On Job Markets and Other Such Things

So, I'm struggling a bit.

I just wrote a long blog on the job market, and working with graduate students.

And then I deleted it.

Part of why I haven't written lately is that I worry about the line between professional and personal me. Could I write something that would misrepresent my employer? Have my voice mistaken for the university's?

The worry keeps me from publishing. And it's very hard because I don't want to blog about my personal life (I like to keep some things private), and other than my personal life and my job, there's not much I feel qualified to write about.

Tips, readers?

So, friends, what's a blogger to do?

I only seem to be writing updates

It's 8 am on Sunday morning, and I just finished reading Ender's Game. I was supposed to read it for book club two weeks ago, but couldn't make it because of work.

Upstairs, my husband's oldest two nephews and mom are sleeping, here for a week-long visit. Two boys, 14 (going on 15) and 13. Lord, have mercy! Honestly, they are great kids. But the number of fart jokes....

I realize that as my job has increasingly required me to write (I now write most of the content for a quarterly newsletter) and I've worked on article revisions, I've found these sufficient arguments for not writing the blog. Add to that how much of my life seems to be spent working, and how work is largely off-limits for writing, and the result is a long-neglected blog.

In the past half-year, here are a few things that have happened:

• My job has gone permanent, which means that I can stay as long as I like. The 12-month appointment means we get to eat; it also makes my Euro-trash life-style a bit harder.
• We bought a house. This now takes up most of our free time (and money), but it's well worth the effort. The garage has an additional room, making it the perfect studio space. When husband graduates in May, he'll be able to move his studio in without a problem.
• I got a new bike to go with my new commute (see the priorities here?). It's a beautiful Linus that I got in an end-of-season sale. A heavy dutch bike, it's a smooth, slow ride to campus. Where my old commute was 2.5 miles on streets and through one of the worst neighborhoods in town, I now commute on one bike route and a bike path that runs along a creek and keeps me protected from traffic. I arrive at work calm and cool, having enjoyed my commute rather than brimming with stories about jerk #429 who tried to run me over.

At some point, I hope to have pictures up of the house. We're about half-way through painting, and husband will be installing all-new windows soon. The current windows are original to the house--single pane windows from 1937. Needless to say, they leak. With more efficient windows, we'll cut down on heating and cooling costs and also make the house easier to sell in a few years.

Hope you all are well!

A new year, new experiences

Well, I've not posted it here yet, but it's official: My name has changed for the second time in two years. Some of you may be shocked, others surprised. Really?

Yes.

I'm now Dr. Edwards!

While this has been a long time coming, it's big news, and I'm happy to share it. What I'm eager to hear is how much longer the dreams will continue. You know, fear that the degree isn't real, that someone will suss you out.... I remember a friend of mine having dreams years after finishing seminary. How many years? Did it finally stop?

With the new year, I'm taking life easier and enjoying *only* working 40-50 hours a week. (But, I love my job, and I'm learning a lot. Really, it's a great situation to be in!) Soon I'm going to start a new project, but for now, I'm just enjoying reading what I want and teaching international students how to adjust to and succeed in the university. It's hugely rewarding, and many of the changes I'm making to the course will hopefully have positive effects for the coming years of students who will come through the course.

This year will also hopefully see some great travel. We're already looking forward to a wedding in Michigan this summer; I've booked a B&B for two nights and we hope to camp for a third. Summer, Lake Michigan, the woods...I'm excited! And then, of course, we're traveling to Tennessee in May for a few days. We'll keep you all abreast of other future travel, I hope!

I'm working on posting more often; please bear with me as I try to find balance after so many years of frantically trying to stay on top of the most urgent thing. I look forward to sharing this next chapter of my life with all of you!

Surviving the Prarie Winter

Here in Nebraska, we have a few friends who've most recently lived in more temperate climes, Southern California and Japan. When they moved here, I showed them a few items I invested in for the wintertime, and advised them on how to dress for the weather.

