signalnoise

i'm technically on spring break right now. what that means is that i'm doing *less* work.

i FINALLY got back comments from my first reader. thank god. they are - of course - harsh. but they're productive. he's in the process of (as he calls it) "disciplining" me. basically, his goal is to teach me:

1. how to think like an academic - be original, critical
2. construct a quality argument
3. write well, especially for an academic audience

so the comments are intensive, and the rewrites and edits are extensive. i started working on them yesterday. it was slow going at first, as i tried to wrap my head around all of what he was saying. but by late afternoon, i got it - and chugged out a section by the end of the night.

strangely enough, these comments got me really excited. at first, i was a bit down ("oh my god! it's terrible! i'll never be able to be an academic!" - or something other type of melodramatic grad school response). but as i was working on them, i could feel the paper getting better. at least a *bit* better. it's hard to remember sometimes that writing for academia is so much process - throwing an idea down, picking at it, getting comments, reworking the idea, getting more comments to fine tune later versions and so on. yesterday, i really felt like - in some small way - i was participating in that process. i enjoyed being a grad student for a little bit.

so, i just sort of realized the other day - i've been hanging out here for about a year now. crazy. it's a good place - i've met some smart, interesting people. so thank you to all of you out there.

(oh my GOD something smells bad in the reynolds club today..)

all right. i'm going to pack up, eat some lunch and do some writing. (i had to venture to campus today to return a book that had been recalled. bastards....). i think i'll head to university market - for the best sandwiches ever. have a good one.