Hey, Everyone! Well, as you might have noticed, the posts have been a bit scarce in the second half of 2011. It’s been a rough year, honestly, and I’ve come pretty close to just throwing my hands up in the air, dropping everything, and running off to Alaska (Into the Wild style…). Of course, being a bit of a lazy sod, I only got as far as dropping everything. And now, here we are. So, what happened? And more importantly, what am I going to do about it?
Put simply, the dissertation happened. In fact, it never stopped happening. After last year’s exam, I had some rewriting to do. If this were a house, instead of an academic paper, I would be tearing out all the walls, building an extension, and then moving the whole thing to another town. It’s been hard, slow, tedious work that often feels pointless. It is, in fact, everything you thought a Ph.D. in Literature might be. (Honestly, there was a lengthy part of the Fall where every thought of the dissertation conjured “No Children” by The Mountain Goats.)
On top of that, it seems that the Government actually wants you to repay those loans. (Who knew, right?) I figured that since the Government doesn’t pay its debts, I wouldn’t have to either. There was, perhaps, a slight miscalculation there. So, the jobs began. At first, it was a humble teaching gig online. No sweat. Then it was a last-minute call to do some in-person teaching. Ok, sure. But then I still needed a bit more to keep myself in new music, bacon, and coffee, and so there was this tutoring gig. Oh, and I got offered a research job in a field I’m desperate to get into… and, oh, yeah, that dissertation.
It has been, suffice it to say, a complicated year. The dissertation continues. But the rest has finally become more manageable. And so, at last, I can turn my attention back to this blog and its lovely readers and submitters.
I have held some of your submissions for a long, long time, but I promise that I am now working hard to get things started again. My goal is to get a bunch of stuff prepped and to hit January running. With luck, things will go back to the way they should be. I’m sure it will be a bit rocky, at first, but I want to make this work.
So, if you’re out there, thanks for being out there. I’ll try not to let you down in 2012… but, hey, if the Apocalypse happens, I might need some time off to sort a few things out. I’m sure you understand.
Happy New Year, then, and I’ll see you all in 2012!
~Jon