tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46471948016903609812012-01-27T19:50:06.048-08:00One Grad Student's Mad Trek to the Ph.D.J. Harkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08925739628467279898noreply@blogger.comBlogger503125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4647194801690360981.post-51510889740367134152012-01-27T19:50:00.000-08:002012-01-27T19:50:06.060-08:002012-01-27T19:50:06.060-08:00

January has been a busy one. I'm applying for more jobs, teaching a new class, prepping a syllabus for another new class next term, going to Important Departmental Lectures and trying desperately to finish a (truly rough) draft of Chapter Four by the end of the month. I've also submitted an article for publication and sent in an abstract for next year's Conference of Doom. Oh, and the Wife and

J. Harkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08925739628467279898noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4647194801690360981.post-54476518144005768492012-01-05T21:31:00.000-08:002012-01-05T21:31:01.948-08:002012-01-05T21:31:01.948-08:00

Christ is this conference big.  I mean, Jesus.  It's huge.  You can't swing a dead cat in this hotel without hitting at least three preeminent classicists. Which is lovely. And draining.  I find I'm always on the lookout for people I know and haven't seen in years and would love to talk to.  Or people I know and haven't seen in years and would prefer to keep that way.  So it goes. But tonight

J. Harkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08925739628467279898noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4647194801690360981.post-42622261477785827972011-12-24T05:59:00.000-08:002011-12-24T08:43:38.016-08:002011-12-24T08:43:38.016-08:00

It rained throughout every minute of our 9 hour drive out to the Family Christmas. But we made good time. Great time, in fact.  Until we were 30 miles out of the Metropolitan Area. Then we slowed to a goddamned crawl. Heavy construction + rush-hour holiday traffic + unfamiliar city + night + rain = No Fun The Wife was driving through the worst of it, which kicked off when the exit crept up on

J. Harkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08925739628467279898noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4647194801690360981.post-48839397166470673402011-12-19T17:28:00.000-08:002011-12-19T17:28:14.570-08:002011-12-19T17:28:14.570-08:00

First and foremost, you should know that I am drinking at this very moment a Ginger Martini and that it is delicious. I am also currently watching the Wife play Skyrim, which is both beautiful and expansive. Which is all to say that the end of the semester has rolled around, and the holidays are once again upon us. I was expecting to be thoroughly stressed right about now, but with absolutely

J. Harkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08925739628467279898noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4647194801690360981.post-51182565529021856502011-12-16T06:00:00.000-08:002011-12-16T06:00:41.869-08:002011-12-16T06:00:41.869-08:00

Last week I popped into the office to check my mail - and I do love that that's why I go to the office these days, to check my mail. God, dissertation writing can be terrifically freeing sometimes.  Anyhow, I popped into the office and ran into one of my professors, The Voice.  He stops me, puts his hand on my shoulder and turns me slightly, saying "Oh, let me see that coat you've got on!" Now,

J. Harkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08925739628467279898noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4647194801690360981.post-52026552706948424802011-12-12T07:33:00.000-08:002011-12-12T07:33:41.004-08:002011-12-12T07:33:41.004-08:00

Alright.  It's gotten to that point in the job search where some reality has set in. I have now been passed by for interviews with 10 of the 21 applications I've sent in.  One of them was, sadly, The Dream Job.  That ship has sailed. I had myself a good mope, then put on my Big Boy Pants and got the fuck over it. Of the 11 applications I've still got out, 3 are for fellowships that I Just

J. Harkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08925739628467279898noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4647194801690360981.post-45144574103624842212011-12-09T05:38:00.000-08:002011-12-09T05:38:50.024-08:002011-12-09T05:38:50.024-08:00

I have seen babies do horrible things. For example, babies ruined the home of two of my professors. It had been such a lovely home - spacious, tastefully decorated, with a wide backyard, several rooms devoted to their varied hobbies, and a kitchen from which they served delicious, time-intensive meals. And then their children came along. In addition to robbing Prof Couple of sleep and

J. Harkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08925739628467279898noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4647194801690360981.post-81720525804980679642011-12-07T05:35:00.000-08:002011-12-07T05:35:21.544-08:002011-12-07T05:35:21.544-08:00

