Dissertation Mode: STALL

I am so anxious to sit down and actually work on this dissertation, but I have so much grading to do today and tomorrow.  Why can't this semester be over??  I thought it was over!  Jeeminee.

So I told myself I'm submitting an abstract to the conference I went to in Boston last year, because it was such a great conference and I'd love to go back, and plus they publish their proceedings, so it's a good way to get a little publication.  Anyway, that abstract is due Tuesday, and it's supposed to be based on preliminary findings for my dissertation, which are starting to trickle in a little bit here and there.  The problem is that I have to write a preliminary-preliminary version of that abstract to turn in for one of my classes - today - and I really wish I could just work on the dang project more to get some more data for the real abstract, which has to be submitted by Tuesday.  Oh well.  Maybe it will be nice to have a draft of the abstract so I can spend more time getting more data over the weekend...?

And then the week after that, I'm submitting an application for a dissertation research grant, which also relies on me getting this pilot study done, so I can say something realistic about what the rest of my dissertation is going to be about.  And then the week after that, I'm applying for a postdoctoral researcher position, which I'm super excited about but also freaking out a little bit, and that involves writing up my preliminary findings into a research paper I can submit with my application.

So yeah.  It would be nice to just be able to work on all of that stuff instead of staring down this mountain of syntax finals I have to grade.  And I'm going to Palo Alto (Stanford) this evening to hang out with my friend/collaborator and have a little research group meeting, and we have our departmental graduation tomorrow!  I love graduation, so it will be really nice to see all my friends get their PhD and MA hoods and all that, but I'm just feeling kind of antsy for the next few weeks!

We just hired a new professor in our department.  I like him very much, and it's a little weird, because he's only a few years older than me, and he's in the position I hope to be in myself in a year or two or three - young, newly hired professor at a prestigious university and all that.  Anyway, I was talking to him at his welcome party last week, and he passed on some advice from one of his former professors.  Apparently this guy asks undergrads who think they want to be linguistics professors, "How much do you love linguistics?  Do you love it enough to do it in your spare time?"  And the more I think about it, the more important of a question that seems.  If you really want to make it in this academic racket, you have to love sitting down with your data at 7:00 in the evening, when you're finally home for the day, and spending a few hours here or there puzzling over it whenever you have the free time.

I need a shower and some breakfast before I head to campus for the day.  Love to all, and I'll write again soon.