“Language Costumier”

The Joys of Transcribing

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:06:01 -0400

Given that part of my dissertation research involves interviewing, it also necessarily involves transcribing. Many people have suggested that I hire out this grunt work. But, I must say that is isn’t as terrible as I imagined. Yeah, it takes a long time (my current pace is about 1 hour of transcribing/10 minutes of interviewing). It hurts your body in strange places (the middle of my forearms get deep grooves). But there’s no better way to really review what you’ve gathered in an interview.

Yesterday I decided I needed a little extra motivation and I hauled myself down to Target. I’ve been lusting after the Bose over-the-ear headphones for years. Seriously, years. But I could never justify spending well over $100 on headphones. As I was strolling around Target, I found myself standing in front of my much-desired headphones, mouth agape. They were on sale! So what if it was only $15 off? It was enough for me to up and buy them. Today’s transcribing stint was downright enjoyable...comfortable headphones, blocking out all noise except my own stutterings and silliness. Perfectly wonderful!

(Not A) Job Seeker

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:05:48 -0400

I may not be a job seeker yet, but I have been masquerading as one. Each summer our department hosts regular job seekers workshops. Though I won’t be going on the market until 2009, I thought I’d participate in the group a year early so that I could get my materials drafted, making next summer much nicer. Turns out that the faculty to grad student ratio is 1-to-1, which is a great opportunity. Also, I am guessing that next summer there will be some changes in the faculty who participate, which will mean that my materials have that many more sets of eyes on them. I am thinking that I’ll thank myself for this next summer...unless, of course, I drastically change the topic of my dissertation and become a wildly different teaching. Hopefully that won’t be the case.

Settling Back In

Thu, 3 Jul 2008 10:05:07 -0400

I am happy to say that I am settling back in to being home. The Ann Arbor trip went pretty well, minus that pesky headache that wouldn’t go away. Surprisingly, as soon as I returned to PA it went away. Maybe it was being away from S?
We’ve been bustling around, trying to get S’s house ready for the closing, which is in a few short weeks. This weekend is our yard sale, which will be a lot of work, but eventually a lot of relief. I sold my patio furniture last night and I got a kick out of having someone pay me for something I really wanted to get rid of. Not only that, but they were really happy to buy it! Now I am looking around for other things to sell...

Research Trip #3

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 13:55:35 -0400

Northampton, chapters one and two, went excellently. After a few short days home, I’m packing up again for Pennsylvania/Michigan. Though I’ll be researching, I actually expect that it will be a quiet week when I’m there. Not to sure what E and D have on their agenda, but I plan to spend my days at the library and my nights hanging out. I’ve never been to Ann Arbor and I’m quite excited to check it out. Maybe even find some good Vegan food?

On the Road

Thu, 5 Jun 2008 20:38:07 -0400

This Saturday will begin a series of trips that will slice away at my summer. As much as I do enjoy my research, it is hard for me to be away from home. After all, I am a Cancer. This weekend is Northampton for TransPride, research, and interviews. We come home for a few days and we’re off to the ‘burg, where I’ll leave for Baltimore to fly to Detroit to drive to Ann Arbor where I’ll get to spend a lovely week crashing with E while researching and interviewing. I’ll be back to the ‘burg for a quick night or two, then to Camillus for two nights, and back on the road again to CT for my birthday and research. Classes will start before I know it and July is already booked with teaching, sitting in on a course, a trip to the ‘dacks, a yard sale, and S’s closing on her house. Big dealin’s. August won’t calm down either, because just after SummerStart ends, I’ll be off to San Fran for another week of research and interviewing.
On the upside, I am hoping to have the majority of my research completed before the fall term begins. Won’t that be grand!

The Art of Healing

Sat, 17 May 2008 10:20:46 -0400

I believe that’s a title of a book, and now a blog entry. S is laid up and I am doing my best to aid in her art of healing. Her surgery was this past Tuesday and she survived, but she is in terrible pain. We really haven’t had much sleep since then, since she wakes up every few hours and needs to move around. Yesterday brought the removal of the bandages, which felt (at least to me) a bit like looking under a mummy’s wraps.
For my part, I am trying to eek by some work, though eek may even be a bit generous. I made some progress on my summer syllabus yesterday, but really I need to be working on a book chapter that I’ve promised by June 1st. I am trying to theorize about how my dissertation methodology is queer, generally speaking. We’ll see how that works out for me.

NYC Bound

Thu, 8 May 2008 09:40:45 -0400

After a fabulous trip to Vancouver/Seattle, I am headed down to NYC for a quick three day conference. This time, S is staying home and E will be my travel buddy. We’re both presenting at this conference, the second annual GLBT ALMS conference. I am really looking forward to it--especially all of the archive tours. I know, I am a geek, but these are my people!
S has her proposal defense this morning, and her house is going on the market. And, as we turn the corner on next week, she’ll also be facing the big surgery that we’ve been anxiously waiting for since Feb. It will be great to finally have her on the mend.
All that catching up and I still haven’t posted about my research trip to MA a few weeks ago. What is this blog for, anyways? ;)

Heading North

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:15:21 -0400

North is my favorite direction. Though Vancouver isn’t all that far north from NY, it still counts. Sometimes, even when I go north to Liverpool I get excited :) It’s true, north is my favorite direction.
Tomorrow morning at about 6 am, S and I leave for an epic journey: Camilli to B-lo to Vegas to Seattle to Vancouver. All by dinner time, supposedly. We’ve been hastily getting the house ready to be gone for a week, but since we just got back into town the night before last, it’s feeling like deja vu. And when we get back, I’ll be home just long enough to pack again to head to NYC for another conference. Such is the life of academia :)

They say to walk before you run

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 08:50:00 -0400

Today is my third day of walking unassisted. It feels great, but the recovery as a whole is still slower than I had hoped. My prior experience with this surgery was much more smooth. Then again, I am five years older and the damage was much more extensive. I am finally getting back into the swing of life, though, and I have student appointments, colloquium, and youth group to attend today.
This weekend begins my traveling surge: Northampton/Putnam for the weekend, Seattle/Vancouver for five days, then NYC for 3 days. As soon as I get back, S has her surgery, which will really sneak up on us. It’s an eventful end of April and start to May.

A few hours at the chop shop

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:27:37 -0400

When I was at my last pre-surgery PT the other day, one of my therapists jokingly called the one-day surgery center a chop shop. I laughed and cursed him under my breath, wondering why someone would tell you that just before you are about to go there.
I had my surgery today and I am already home and ready to be entertained (hence the blogging). Thankfully, my folks will be here momentarily and they’ll bring a flurry of activity. But about the chop shop: I was wheeled into the surgery room at 12:16pm exactly. I came to somewhere before 1:00, while still in the surgery room. By a little past one, I was ready to roll and feeling like I could go home. Amazing! They gave me some food, lots of instructions, and sent me on my way just past 2:00.
Though I wouldn’t have chosen the phrase “chop shop,” I now understand what he meant. They give efficiency new meaning. And in the surgery world, that’s quite impressive. Hopefully it will be just as smooth when we return in a few weeks for S’s much more involved procedure.