In break-taking news, I sent emails to my dissertation director and to a mentor from grad school. I've been gearing up to send these emails for a couple of weeks. What this means is that I'm really intending to go on the job market this fall. Sure, I've known this for about a month now, but it wasn't for real until I sent these emails. And now that it is real, it means that I need to contact a few more people to make requests for letters of reference, among other things. I don't have any reason to think that any of the people I'll be contacting will reject my requests for letters/advice/etc., but I still feel so uncomfortable asking people for these things. In part I think I feel more discomfort now that I did when I was a graduate student - at least when I was a student it was these people's responsibility to do things like write letters for me and also I really didn't realize how much work it is to write a good letter for somebody, but now, well, I know how much work it is to write a good letter, and in a weird way to ask people for such things feels like a bizarre imposition on professional friendship. I know it's not, and that this is the way that the game is played, but I still feel like I'm imposing on people when I make such requests.
So. I accomplished many professional things today, and the day is not over yet. And I'm going to start posting the photo-meme posts on Monday, and I'll spread them out over a week or two, I think. And I've also been thinking a lot about my syllabi for the fall and updating them. Why I can't just fucking relax, at least until August, I'm not entirely sure. The thing I'm telling myself, though, is that by getting all of this stuff done in the next two weeks it will mean that I can relax during the first two weeks in August in celebration of my birthday.
In Man-Kitty news, all work and no play is totally not his scene, and he's totally not into the fact that I've been ignoring him.
"Dude," says the Man-Kitty, "can't you see how awesome I am? Don't you realize that hanging out with me is infinitely more fun than this 'work' nonsense you keep yammering on about?"
7 comments:
My mam says:
"What a beautiful cat. Is it a pedigree or just a plain old fashioned moggy?"
I said I do not know. Let's ask.
Pedigree - hehe! Not in the slightest. I got him almost two years ago because a colleague of mine and her husband rescued his litter, which had been abandoned by the mama. I made the mistake of looking at the picture that was attached with the plea for people to give the kitties homes, and well, that's how I ended up with the Man-Kitty. (I will say this, though: I think he's the most handsome of the rag-tag bunch of foundlings from which he comes, only one other of which has his coloring.)
Whoa, it's the Man-Kitty. Haven't see that dude in forever!
I can't get over how much that cat looks like you. It's freaky.
Man-Kitty!! He is indeed sooooo beautiful - and very aristocratic looking. (I also love the way he matches your blog.)
The letter-writing thing - I do think that if one is bouncing around a lot, it's fair to spread the letter-writing around. But I wouldn't worry, Crazy - people understand how this works. (My grad advisor actually declined to write a letter for me for my current job! But that's a whole other story...)
Man-Kitty is just too handsome!!! Very regal! Perhaps Sir Man-Kitty?
Liz - I see what you're saying about it sometimes being an imposition on the letter-writer - in fact, that's what I always fear when it comes to asking for these things - but I wonder whether part of the issue here is that the person you describe seems to feel an extreme sense of entitlement - or at least to perform one in the way that he asks for the letters? That he seems to assume that everyone who wrote for him before will be all to happy to update for him again, without actually ASKING them to do so? To me, there is a difference in that when I ask somebody to write for me I always assume that they could say no, you know?
I'm kind of yammering on, and I may post more about this, I'm thinking, either today or in the coming days....
Thanks for all of the compliments to the Man-Kitty. I shall pass them along to the Man-Kitty himself ;)
(P.S. Man-Kitty isn't actually a "Sir" though he is, for reasons I cannot disclose on the blog, "Lord Protectorate." But yes, regal, indeed!)
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