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gogmagogWow, it has been a while since I posted here! (Over a year, actually.) I've been mostly active on other sites - primarily Facebook but some tumblr and AO3 - but I've recently found myself thinking a bit about LJ and getting all nostalgic and wanting to get back to it, even as I know that much of the community I loved about LJ has now scattered to the four winds. Sigh. And of course that brought Dreamwidth to mind, which I'm hoping may yet turn out to be the new LJ, community-wise. (Leave my delusions illusions!)
So, I'm figuring I will try to update both this and my LJ more frequently (probably crossposting), as I have met some awesome folks through LJ especially that I don't want to lose.
So what is new in my life? Last year I went on the academic job market for a second time and struck out completely, but fortunately gotmy ass saved offered a Visiting Assistant Professorship from my university for this year. This was, of course, on the condition that I graduate, so I defended my dissertation in May and in August I officially graduated (though there is no ceremony in the summer, so I won't be doing the cap-and-gown-and-hood thing until next month) with my Ph.D. in medieval English literature. Yes, that means that after seven years of grad school, I am Yosi, Ph.D. (Frightening thought!)
This year, as a VAP, I am teaching five courses (two in the fall and three in the spring). My fall courses include one on monstrosity and Otherness in medieval lit, where we're reading tons of stuff about cannibalism and antisemitism and people who have their noses bitten off, and an Intro to the Novel course loosely focused on national and personal atrocities such as slavery, the Holocaust, the 1920s Osage Indian oil murders, and beating your newborn frog-headed children to death with a rock. (It's not a cheerful class, as you can see, but quite a few of the books we're reading are awesome nevertheless.) In the spring I'll be teaching a course on popular medievalisms (including stuff like The Hobbit and A Game of Thrones), a course on medieval drama, and a medieval survey course.
I am currently on the academic job market for attempt #3. Third time is the charm, right? If this doesn't work out, I don't know what I'll do, as I basically have no non-academic work experience. Hopefully I'll be able to figure something out, and even more hopefully it won't be necessary because I will get a job.
As far as media I have gotten into, new fandoms include George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire/HBO's Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Videogames I've played recently include Dragon's Dogma, Saints Row the Third, and I'm currently playing through the first Assassin's Creed both so I can say I have beat it and move on to the next in the series and so that I can figure out how to somehow use it in my popular medievalisms class. I recently saw Wreck-It Ralph and totally, totally loved it (best movie I've seen this year, I think).
Personal life? Mostly the same, I guess...which means that basically I don't have much of one, haha. I've been on a couple of dates recently with a nice guy but that kind of fizzled out, so nothing serious. I'm coming up on thirty, which is SHOCKING to me because I always felt like I would have my shit at least somewhat together by the time I hit thirty, and that shows no sign of happening. I'm generally feeling sort of antsy and restless, as I don't know where I'll be next year but presumably not here, and I'm kind of feeling in a rut and like I'm not making progress to where I want to be in life. Hopefully soon that will change a bit.
(Also, it feels SO WEIRD to think that this will probably be my last ever post tagged with the "grad school follies" tag...good times. And by good times I mean a lot of miserable all-nighters and anxiety issues.)
So, what's new in y'all's lives over the past year?
So, I'm figuring I will try to update both this and my LJ more frequently (probably crossposting), as I have met some awesome folks through LJ especially that I don't want to lose.
So what is new in my life? Last year I went on the academic job market for a second time and struck out completely, but fortunately got
This year, as a VAP, I am teaching five courses (two in the fall and three in the spring). My fall courses include one on monstrosity and Otherness in medieval lit, where we're reading tons of stuff about cannibalism and antisemitism and people who have their noses bitten off, and an Intro to the Novel course loosely focused on national and personal atrocities such as slavery, the Holocaust, the 1920s Osage Indian oil murders, and beating your newborn frog-headed children to death with a rock. (It's not a cheerful class, as you can see, but quite a few of the books we're reading are awesome nevertheless.) In the spring I'll be teaching a course on popular medievalisms (including stuff like The Hobbit and A Game of Thrones), a course on medieval drama, and a medieval survey course.
I am currently on the academic job market for attempt #3. Third time is the charm, right? If this doesn't work out, I don't know what I'll do, as I basically have no non-academic work experience. Hopefully I'll be able to figure something out, and even more hopefully it won't be necessary because I will get a job.
As far as media I have gotten into, new fandoms include George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire/HBO's Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Videogames I've played recently include Dragon's Dogma, Saints Row the Third, and I'm currently playing through the first Assassin's Creed both so I can say I have beat it and move on to the next in the series and so that I can figure out how to somehow use it in my popular medievalisms class. I recently saw Wreck-It Ralph and totally, totally loved it (best movie I've seen this year, I think).
Personal life? Mostly the same, I guess...which means that basically I don't have much of one, haha. I've been on a couple of dates recently with a nice guy but that kind of fizzled out, so nothing serious. I'm coming up on thirty, which is SHOCKING to me because I always felt like I would have my shit at least somewhat together by the time I hit thirty, and that shows no sign of happening. I'm generally feeling sort of antsy and restless, as I don't know where I'll be next year but presumably not here, and I'm kind of feeling in a rut and like I'm not making progress to where I want to be in life. Hopefully soon that will change a bit.
(Also, it feels SO WEIRD to think that this will probably be my last ever post tagged with the "grad school follies" tag...good times. And by good times I mean a lot of miserable all-nighters and anxiety issues.)
So, what's new in y'all's lives over the past year?
