Academic job hunting: Unicorn status
Last year, I felt like I’d just won the lottery. (If the lottery involved seven years of graduate study and three cycles …
Wist and wonder at life’s seasons
The first of three alarms would blare at 5:30 a.m., with back-ups set for 5:34 and 5:36, respectively. (I learned after the …
Words with friends: Collaboration makes better writers
I love the stereotypical image of a writer: A solitary figure, holed up somewhere chain smoking and drinking buckets of booze coffee, …
#NCA15 Org Comm top paper fabulousness
The nerves started to set in a week before. While chopping veggies for dinner, I observed: “I’m going to be presenting to …
Guess who’s a Wildcat?
I was a good 25 minutes up the road when I realized I’d left my cell phone on the bathroom counter. After …
What I wish someone had told me at graduation
Last weekend, I attended Sacramento State’s Arts and Letters graduation ceremony. It was my first time on the faculty side and it surprised …
Sky Ops Surprise: That one time I was an under-cover agent
The goddamned rivets blew my cover. For nine months, I ran a quiet operation. I blended in, asked around a little, mostly …
Dos and Don’ts of Dissertation Writing
Originally posted on www.bluestmuse.com May 2, 2013. It is finished. The dissertation, that is. After submitting a final draft on Monday, I …
Giving the “nerd work” its own home
One of the ways I kept my sanity during the doctoral program was by blogging. Over at bluestmuse.com, I mostly write about …