Sobriquet 58.1

One of the major difficulties many dissertation-writing students face is securing some semblance of economic stability while working on their scholarship. Grad school does, after all, cost money. As does the food and shelter one requires to prevent death while writing. Because I have opted not to take out any loans, I tend to work perhaps a bit more than some people in similar circumstances. Since I genuinely enjoy teaching, however, this is rarely something that I mind. In fact, I tend to be a bit more productive when I have a regular teaching schedule because, having significantly less free time, I feel more pressure to get my work done in a timely fashion. Still, this week has been a rough one.

The beginning of any semester, of course, is a nerve-wracking experience as you try to cram all the bureaucratic errands that pop up into the same first few days of classes when you also have to prepare lesson plans and re-read the materials with which you will be teaching. Combined with the rather difficult transition from a schedule more in sync with my nocturnal tendencies to one more appropriate for, say, a dairy farmer, I did not have the smoothest of weeks, but I am satisfied with it, all things considered. I mean, I have continued rereading Slow Man even though I have had to read essays on educational theory, existential philosophy, part of the Bible, and the first chunk of a hefty Margaret Atwood novel for my classes. So, yeah. I'm still working on "me" stuff, but I have been too exhausted much of the time to write anything for the blog.

For tomorrow: Read.