that lousy APA "conference"
From: "Tombot"
To: erico
Subject: RE: checking in
Date: Tue, 03 Feb 2004 15:18:06 -0500
Eric -
Thanks for writing. We got your wonderful Christmas card in the mail - with J, L, and C- Am I getting all those names right? Sorry we didn't get ours in the mail. The last couple of months have been very hectic to say the least. I've basically been scrambling to find whatever work I can for next year. We drove to D.C. and back in late December for that lousy APA "conference" - i.e. the annual dehumanizing job fair and free for all. (I've already been rejected from the University of Colorado by the way, not to mention Princeton, Harvard, Illinois, Massachusetts, Vermont, etc.). Currently I'm hoping for something to pan out at a community college in northern California. That's my best best - but I've learned not to put all eggs in one basket. It would be much easier if it were just me as a wandering academic nomad living from broom closet to broom closet- but with a family in tow there's a lot at stake. Unfortunately - the pressures of life - surviving, paying the bills - have made me more myopic than I would have liked. (Sorry for my inactivity as email correspondent). I think a lot these days about the meaning of "success" and "failure" . I'm trying to come up with a third category - that would make failure seem healthy by comparison. Let's call the third category "avoidance" - something I know a lot about. I feel lousy about having failed so often in philosophy - but my failures at least have demanded some effort. My "avoidances" are much more problematic. What's done is done. I avoided many golden opportunities in the 90's and now I'm paying the price. So - 5 years after ABD I'm at last trying to send out things for publication - and it's a sure bet that some of what I send out will be rejected - but there is a feeling of satisfaction from saying "at least I tried." I know that sounds cliche - but it's part of my new year's resolution to turn avoidances into failures and perhaps a singular, erstwhile failure into a small success. I would recommend you sending out that "message in a bottle" (screenplay, chapter 1 of novel) to whatever recipient you deem appropriate. You will likely get a response of some sort that will prove invigorating. I'm tempted to do the same myself - I have much to say about the pretensions of life in academia... Over to you...
-Tom
To: erico
Subject: RE: checking in
Date: Tue, 03 Feb 2004 15:18:06 -0500
Eric -
Thanks for writing. We got your wonderful Christmas card in the mail - with J, L, and C- Am I getting all those names right? Sorry we didn't get ours in the mail. The last couple of months have been very hectic to say the least. I've basically been scrambling to find whatever work I can for next year. We drove to D.C. and back in late December for that lousy APA "conference" - i.e. the annual dehumanizing job fair and free for all. (I've already been rejected from the University of Colorado by the way, not to mention Princeton, Harvard, Illinois, Massachusetts, Vermont, etc.). Currently I'm hoping for something to pan out at a community college in northern California. That's my best best - but I've learned not to put all eggs in one basket. It would be much easier if it were just me as a wandering academic nomad living from broom closet to broom closet- but with a family in tow there's a lot at stake. Unfortunately - the pressures of life - surviving, paying the bills - have made me more myopic than I would have liked. (Sorry for my inactivity as email correspondent). I think a lot these days about the meaning of "success" and "failure" . I'm trying to come up with a third category - that would make failure seem healthy by comparison. Let's call the third category "avoidance" - something I know a lot about. I feel lousy about having failed so often in philosophy - but my failures at least have demanded some effort. My "avoidances" are much more problematic. What's done is done. I avoided many golden opportunities in the 90's and now I'm paying the price. So - 5 years after ABD I'm at last trying to send out things for publication - and it's a sure bet that some of what I send out will be rejected - but there is a feeling of satisfaction from saying "at least I tried." I know that sounds cliche - but it's part of my new year's resolution to turn avoidances into failures and perhaps a singular, erstwhile failure into a small success. I would recommend you sending out that "message in a bottle" (screenplay, chapter 1 of novel) to whatever recipient you deem appropriate. You will likely get a response of some sort that will prove invigorating. I'm tempted to do the same myself - I have much to say about the pretensions of life in academia... Over to you...
-Tom
posted by erico at 1:04 PM
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