Sometimes I wonder

why we have deadlines and then everybody sends in their stuff at the last minute or late! I am organizing some sessions for Big Canadian conference and I have some people waking up and saying "oh, I am so sorry, I missed the deadline, can I squeeze in?".

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!

PS: To the graduate student that wrote that zie wanted to send me something and to whom I wrote 3 times (do you have an abstract? remember there is a deadline, etc. etc.) and I never had a word back (not even a thank you): why are you wasting my time? And why are you sending me a message the day after the deadline telling me you were busy with a conference and the thesis, so I should understand? Yes, I do understand: you are starting out in this world by being a) rude, and b) unprofessional.

I really love this song

I am listening to Mraz's album while preparing Easy Class and I truly love this song:

Details in the fabric

I can report that the Translation course is almost ready, Easy Class is almost out of my way, finals are prepared, I still have two quizzes for one course and another test for a second one to prepare. Corrections are done, I still have to grade.

Starting next Monday it's countdown to the end of the semester: 6 weeks to go!

Good news

My contract has been renewed for another year! YAY!!!!!!!

I received a letter from a person who would like me to join an association that is not academic but it's vaguely related to the promotion of language teaching. As nice as this person was to think about me, I said no. I don't think I have time for anything that is not related to my job in a very egoistic way. I politely answered that as much as I appreciate and I am honored by the offer, I really can not take on more responsibilities. 

I think I am learning how to say no without feeling guilty.  

A nice surprise

Yesterday with Husband we went to our favorite bistro in our neighborhood and it happens to be also a bookstore. I found a nice edition of The Arcade Project of Walter Benjamin for 40$. I was happy (lately I was complaining because this bookstore sells books at very high prices, I can find the same at least 3 to 10$ less on line at Amazon or Indigo) and I pass to pay. I have a card there and every 10 books you are buying you get a discount based on your average spending for the 10 titles. And it was time to cash in my credit. With taxes and everything, the book cost me 7$!

If only that would happen more often!

And spring break is officially started: I took it easy for the last two days but now I need to get back to work: I need to prepare almost all of my translation classes. March will be an extremely busy month: my parents are coming for a 12 days visit (=light blogging ahead) and I have two meeting and several deadlines. Plus a book review due by April 1st. I will start reading the book as soon as today in order to write it asap.

Spring break and plans

At Downtown U the campus is covered with fresh snow and today we waked up to find out that the temperatures dropped significantly during the night. It was cold on this morning walk! 

I had a chance to grab a coffee with Gentle Colleague and to hear about hir plans. And to take some time to think about my situation and what I want to do in the future. I like DownTown U, it's not perfect but if offered a tt position I would like to stay. Now the chances that this would happen are really slim. We have two Senior Colleagues way over 70 that are not planning retirement at all and this create a situation where nobody new can be hired, except that with a contract like mine. Now, there might a possibility to extend my appointment from a 3 years contract into a 5 years one. But again with no possibility of a tt (unless it will opened in the far far future). Anyway, from where I stand now, and the economic situation more or less everywhere, it's a sort of a wait and see game. If I don't find anything else, I will stay, of course, and if a tt will be available I will take it even somewhere else. 

The only thing I am scared about is getting stuck in a position where I am "forced" to teach only language classes. I love to do it, I love to see the students progress and see how they expand their knowledge but I also like to engage in some critical thinking with my students while we are reading and discuss theory. And I miss doing that. A lot. So I know that this position is an excellent point of departure but its not the position I want to be in forever.  I want something that will engage me more and will give me a chance to teach literature. After all this is what my Ph.D. was about: it was about literature and not pedagogy. This is what really interests me. 

Yesterday I passed by to sign a petition into the office of a colleague who is also the Union representative. I took the chance to ask hir (this is like a million dollar question) if (s)he knew if I could be competing for Major Grant next year because I was excluded last one and nobody can give me a clear answer on the topic. UR said "oh, even if you are an Assistant Professor, we do have two classes of professors here?", well, yes, there is a discrimination and the university is not particularly welcoming with people that have this visiting gig. And you see, this is what it is all about. I want to have the same opportunities as anybody else. And I want to work and put my energy in a place where I know all my best assets will be used and actively engaged. 

Am I asking for too much?

Preparing for spring break

Well, it's very ironic to call spring break the last week of February in Canada! We have a lot of snow planned for this week and maybe for next one (our spring break at DownTown U), so I would define it as wishful thinking. But, let me tell you I just can't wait for the real spring. It will not get here fast enough.

Except for my dreaming about a weather that will arrive here in approx. 2 months (by then I won't be able to even look at my winter coat!), I am preparing for next week: the break!!!!!! Finally! I don't know why but this semester has been particularly long and particularly heavy. And one week at home will help me plan the last six weeks of the semester that are already packed with things to do. There is so much to do and so little time. I will work as much as I can because the week after I will receive the visit of my parents and I would like to make time for them even if the semester will start again in full gear. 

All I need is good planning, doing the most important and time consuming things first: like teaching prep for my translation course, and planning the final exams (that at DU we have to give in by MidMarch, can you believe it?). I also have to write a book review, on which I have mixed feelings. I always accept enthusiastically, I put the book away and then I wake up one day and I have to read the book as fast as possible and I have to write as fast as possible. Well, this time I decided that I will work on this in advance. I want to read the book this week and start planning the review over the next one. If I can write everything, then by Mid-March I will just have to read it again and then send it out. 

