Right, so, earlier today I opened my dissertation for the first time this year. I leave out the insignificant detail of the exact date it was last opened for obvious reasons. It just made me realize I’ve a metric shit tonne of work left to do before this thing is done and dusted. I like to think that I’m poised to have the most productive semester yet, with a research trip planned and other exciting advances in my field. This got me to thinking that, if I am to defend in fall 2016 (before the US puts Donald Trump in the White House, cementing the ultimate demise of that mighty empire), I’ll need to have a fire lit under my ass.
However, the supply of literary kindling and kerosene is in my possession so I’m going to do this pretend thing as if somebody is holding me accountable. Essentially, I’m turning Graduable.com into a progress tracker. I’ll probably not post much of any substance for the foreseeable future. Rather, I’m planning on posting my academic accomplishments for public scrutiny at the beginning of each week. Among academic accomplishments I include the following:
- Any and all writing on my dissertation
- Editing of same
- CV work (editing, going to conferences, giving talks)
- Article writing/editing
- Reading/researching
- Any academic blogging I might happen to do
- Other things as they come to me
So, the pretend part is that I have to suspend my disbelief that anybody other than me (and my supervisory committee) care about my progress. Nevertheless, I will endeavour to post my successes and failures right here each week. Here’s to hoping the Valley of Shit doesn’t get me.
Toodles,
Justin
PS- Here is the song “Friday I’m in Love” by The Cure. I don’t know why this seems appropriate, but here it is. Maybe I ought to put this photo of Robert Smith judging me above my desk.
The Graduable 