If you want to survive the cold winters, I recommend:

• A good pair of water-proof boots with traction. For walking in to work (it's just 2.5 miles), I wear hiking boots and wool socks. Keep nicer shoes at work; I have a pair of slip-on flats that I can wear all over the office.
• long underwear. Layers are your friend. Even if you get to work and take off that layer, long underwear will certainly keep you warm. Which leads to....
• More layers. A long-sleeve T-shirt won't cut it. Sweater, T-shirt, undershirt, and then long underwear if it's super cold. 
• And long underwear on the bottom, too.
• For walking, I wear a pair of snow pants. These keep snow from getting into my boots and making my poor feet cold.
• Ski mittens. If you bike in below-freezing temps, thinsulate-lined leather gloves won't cut it. Mittens=good.
• A good hat. Not just a knit hat, but I have one of those ridiculous bomber hats. When a 30+ mph wind cuts toward your face when the temperatures are below freezing, the fur is really nice.
• A scarf. I wear a lot of pashminas, since they feel good on my skin, are lightweight, and double for a wrap in drafty rooms.
• A balaclava, if you're biking. And maybe even if you aren't. Again, wind. Keep that skin from exposure!
• Ski goggles. I tried to bike in a pair of safety glasses, but they kept sliding off my nose. Ski goggles, combined with a balaclava, make a -10 degree day totally bearable.
  And finally....
• A ski jacket. I have the same one I had in High School (15 years!), and it's got plenty of room for layers underneath.

On Using Objects

Today, on a Sunday afternoon, I sit at my dining room table (thanks, Craigslist!) and sip mint tea, working on an article. The sun has been steaming in the apartment windows all morning, and the outside air is warm, so the windows are open for most likely one of the last times for the next five months. Winter? It's coming.

While I sit here, trying hard not to work, I can't help but think about the objects I've surrounded myself with. Handmade cups and a tea pot; a plate made by the potter TJ apprenticed with in Germany and inscribed with a lovely poem hangs on the wall next to a painting of the studio in Marble, Colorado, where TJ worked as an apprentice at the age of 17. Each of these objects tells a story, and serves a function or reminds us of beauty in the every day.

Of course, the fact that so many of these objects are handmade relates directly to the fact that my husband is a potter, a craftsman, and an artist. And I realize that this spoils me--my daily interactions are with art objects, not objects that simply serve a purpose, or objects that were designed one place and then manufactured elsewhere to cost as little as possible. There's an investment in these objects, of time, material, and the identity of the maker, and this investment changes the way that I relate back to the object.

Back when I lived on my own, I had the same mug that I favored using every day, a light blue mug with a matte glaze. The handle was larger than most, and the mug sat comfortably in my hand. While the mug was nothing worth writing home about, I loved the smooth feel, the daily ritual of drinking my morning coffee from the mug as I struggled to wake up and start my day. I bought it at Target when I went off to college; it's stamped made in Thailand. I went there, once. But I didn't visit any factories, especially not this one. Chances are good I'll never meet the people who helped make the mug. Now, that mug sits on our top shelf, buried behind all of the handmade mugs I've inherited through marriage. During the first months I used these new mugs, I'd ask TJ where each one was from, who made it, how he got it. The same holds true for our plates, bowls, and the art work on our walls.

Why is this worth thinking about? While I sometimes miss the pristine white of a well-made porcelain plate, there's something to be said for using objects that clearly have their own value. Value because of the process, and, more importantly, value because of who made them and their stories. As a result, I realize that I'm ok with owning less, and making the things I use a part of my story. And I'm more thoughtful about the objects that I use. I love the bend in the tea pot's handle, the intricate treatment on the handleless cup. Even when I do the washing up, I'm reminded about the object in and of itself (the Ding an sich?), not taking for granted its utility, and not limiting myself to considering it as an object for use or an aesthetic object. I get to think about Alex who made the blue mug, or Finkelberg who made the maroon mug that has just enough room for my morning coffee. These relateable objects add depth to my daily life, where the inclination might be to use and cast aside. Here, there is simply use, re-use, and relationship between myself, the object, the maker, and the stories that result.

I know why they can't agree on money in the EU!

Angela Merkel keeps counting like a German.

Soooooo tiiiiirrreeddd

It's the 11th hour in dissertation-land. If I were to continue the child bearing metaphor, I'm in labor pains. And...

...I just want this thing done.

Saturday we leave for Utah to go see T's family, and then go camping in Idaho. It will be a glorious time, with many many many children (we have 9 nieces and nephews!) and fishing and reading.

It's just that this thing stands in between me and leaving.

So, enough blogging for now. Hopefully I'll see you all in another week or so!