Let me go on record as saying that this was one of the best semesters of teaching I've ever had. My students were interested and, for the most part, engaged. They were capable, intelligent, and they asked questions. That wouldn't have seemed so appallingly wonderful to me five years ago, but good Christ on a pogo-stick, question-askers are a rare breed indeed.  And I'm not even talking about

J. Harkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08925739628467279898noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4647194801690360981.post-79209686601787780892011-11-28T17:55:00.000-08:002011-11-28T17:55:31.337-08:002011-11-28T17:55:31.337-08:00

Dear Students On Campus, It is rainy and dark and there are lots of cars on the road at 5.00pm. Most of you are wearing dark, drab colors and insist on staring at your feet while you move from place to place. If you want to continue being able to stare at your feet, Do. Not. Walk. Blindly. Into. Traffic. Seriously. At least five of you tried to get yourselves killed tonight. Cross at

J. Harkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08925739628467279898noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4647194801690360981.post-40646106316667372532011-11-27T08:09:00.000-08:002011-11-27T08:09:20.577-08:002011-11-27T08:09:20.577-08:00

As Thanksgiving weekend draws to a close, I am actively trying to forget something our department chair told me: that most search committees tend to take advantage of this nice, long weekend to review job applications. Which means that more and more interview requests should be made in the next few weeks. Which means that I am doing my level best not to check my email constantly. Or reload the

J. Harkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08925739628467279898noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4647194801690360981.post-73389151139020237442011-11-10T16:39:00.000-08:002011-11-10T16:41:11.786-08:002011-11-10T16:41:11.786-08:00

I went for my first "rage run" today. It was the culmination of a lot of things: my fellow dissertators - Levi and Walt - have been put in truly wretched positions through no fault of their own; I realized that I've talked more with my third reader this week than I have with my chair and second reader over the course of the past year; coaxing a handful of job-specific letters from my

J. Harkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08925739628467279898noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4647194801690360981.post-32534715162206072902011-11-08T11:31:00.000-08:002011-11-08T11:31:51.119-08:002011-11-08T11:31:51.119-08:00

I very nearly had one of my applications dismissed out of hand because of something that amounted to a slight administrative oversight. One position, like many others, requested a copy of my graduate transcript among various other documents.  I sent it along, like you do. A few weeks later, I heard back from them that my application was incomplete.  "We're missing your graduate transcript!"

J. Harkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08925739628467279898noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4647194801690360981.post-5843479724285718722011-11-07T11:06:00.000-08:002011-11-07T11:06:15.181-08:002011-11-07T11:06:15.181-08:00

Boom! Chapter 3? Handled. Chapter 4? Research under way. Job market? Looking good. November & December? PACKED.

J. Harkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08925739628467279898noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4647194801690360981.post-57788725367186817272011-11-02T13:52:00.000-07:002011-11-02T13:52:50.409-07:002011-11-02T13:52:50.409-07:00

You may rest assured, my floorboards are intact. As many (most? all?) of you figured out, most posts throughout the month of October were part of an extended Halloween story. Alas, it was a story that ended on more of a "huh" than with any sort of satisfying conclusion. I'm sorry. I wish it had been real. Except for the crickets. Those I'm pleased to have done without. Thanks for playing

J. Harkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08925739628467279898noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4647194801690360981.post-92046894688563129792011-10-31T11:43:00.000-07:002011-10-31T11:43:23.712-07:002011-10-31T11:43:23.712-07:00

Those rough steps opened up onto this. It just keeps going. This used to be a limestone cavern of some sort? Maybe? The 'room' ends in this. It just... drops. I don't know how far down.

J. Harkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08925739628467279898noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4647194801690360981.post-19147224419979999332011-10-30T19:03:00.000-07:002011-10-30T19:03:56.881-07:002011-10-30T19:03:56.881-07:00

Oh. That's why the cellar doors were locked.

J. Harkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08925739628467279898noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4647194801690360981.post-85718465540012847022011-10-25T12:49:00.000-07:002011-10-25T12:49:39.340-07:002011-10-25T12:49:39.340-07:00

Since the Wife and I are (at heart) dirty-dirty hippies, we have a Community Supported Agriculture share. That means that every other week, we get fresh produce from a local farm. It's great. If you live in a city of any moderate size, there's probably a CSA near you. You should check it out! You'll get veggies you probably wouldn't have eaten otherwise, and you'll be supporting local

J. Harkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08925739628467279898noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4647194801690360981.post-46981952716436411882011-10-24T11:30:00.000-07:002011-10-24T11:30:36.444-07:002011-10-24T11:30:36.444-07:00

Karaoke went well. I sang too loudly (from the audience, you may be assured), wrecked my voice and had enough to drink that crawling into our 'basement' at 2am seemed like a really good idea. I think The Wife and I would be much more happy about our discovery A) if it weren't dank and dark, but more importantly B) if it weren't such a pain in the ass to access. As is, where the door should be

J. Harkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08925739628467279898noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4647194801690360981.post-11851812450267422132011-10-22T18:34:00.000-07:002011-10-22T18:34:49.961-07:002011-10-22T18:34:49.961-07:00

The Wife, editing my current chapter: "You've gotten a lot better about not writing a bunch of convoluted bull-crap." I take that as a compliment. And yes, my wife is so fucking awesome that she edits my chapters.  Really, really well. I know. She's incredible. Someday I'll have to explain how she's essentially the primary audience I have in mind when I write, but that's for another time. 

J. Harkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08925739628467279898noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4647194801690360981.post-80378795021814422362011-10-16T15:20:00.000-07:002011-10-17T08:14:03.934-07:002011-10-17T08:14:03.934-07:00

Here's part of our crawlspace!   Best part? NO MORE CRICKETS. [Edit: For a sense of scale, that piece of wood is the handle of a shovel. The whole space is about as wide as my shoulders.]

J. Harkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08925739628467279898noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4647194801690360981.post-14234923612268067872011-10-12T17:05:00.000-07:002011-10-12T17:05:50.427-07:002011-10-12T17:05:50.427-07:00

In other, not horrific, news: I get to design my own upper-level lecture class next term! It can be about anything. Well, anything within reason. Anything that's classical. Anything that's classical and can be accessed without a knowledge of Greek or Latin. So there are some limitations. But not many. I'm excited! On the other hand, this is guaranteed to require a lot of time. Which is fine -

J. Harkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08925739628467279898noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4647194801690360981.post-79392835381155980762011-10-11T19:48:00.000-07:002011-10-11T19:48:12.976-07:002011-10-11T19:48:12.976-07:00

The past week has been all kinds of fucked up. And that's putting it lightly. Let me say in all honesty that the least absurd thing that happened was that a squirrel tried to claw its way into our bedroom through the window screen.  Seriously. We have no idea why. Our best guess is that it saw our basil plant in the window, saw that the window was open, and just decided to go for it. He ran

J. Harkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08925739628467279898noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4647194801690360981.post-42869022558102534892011-10-04T18:54:00.000-07:002011-10-04T18:55:19.335-07:002011-10-04T18:55:19.335-07:00

The good news is that my dissertation committee is on board with the direction/scope of the project. Never mind that they'd all been on board previously... It's fine. All is well. Progress is being made. The bad news is that the crickets don't seem to have been phased by the spray. Bug Guy is coming back tomorrow. Hopefully our floor won't be ruined for weeks. Also? The Wife and I have been

J. Harkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08925739628467279898noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4647194801690360981.post-36755862863414072722011-10-02T18:32:00.000-07:002011-10-02T18:32:42.494-07:002011-10-02T18:32:42.494-07:00

We had to call five different places, but we finally got a bug-exterminator to come out here even though it's Sunday. I'm glad we did. Though we'd swept all the crickets outside last night, they were back again this morning in full force. What's more, we finally saw some of them coming up from beneath our floor. The hardwood planks in the living room have separated in the past how-ever-many

J. Harkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08925739628467279898noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4647194801690360981.post-66866660480332333722011-10-01T21:09:00.000-07:002011-10-01T21:09:10.387-07:002011-10-01T21:09:10.387-07:00

Over the past week or so, we've been finding more and more crickets in our house. The Wife and I didn't think too much of it at first - the weather has been getting cooler and they're probably just looking to stay warm at night. But we came home tonight to find several dozen hopping around our living room. I can handle a few crickets. Really. They're not a problem. But when there are this many

J. Harkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08925739628467279898noreply@blogger.com5