I’ve decided to record some notes and thoughts about my time in New Brunswick and PEI, and possibly the rest of my research on the road.
So in one day, here are the lessons I have learned thus far from one day travelling and in Saint John:
Lesson One:
Small Planes smell, really bad ‘nuff said.
Lesson Two
Planning for research is more work than actually doing research. Organizing, finding places to stay, budgeting enough to eat, recruiting interviewees, scheduling, getting your questions set up were all much more difficult than actually doing any interview or transcribing it.
Lesson Three:
Hotels are nice, especially fancy hotels. I am in a hotel with my husband for three days and let me tell you, I could get used to this. Having stayed in places where you are afraid that the shower will make you more dirty, a clean bathroom and an included breakfast (which by the way, if your pockets are deep enough can stretch to lunch and dinner) might just soften me up a bit two much for the next two weeks. However I maintain what I always told Andrea’s Mom. “If I eat enough of your food here, I won’t have to feed myself for at least two weeks.”
Lesson Four:
Blend in with the local culture. When someone says, “Are you going to the Lobster Boil Tuesday?” Particularly if said person is a Maritimer, never answer that you don’t like lobster; you might as well claim to not like air. However, a surprising number of the Toronto people on the shuttle agreed with me. It’s not that the taste of lobster is unpleasant, it is just too much work. If a lobster shell were more like an eggshell, then perhaps I would be more inclined to eat it.
Those are my lessons thus far. I only have boring plans for today, doing school work, going out and buying a map of the province, maybe going to see the reversing falls. I brought some textbooks that I am hoping to send home with my husband so I am going to get to writing my paper for the CSSR.
FYI for all who care, my race time for the Half Marathon was 2:36:23. The Elites ran the full Marathon faster than this, but I am happy to have finished with no major injuries. If I do it again next year I will aim to get under 2:30.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
The Academic's Burden
You want to know what I would love to do more than anything else in the world (short of having a thesis fairy write my dissertation for me)?
I want to be able to answer questions with a simple yes or no.
There is a biblical precedent for this, Jesus said "let your yes be yes and your no be no." Jesus never met a PhD student.
It seems this problem spreads, it began in classes. For example the professor would say "Do you think there should be a separation between church and state." I could say yes or no, but instead I say...
"Weeeeeeellllllll, it depends, we can impose artifical separation on arbitrarily constructed categories that are a product of 17th century enlightenment thinking but the reality is any modern form of the state that exists today developed from and/or with religion, a such the state and religion are already inextribably combined. And this doesn't even begin to address what happens when the state becomes religion."
You may see this pattern in yourself and justify my answer by telling me that in reality it is a complex question that deserves more than a yes or no answer, but remember...it spreads Dun-Dun-DUN
My mom asked if I wanted pants for Chritmas I got into a discussion about sweat shops and ideal body types. My husband asked if we should start gardening, I answered with a discussion about weather patterns. A man on the road asked me if I knew how to drive...I told him to...well that doesn't really count.
The final straw...."did you want fries with that?" Want to know something, a waitress doesn't really care what you think about trans fats.
So I have a new goal, learn to say yes and no again and let that be enough. Is this a feasible or realistic project? Well, that depends.....
I want to be able to answer questions with a simple yes or no.
There is a biblical precedent for this, Jesus said "let your yes be yes and your no be no." Jesus never met a PhD student.
It seems this problem spreads, it began in classes. For example the professor would say "Do you think there should be a separation between church and state." I could say yes or no, but instead I say...
"Weeeeeeellllllll, it depends, we can impose artifical separation on arbitrarily constructed categories that are a product of 17th century enlightenment thinking but the reality is any modern form of the state that exists today developed from and/or with religion, a such the state and religion are already inextribably combined. And this doesn't even begin to address what happens when the state becomes religion."
You may see this pattern in yourself and justify my answer by telling me that in reality it is a complex question that deserves more than a yes or no answer, but remember...it spreads Dun-Dun-DUN
My mom asked if I wanted pants for Chritmas I got into a discussion about sweat shops and ideal body types. My husband asked if we should start gardening, I answered with a discussion about weather patterns. A man on the road asked me if I knew how to drive...I told him to...well that doesn't really count.
The final straw...."did you want fries with that?" Want to know something, a waitress doesn't really care what you think about trans fats.
So I have a new goal, learn to say yes and no again and let that be enough. Is this a feasible or realistic project? Well, that depends.....
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
From Paper to Practise
I am standing on a precipice...a big scary precipice.
The research I have been proposing for two years is about to become reality. I am about to hop in a car/plane/bus digital recorder in hand and actually go out and do research.
Imagine knowing a person exists for two years before you are able to talk to them one on one. it is a little scary, because at this moment, anything could go wrong.
The usual doubts are flying through my head. "what if my data doesn't support my thesis?" "What if all of my contacts fall through."
