20 February 2010

Notes for later

I've been conferencing for a couple of days, and now there are a batch of new, in some cases quite long, posts from my favorite bloggers; so perhaps this is a sign that I should get on with some grading, and use the new reading material as reward. The current grading is not onerous, so all the more reason to get it done. But since I've been so grouchy, I feel I should at least say Thank You to those of you who are posting!

Things I might want to post about, when I get time and inclination to do so:
*my expectations for students who want to dissertate with me. I don't anticipate this situation arising any time soon; LRU doesn't attract medievalists. But a couple of experiences in the last few years have made me think I should articulate some thoughts in case I ever do have another potential Ph.D. student.
*my fantasy mentoring committee, the people I imagine urging me to my desk in the morning, and why I need a committee, not just a single mentor (real or imaginary).
*thoughts on changing careers, inspired in part by a friend IRL, in part by T.E. and her previous incarnation. I think I'm unlikely to make a change, but very likely to think a lot about it for awhile. I'll probably be satisfied by vicarious experiences, because I am basically a cat: I Fear Change.
*update on my wish list for 2010. Actually, I could probably do that now: if I do as much in the pool tomorrow as I've done on other days this week, I will have swum 2 1/4 miles this week, on top of 2 last week. I'm working up to that 3-mile wish. It seems likely that I can move some of my enthusiastic plants to campus, to beautify areas outside my building, so that will free up space for my garden plans (I cannot bring myself to uproot healthy plants that have nowhere to go). There's no sign of France yet, but I'll get Ireland and England. And Basement Cat generally spends all day roaming the house so long as a human is home to intervene when he gets obstreperous. It's a long way from the days when after 20 minutes he'd get over-excited and have to go back to his room.

2 comments:

undine said...

I love the idea of a fantasy mentoring committee cheering you on to your desk in the mornings and think I will try to adopt it.

Fiammetta said...

Ah! A fantasy mentoring committee! What a dreamy idea! (Get it? Heh heh.)

Personally, I would like to read your thoughts on the PhD student/dissertation matter. Being a (former, thanks to baby) PhD student in medieval studies, the thoughts of a faculty member on this topic are of interest to me. (I attended the University of Nebraska.) Of course, such lofty business is far out of my purview, as evidenced by my current situation: listening to Shawn the Sheep while cooking dinner. And writing a poem.