By the first week of April the semester is over (the exams will follow shortly). I can't wait to have the first (almost) free summer in years!

My mantra for now is: 6 more weeks, 6 more weeks!

Happy belated Valentine's Day

To all of you! We decided that for us VD was a day to spend time together and have a nice dinner in the restaurant we love.

And the furry monster came home with a Valentine bandana from daycare. He is just soooooo cute!

Enjoy the weekend!

Out of grading jail

I was busy because I was in grading jail. Over the weekend I had to:

-grade 24 translations (that was painful!!!)

-listen and grade to 20 something podcast (way better but not less difficult)

-grade 20 exams

At the very end of it I just couldn't take it anymore! I was exhausted and tired and cranky. It was really too much if you consider that I had a Friday Dept. meeting that was pretty upsetting: we have less and less funding plus without any retirements there is no chance there could be a tt position opening. What can I say? That is probably better to know it in advance and to prepare for the future. I won't have any choice than to be on the job market again next year, and, if it was already a difficult one, it will be a tightening one. For this last detail, I think I should just accept it and hope for the better. I mean, there is nothing I can do, right? 

Just to give you better news, Husband is doing very well. He went to the doctor who took care of his ear and now he does not wear his little bandage any more and he is back to work. We don't yet if the eardrum is totally repaired, we have to wait until the end of the month. But we are positive about it. 

Lately I have been struck with tiredness and crankiness. Yes, I just wrote that it's due to grading, but I think it is also due to exhaustion. I need a break!!!!!!! 3 more teaching days and then we hit spring break week. That will be nice. (plenty of work ahead but at least no teaching for a while). I think it's the winter that doesn't help, the darkness and the cold make everything more difficult for me. Plus I was not able to sleep well the last week due to Husband's snoring (he had to sleep or on one side, mine, and he was kicking me!, or on his back, and then he snored) and because the city sent some workers at 2 a.m. to empty the snow from a hole they dug in October (probable water pipes to be repaired) but they never worked on it. So two mornings ago we woke up with sirens and lights from the back street with them working on the damn hole. By the way, nobody passed by ever since to work on the thing, and just in case you wonder, I did complain first thing in the morning with the city itself. But my sleep was gone by then and I tossed and turned until morning.

Delightful news

Yesterday afternoon I was walking back to my office because I just needed to talk briefly with a colleague about a lunch scheduled for Friday and as I was passing by hir door GentleColleague invited me in. 

GC started whispering with a big smile on hir face. Gc has been hired with a similar contract and we clicked right away, we have very similar experiences and we always loved to talk about things. I really like GC a lot. GC recently applied for a tt where we are and GC gave a conference last week for hir interview (which I had to miss because it was during my office hours). So GC with a big smile told me that good news arrived.... And that GC received an offer not from Downtown U but from Green University not far from Big City about another tt job. YES!!!!! I am so happy for GC! GreenU is a wonderful place and I hope GC will accept the position. GC asked about what to do with DowntTownU. I suggested that maybe having a talk with the Chair would be a good thing and probably would allow GC to find out if the position here is for her or not. If the answer is no, then GC has the best plan B ever, because it's a tt job in a wonderful place. If it's a yes, then GC will have to figure out with hir partner if they want to stay here (GC's partner is an academic too) or if they would prefer to move and commute. In both cases, it's a lovely decision to take. 

I am extremely happy for GC, really. I felt a rush of adrenaline when GC told me this (and also said that I am the only one who knows) and I felt so enthusiastic for my Colleague for more than one reason:

-yes, there is hope out there even nowadays and even if hir field is way better in the job market than mine, there is still hope!

-we are free to make what we want (and what we can) about our lives. We aren't attached forever with chains to institutions that do not seem to value work over connections. With GC we talked about how things are going at DTU and we have seen a place that is run with favours and friendships more than everything else. It seems that networking and good relationship with people in power are the most important things. And who has the power protects who has some other power. They are all together in a tight group. And we, the newcomers, we don't belong there. And it is not only the administration that makes us feel like that we don't fit in (remember this?) but also some Faculty Members. Gc told me a little bit more about the interviewing experience and GC added that some FM were borderline rude, very rude with hir. I find this insulting and it is such a cheap shot to be rude with a candidate. Get a life! 

-it's a good inspiration for me, to remind me that I am free and next year I will have to push myself on the job market again. I can't stop here to promises (true or false as they might be) if there will be a position available or whatever they are planning. I need to be out there and look for a tt. This year the job market has been awful. Two positions opened up in my field in Canada: one was canceled and the other one was too far away (a couple of hours away by plane!) It's not what you call an excellent year. But there might be other possibilities next year. And I don't want to miss them.

-After what I wrote about YC (the post that disappeared) this is a breath of fresh air. I will miss GC a lot but I know GC has a wonderful future ahead!

Thanks

Thank you all for your comments. I'll try to stick with your advice on the matter. It's hard because I think working together will be almost impossible to avoid, but I might be able to plan it in a way where each of us has his/her responsibilities and there is no bouncing around with them. As for the friendship, I don't think it's real, it's more convenience...... and I am slowly moving away....

For Psychgrad who asked: thank you, Husband is doing better, but the recovery is slow. He has 15 stitches behind his ear and his outer ear is covered so the transplant will have its chances to work. It takes time and patience. And after that hopefully his hearing will be back to normal. 

I need advice on this one but it is a self destructing post

This post will disappear very very soon.

Poof! It just did!