Well, maybe my blogging will be more interesting when I am on the road. I wouldn't mind a boring trip though, I think I have had enough excitement over the years on various vacations to justify one trip where only minor things go wrong (I apologize in advance to all my fellow travelers if Air Canada goes out of business while I am using their services, it would make airline number three!).
May 10th is the deadline, lets hope I can get my ducks in a row by then and that no one kills them off in the meantime!
The research I have been proposing for two years is about to become reality. I am about to hop in a car/plane/bus digital recorder in hand and actually go out and do research.
Imagine knowing a person exists for two years before you are able to talk to them one on one. it is a little scary, because at this moment, anything could go wrong.
The usual doubts are flying through my head. "what if my data doesn't support my thesis?" "What if all of my contacts fall through."
Well, maybe my blogging will be more interesting when I am on the road. I wouldn't mind a boring trip though, I think I have had enough excitement over the years on various vacations to justify one trip where only minor things go wrong (I apologize in advance to all my fellow travelers if Air Canada goes out of business while I am using their services, it would make airline number three!).
May 10th is the deadline, lets hope I can get my ducks in a row by then and that no one kills them off in the meantime!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Time for some darning
Darn you facebook, you eat up my time as I checkfor my friend's statuts updates, despite not actually having talked to those friends in years. Darn you for your quizzes, games and surveys that I feel compelled to do so people know how cool/sentimental/suave I really am. Darn you for making me think about myself in three lines or less and darn you for keeping the photos of me at that halloween party from so long ago.
Darn you for giving me something else to do other than work on my thesis. Darn you!
Darn you for giving me something else to do other than work on my thesis. Darn you!
Monday, March 2, 2009
Red Tape Math
I am building a theory of math that combines relativity with chaos theory with well, other mathy things that sci-fi shows use to justify bringing people back from the dead.
My newest fact to add to this collection. We have been reading response time lines wrong. When an office says it will take 2-4 weeks to get back to you, it actually means that the office will take 2 to the power of 4 weeks to get back to you (which my calculator tells me is 16 weeks). Likewise, 6-8 weeks is actually way longer than I want to inform you about.
This is why you will get a rejection letter for a scholarship you applied for two years ago.
Please note: this formula does not work when you owe an office at the school money. It only works when there is a chance of you getting money from the school. If you owe the school money the response time is actually simple subtraction. you should pay within 6-8 weeks actually means you should have paid 2 weeks ago, and you are probably incurring late fees/interest which will result in creitors being called in 2-3 days (you have heard from them already haven't you)?
that's all for now, I will add more math tidbits as I learn them, though understand the beaurecratic system is unstable and liable to change anytime a butterfly in China sneezes.
My newest fact to add to this collection. We have been reading response time lines wrong. When an office says it will take 2-4 weeks to get back to you, it actually means that the office will take 2 to the power of 4 weeks to get back to you (which my calculator tells me is 16 weeks). Likewise, 6-8 weeks is actually way longer than I want to inform you about.
This is why you will get a rejection letter for a scholarship you applied for two years ago.
Please note: this formula does not work when you owe an office at the school money. It only works when there is a chance of you getting money from the school. If you owe the school money the response time is actually simple subtraction. you should pay within 6-8 weeks actually means you should have paid 2 weeks ago, and you are probably incurring late fees/interest which will result in creitors being called in 2-3 days (you have heard from them already haven't you)?
that's all for now, I will add more math tidbits as I learn them, though understand the beaurecratic system is unstable and liable to change anytime a butterfly in China sneezes.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Deadline Strategy
Who says Irony has no practical applications.
I am so lazy, that I hate checking out the same book twice because I don't want to have to caryy it home again. I am currently taking out books from U of T where I only have 2 weeks to use them rather than an entire term. This laziness, defeats my non-writing laziness as such, my goal for February, have a draft of my context chapter written, thank you U of T for forcing me to work to avoid having to do work.
I am so lazy, that I hate checking out the same book twice because I don't want to have to caryy it home again. I am currently taking out books from U of T where I only have 2 weeks to use them rather than an entire term. This laziness, defeats my non-writing laziness as such, my goal for February, have a draft of my context chapter written, thank you U of T for forcing me to work to avoid having to do work.
Friday, February 13, 2009
5 Stages of Rejection
You worked long and hard crafting the perfect funding application. you spent days...maybe even weeks re-working the sentences, measuring margins and having your ideas ripped to shreds by your peers.
Submitting your application was a weight off your shoulders and resulted in a rediscovery of restful sleep. you probably forgot all about your application until January with a very thin letter appeared in your mailbox. One page letters are never good. "Dear Applicant," you read, "this year we received many excellent applications, however we only had a limited number of blah blah blah." Finally you get to the soul crushing sentence "We regret to inform you..." Let's be honest, they feel no regret.
