To finish my dissertation before my fortieth birthday. (Let's see, that gives me about 31,449,600 seconds, give or take.)
7 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Okay, I have no idea how long that is. And I'm sick, so no energy to try to figure it out. I am, however, impressed by your ambition, and will offer one of my own: I will have a defense date set in stone by the time I turn 44 (March 1). HOw's that?
Jon--All this time, I've been after you to "finish it," but I'm not so sure now. The trouble with finishing the diss is trying to live up to the world's heightened expectations about your abilities. Every day is another effort to try to "fool them," to live up to the Super Scholar, omnigod, potent library-headed academic extraordinaire they expect. Set your own course and be happy--ignore the rest. Doctorate or not, I consider you a good and worthy friend. And it's not all downhill after 21, but I do have serious doubts about any future progress after 39 (speaking from a vantage point five weeks older than your own...). ERG
7 comments:
Okay, I have no idea how long that is. And I'm sick, so no energy to try to figure it out. I am, however, impressed by your ambition, and will offer one of my own: I will have a defense date set in stone by the time I turn 44 (March 1). HOw's that?
I had no idea you'd just turned 39! All that time spent in the stacks (and away from sunlight) has preserved your youthful appearance :)
Yeah, James Murray spent a lot of time in the stacks, away from the sunlight, and look at how he turned out...
...but he does have a cool-looking collection of books...
Happy early birthday! (some 30,000,000 seconds early)
And an early "thanks" to you, Bill!
Jon--All this time, I've been after you to "finish it," but I'm not so sure now. The trouble with finishing the diss is trying to live up to the world's heightened expectations about your abilities. Every day is another effort to try to "fool them," to live up to the Super Scholar, omnigod, potent library-headed academic extraordinaire they expect. Set your own course and be happy--ignore the rest. Doctorate or not, I consider you a good and worthy friend. And it's not all downhill after 21, but I do have serious doubts about any future progress after 39 (speaking from a vantage point five weeks older than your own...). ERG
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