Christmas
is immanent and imminent. My departure for colder climes is only a
matter of time, indeed of hours. The semester has concluded almost
completely, with only one minor bit of secretary work to go, but the
pleasure and thrill of ABDdom is that vacations are not in fact
vacations, and a full draft of chapter one (as yet untitled) will
occupy a significant chunk of the next three weeks. The way is mostly
clear to a satisfactory conclusion, but it ain't over 'till it's
over.
The
conclusion of my peripheral activity made no particular difference in
the general course of my life, but nevertheless I was gratified to
receive high marks for my performance. It's frequently said that the
kinds of people who end up in graduate school are those who have
learned to base their self-esteem on their end of semester report
card, and certainly said interpretation explains the burst of
satisfaction I got from those A's. Meanwhile, in the more central
world of dissertating, my committee regards my linguistic diversions
with one skeptical, exquisitely raised, and somewhat furrowed
eyebrow. Learning for the sake of learning is somewhat less valued
than I had hoped, but as long as I continue to make satisfactory
progress towards becoming Dr. Robertson my advisor will tolerate my
foibles.
Speaking
of which, Dr. Popelka informed me this week that the latest edition
of Historica
has hit the streets, and thus I have thus with little pomp and
ceremony become a published scholar. It only took five years.
Hopefully I'll manage to repeat this feat, but even if not I've made
an impression, an indentation, however small, in the sum total of
human knowledge. That's kind of nice.
As
far as the rest of the matter, I'm underwhelmed by my recent
commitment to physical exertion and will have to clear up more time
for the acquisition of washboard abs in the coming semester.
Nutrition, sleep, and other basic indicators of optimal functioning
are floating at or near optimal levels. I'm continuing my emphasis on
cultivating individual human relationships instead of the largely
impersonal and inchoate expressions of sodden interpersonality which
have diverted me in the past and I feel the richer for it. In
particular, I would like to thank Brittany, Sarah, Julie, and
Meredith for putting up with my crap and being amused by my antics.
Also,
I'm in Colorado for the next eleven days, so if you're around we
should hang out. You know who you are.
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