Quandry

Couple of things, only. (this is a lie, actually, as you'll see from the length of my rambling)

Festus is a sweet kitty cat (I say this only because he is intent at the moment on getting into my lap, nevermind that it is currently occupied by this keyboard).

I had a bit of a dilema earlier today. I've made this sort of pledge to not buy anything trivial/unnecessary for a year. So if I want for some reason to celebrate the impending semester's arrival with a pie, I certainly can't go out and buy one or eat one out. (I really wouldn't want to anyway, since my own pies taste much better.) But it would also be mighty trivial and unnecessary to purchase two cans of cherries, some shredded coconut, crushed pecans, and shortening for a fresh pie. After all, what do I need a pie for? And do I need a whole pie? How will I rid myself of the remaining pie?

I finally decided that if ice cream is off the list as trivial, so then were the pie and pie ingredients. That's a very slippery slope when it comes to desserts, as they are by and large unnecessary and trivial. Instead, I will just find some other way to celebrate the new semester. I'll swim in the pool maybe. Or take an extended walk around my park. Those are both free and non-consumed. They fit the bill, as does reading a good book (or a few chapters anyway), listening to music (all the new music you could ask for comes on the radio, if you've a good ear for stations), or even just spending twice the time playing with the kitties.

The other thing that gave me a bit of a puzzle was yarn. I knit, and need to keep a supply of yarn to work with, unless I plan to unravel and re-knit everything I make. That would be a bit unrewarding, and so I want some new yarn. (Currently, I'm sitting on scraps of puke green, grey, a dark blue, a brown I got from an officemate, two nice shades of green I'm using at the moment for a blanket, and several incredibly bulky yarns that I really can't use at the moment in my lined-up projects.

I've managed to convince myself that if I go and buy yarn, it will be knitted into something very useful, and that it is therefore okay to consume yarn. I'm not running out and buying up lots of needles or row counters, or stitch holders, or darning needles, or finger gloves, or wrist braces, or knitting scissors, or rulers, or yarn storage devices, or anything. Though I'd love to. So I'm thinking tomorrow I'll buy three skeins of absolutely regular worsted weight yarn, in either colors that go well together (for a shawl pattern I've both practiced with pukey colors and fell in love with regardless) or in a nice beigey off-white that will go with everything but get dirty post haste (for that same pattern--I love it!).

After all, I'm tired of shrugging into a sweater and out of it again for classes where I'm cold, and a shawl gets around that. I have some very large saftey pins that can hold it together for a year before I go out to buy a nice broochy pin for it. A shawl would be a nice addition to my wardrobe, and would look nice to teach in as well. It would be perfect in school, in church, at home, on the bus, and just about anywhere but while I'm actually driving or shlepping a backpack.

The only decision to be made after this ingenious rationalization is whether I'll be getting a colorful shawl that goes with stuff based on the Joseph-coat effect, or the white-ish that would be plainly pretty but more easily dirtied. Oh decisions.

Despite the year-long ban on frivolous consumerism, I plopped down a tiny bit over 200 dollars yesterday on a little black seafoam dress. But I can forgive that as I'd agreed to be a bridesmaid long before the project started. To keep me accountable, I'm actually going to keep a list off to the side of what I purchase above and beyond the absolute necessities. To be included on the list are all those items which I have to rationalize. We'll all see how well I do.

In that vein, I have a confession. I purchased a bottle of water from a vending machine today. My trusty plastic jug of yesteryear (holds all 8 glasses for the day and has a sippy top) broke last week, and I was very thirsty and on the move. I tried for an hour to keep refilling a coffee mug from the lounge, but working around computers and running all over the building just seemed to demand a covered, portable liquid-holding device. I broke. Tomorrow, I'm taking a large bottle from home.

I'm also walking around the mall and examining clothing. I will be looking for styles I might incorporate into my wardrobe, or ideas on how I can rearrange the clothing I have to look like styles in style at the moment. If I happen to find a pair of jeans that fit well (requirements: not stretch jeans, not too long, not too low-waisted, not too tight ANYWHERE, not too loose in the waist, do flatter my figure, and are relatively cheap) I will buy a pair. And then to even things out, I'll give away a pair of low rise Wal-mart stretchers that did fine in a pinch but that I feel naked in. But as you can see from the requirements, I'm unlikely to even come across a pair of these mystical jeans, and therefore, am unlikely to purchase said jeans.

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Our first technology meeting took place today, and it was not bad. I'm thinking this might actually be an opportunity to grow professionally instead of waste a Friday per month listening to blather. I'm happy about this. In fact, I'm also seeing all kinds of ways to execute my duties on the committee, and will begin the first day of classes.

Also on the first day of classes, I am going to try to set up a meeting with my temporary advisory committee. It is never too soon to get in touch with committee people, except, apparently, before classes begin. They're looking at my transcripts now to be properly advisorly. I'm thinking I can focus my energies on sci-fi/fantasy and religion. Especially in the way those two relate to one another. It's basically what the thesis dealt with, and if I can delve a bit deeper into the matter, I think I'll be very pleased.

Apparently, for the MA, everything is straightforward. You go in on date X, estimate two years, and graduate on date X + 2. What you do in between has to fill in the spaces on a chart. Kind of like the undergrad degree, except with harder courses and an insane amount of specialization. None of those core classes, etc. The PhD, according to the orientation snipit I attended yesterday on PhD policies and whatnot, is a different beast. Like so:

You go in on date X. You plan your graduation date. We'll call it G. Then you work backwards two years to (G - 2.5). That's when you need to start your dissertation. So dissertation (D) is (G - 2.5). Before you can begin D, you must have the qualifying examination under your belt. So Q must take place somewhere between (G - 2) and (G - 2.5). There's a great deal of study that must take place before Q, and about 2 years of coursework (I'll have slightly less). Now, I'm obviously no math person, so I'll quit all that right now. The point, in English, is that I have to order everything backwards until now, and then do whatever it is I should be doing now, um, now.

I have decided that if they will fund me for 5 years, I will take 5 years of funding. That's of course not taking into consideration a job offer of some kind that takes away the necessity of funding. I will be aggressively on the job market in December/January of 2011, when the MLA is going on and most universities are on the prowl for candidates. To be a good candidate, I'll need to have my dissertaion defended by then. But if I do that too early, I'll graduate in December, have no definate job for Spring '12, and have no funding, either. So I must defend my dissertation in Fall of '11, after the deadline.

To that end, my birthday gift to myself in 2011 will be my dissertation defense. Happy birthday to me. Anyone else who'd like to contribute to 'Mira's b-day gift can mark that in their calander (if you know the date). This ensures a nice hot May graduation, with hooding and whatnot. Very fancy and all that.

I'm giving myself some two and a half years to write the dissertation. Which means that I'll be taking my quals in two years. I'm NOT doing that on my birthday. There would be very few crueler birthdays I can imagine. And in the next two years, I must take lots of classes, get lots of professional development in, and put together a list of 200 books that my professors can use to torture me.

On that happy note, I'm going to bed.

Love and Peace.