At this point you will pass through the 5 stages of funding rejection, here is what you can expect.
Stage 1: Anger
In an attempt to put the blame somewhere (other than on yourself for leaving your application tot he last minute), you will imagine the selcetion comittee gleefully tearing up your application for the one misplaced comma or period you did not see until months later. Try to remeber this picture is mostly innaccurate, I have heard the tearing up of applications is done in a very respectful manner. Avoid the urge to indulge your anger. Do NOT get drunk at this stage and make angry phone calls or e-mails to comittee members. Aside from screwing up your chances for next year, it is never easy to work in a department where the professor down the hall has a restraining order against you.
Stage 2: Anger
Your anger will now turn inward. At this stage you will ruminate over your faults and the shortcomings of your application. You will question your worth and future as an academic. At this stage, a little drinking is reccommended provided you are surrounded by people who have also just received funding letters of death. I suggest while drinking you throw around these vauge phrases of encouragement in an attempt to keep each other from dropping out:
-"Seriously, you're like the smartest person I know"
-"It's all rigged, you just got hosed"
-"It was robably some geographer/chemist/English Prof reading your paper who just didn't get it"
"I thought it was awesome when I read it"
Stage 3: Anger
At this stage your anger will turn back outward and be more vaguely directed at "the system", "the instiution" or (For Philosophy students)"the man." Resist fantasies of attempted revenge on system (you are not Brad Pitt/Edward Norton), institution or man and do not try to remove yourself from their sphere of influence. Instead, wait until you are tenured faculty, then write manifestos criticizing the system while you sit protected by the ivory towers comfortable walls.
Stage 4: Dejection
Rejection leads to dejection. By the time you reach this stage, you will likely have let enough work pile up that you can distract yourself from how lousy you feel by busting your ass to meet the deadline you forgot about.
Stage 5: Complacency
This point is only vaguely different than dejection and is reached when after burying yourself in your work you realise that you simply no longer care as you have comps or a thesis defence coming up. This is the graduate students homeostasis unil the next rejection letter. Enjoy your state of emotional coasting interupted by bouts of procrastination where for a short moment, you might feel something non-graduate students call...well, they don't really calll it anything, they are just thankful they aren't in school anymore and that they won't receive any more rejection letters!
Submitting your application was a weight off your shoulders and resulted in a rediscovery of restful sleep. you probably forgot all about your application until January with a very thin letter appeared in your mailbox. One page letters are never good. "Dear Applicant," you read, "this year we received many excellent applications, however we only had a limited number of blah blah blah." Finally you get to the soul crushing sentence "We regret to inform you..." Let's be honest, they feel no regret.
At this point you will pass through the 5 stages of funding rejection, here is what you can expect.
Stage 1: Anger
In an attempt to put the blame somewhere (other than on yourself for leaving your application tot he last minute), you will imagine the selcetion comittee gleefully tearing up your application for the one misplaced comma or period you did not see until months later. Try to remeber this picture is mostly innaccurate, I have heard the tearing up of applications is done in a very respectful manner. Avoid the urge to indulge your anger. Do NOT get drunk at this stage and make angry phone calls or e-mails to comittee members. Aside from screwing up your chances for next year, it is never easy to work in a department where the professor down the hall has a restraining order against you.
Stage 2: Anger
Your anger will now turn inward. At this stage you will ruminate over your faults and the shortcomings of your application. You will question your worth and future as an academic. At this stage, a little drinking is reccommended provided you are surrounded by people who have also just received funding letters of death. I suggest while drinking you throw around these vauge phrases of encouragement in an attempt to keep each other from dropping out:
-"Seriously, you're like the smartest person I know"
-"It's all rigged, you just got hosed"
-"It was robably some geographer/chemist/English Prof reading your paper who just didn't get it"
"I thought it was awesome when I read it"
Stage 3: Anger
At this stage your anger will turn back outward and be more vaguely directed at "the system", "the instiution" or (For Philosophy students)"the man." Resist fantasies of attempted revenge on system (you are not Brad Pitt/Edward Norton), institution or man and do not try to remove yourself from their sphere of influence. Instead, wait until you are tenured faculty, then write manifestos criticizing the system while you sit protected by the ivory towers comfortable walls.
Stage 4: Dejection
Rejection leads to dejection. By the time you reach this stage, you will likely have let enough work pile up that you can distract yourself from how lousy you feel by busting your ass to meet the deadline you forgot about.
Stage 5: Complacency
This point is only vaguely different than dejection and is reached when after burying yourself in your work you realise that you simply no longer care as you have comps or a thesis defence coming up. This is the graduate students homeostasis unil the next rejection letter. Enjoy your state of emotional coasting interupted by bouts of procrastination where for a short moment, you might feel something non-graduate students call...well, they don't really calll it anything, they are just thankful they aren't in school anymore and that they won't receive any more rejection letters!
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