually shutting down. Shutting down! Closing! No college, no more! I think it's pretty safe to say that, Great Depression aside, there's never been a worse time to try to find a job, sell a house, and completely reconfigure a life. Yay me! Let's all keep our fingers crossed for those last nine searches, yes?

NaBloPoMo: On speaking your mind

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 00:18:42 GMT

About four years ago, when we'd lived in Gainesville only a few months, I made an appointment with a... erm... lady doctor for a checkup. Since I was a new patient, she had a number of basic questions for me, starting with occupation. When I told her I was a graduate student working towards my PhD, she snorted and said, "well, if you think that's best!" I smiled politely and decided to give her the benefit of the doubt; she probably thought she was being clever, not rude. Ahem. When she asked my age (26 at the time), she also asked if John and I had kids yet. I told her we didn't and her eyebrows shot up. She then went on to lecture me that we should start having kids if we ever wanted them, that my chances were slip-slip-slipping away (while, it went without saying, I wasted my time in graduate school), and she suggested I start taking folic acid in preparation.

What strikes me now, years after the incident, is that I didn't say anything to this woman. At the time, I decided not to make an issue of it because she probably thought she was being helpful. But I think it's important to speak your mind when you feel strongly about something. In this case, I feel strongly about my right to decide if and when I want children, and this woman-- whether she knew it or not-- was badgering me. So why didn't I speak up? Was it shock? Social etiquette? Shyness? It still puzzles me.

NaBloPoMo: Civic Duty

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 05:12:40 GMT

About a month ago I opened the mailbox and groaned inwardly: I'd received a jury summons instructing me to show up, well, today. In theory, I'm all about the Civic Duty. In theory, I think it's one of the greatest responsibilities of living in this democracy. In theory, I think it's something everyone should experience at least once. In Theory. In practice, uh, this isn't the best week for me. Can I get a substitute? A pinch juror? A note from my mother? Because really, there couldn't be a worse week for this to happen. Today, Monday, is jury selection day. I'll find out when, later in the week, I have to show up for the trial. Tuesday is Veteran's Day, so presumably there won't be any trials that day. Wednesday I teach: not such a great day for me to be in a trial. Thursday is good! Thursday I could be a juror! Except, you know, for the fact that it's one of my only writing days. And Friday isn't good either, for reasons I'll blog about tomorrow. So today I have to be the Privileged White Girl that goes up to the judge, hopefully not twirling my hair and playing with my iPhone (I don't have an iPhone), and says, "I can be a juror, but only on Thursday." Oh, good. Sign me up.

Update! I've been excused from jury duty! Although I really do believe that it's something everyone should experience, I'm completely glad my number didn't come up this time because it really was going to wreak havoc on my schedule. Now I can go back to eating bonbons and sleeping in late. Kidding!

NaBloPoMo: AM EMOTIONAL

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 13:04:49 GMT

Walking into the grocery store last night, I caught a whiff of my mom's perfume. It's an unusual perfume, by which I mean that it's not a fragrance many women wear, so it's something I come into contact with only around my mom. Anyway, I just about lost my shit right there, in Publix. It's the job search, I'm sure. It's longing for something familiar and comforting. We always knew it was a long shot to get back to Kansas. We braced ourselves for that reality, and came to terms with it. And yet, as October has slipped quietly into November, and the job ads are fewer and further between, it's hard not to feel a pang of disappointment that the Kansas thing probably won't pan out. We will probably always live a distance (big or not-as-big) from our families.

As soon as I got home last night, I called my friend Amy to talk me down from the ledge. "Well of course you're upset! You've got, oh I don't know, your job search and your dissertation to worry about! And as if that wasn't enough," she wisely observed, "you were at the grocery store! That's enough to push anyone over the edge!"