signalnoise

So the travel is done for a while. And what the hell have I been up to? Here's the basic run down:

Visitors

At the beginning of the month, my sister visited. Which is always great. We did the architecture river tour, went out for tapas, and checked out Graceland cemetery. We also hung out, and watched movies plus the Olympics. I really love seeing her.

Best of all, I think she's talked my mom and grandmother into bringing the train up with her this fall. I think we'll see a show, do a little eating, and try some shopping. It should be a blast. People need to get their visits in NOW, before the "SignalNoise living in Chicago" train leaves the station.

New York

We spent five days in NYC, staying on the Upper West Side and we had a blast. It was basically all tourist stuff all the time: Central Park, the Met, American Museum of Natural History, The Empire State Building, Fifth Avenue, and the Statue of Liberty. We really had a blast actually.

That said, I also realized: I am not a New Yorker. I like urban life, but New York was just more than I could take on a day to day basis I think. We would go to breakfast at 10am on a weekday, to grab a bagel or a pastry. And the whole time we'd be eating, there would be about four people in line. I can't even imagine what rush hour must be like? I think that's just more humanity than I can take.

And I'm sure this is less true of other parts of the city: but damn, is Manhattan white or what? White and rich. It's amazing how well they've just sort of carted off the brown people and the homeless people. People often say Chicago is one of America's most segregated cities .... but I can't believe that, given the size of Manhattan, NYC is a far second.

Finally, LaGuardia was a bit of a hole. At least the bizarre Marine terminal we were in.

Home

After NYC, we went home for a weekend. I was basically strung up like a loser with a cold. Which made me grumpy at first, and just boring later. But it was still nice to see the folks, eat some good food.

Boston

So Boston was all about the American Political Science Association meeting. I got to see a bit of the city, and I actually really liked it. I liked it's *size.* Also, as a bonus, got to see my old friend S who moved out there on a whim a few years back and shoot the shit about our college days over a beer.

In professional news, I presented a poster and a paper. Both went fine. I was on a panel for urban economic issues, and my historical analysis of states and railroads was clearly lighting no one on fire. Not even the discussant had a meaningful comment, outside of "SignalNoise really combines a lot of literatures and methods together quite successfully." Um. Thanks?

Finally, I met with schools who have jobs. Most of the meetings seemed to go well. Some of the schools seem more enthused to talk to me than others. Some of the ones who were *least* enthusiastic were actually schools who contacted *me.* What's up with that? But I had great interactions with several others, and got a couple of compliments on being polished and enthusiastic.

One of the saddest things about the whole experience was sitting in the waiting room during the interview process. A lot of people were, understandably, sweating bullets. But since E was against me doing APSA interviews *anyway,* I had a much more casual approach. Which might have been not the best way to be, but I think it actually helped. A lot.

Who knows if any of them will go anywhere. They're not really real interviews, because academic hiring requires committee votes, campus visits, and the review of your "file" (which includes your resume, letters of recommendation, a writing sample and so on). But it is a good way to get "face time," and it's a *great* way to practice interviewing. I feel pretty comfortable now discussing my dissertation, my future research interests, classes I would teach, how I might structure a class, and even specific readings I might assign (at least author names anyway).

From There

So, shit settles down sort of for now, at least briefly. I have to really start cranking out job applications now. Which is mostly writing cover letters. I also need to send some follow up emails, in order to get some letters of recommendation and evaluation from some people. Then it's a waiting game. Because I'm paranoid, I plan on applying wide wide WIDE. There's about 70 jobs out there, and some post-docs too. I plan on having someplace to be next year (and if any of you out there in SG Land believe in karma, pray that one of the Chicago schools or the University of Illinois schools out there hiring falls in love with yours truly).

Fuck, I'd just be happy to stay here in the Midwest. My parents keep telling me to go "wherever is best for me." As in my career or whatever. And that matters. Talking to schools at APSA made me wonder how much I wanted to be at a small state school or liberal arts school, where there are no grad students and a huge teaching load. I don't necessarily want to be a full time researcher, but I do want to do some of that still. At the same time, fuck the career right? Being close to my family IS something that is important to me. As long as I can afford to eat out once in a while, buy CDs, and not live in a hovel - I'm pretty content. Like I said, I'll apply wide and see who wants me and then go from there. Don't sweat the small stuff, and "jobs you don't even have yet" are definitely small stuff. (Seriously, right now I'm doing my best to be in denial. I'm far from successful, but worrying about jobs doesn't do anything good for you.)

Obviously, the dissertation trudges on. Right now, I'm editing. Getting the chapters I have to sort of flow better as a cohesive whole, to look more like a book and less like disparate pieces. After that, I plan to rework the three empirical chapters I have into journal articles and get them all sent out. Then there's the ongoing data work I'm doing for E.

Otherwise, sadly, summer is basically over. Classes don't start for a few more weeks, but the wife is back in school now. E comes back from the East coast in a week. I mean, since I'm not teaching this year, my life is functionally the same. But the air just tastes a bit different, and it makes me sad. This was prolly my last summer of student life. Not that being a professor involves intense summers or anything. But after a lifetime of "student summers," there's a bit of melancholy. Obladi obalada.

Other Stuff

Pineapple Express and Tropic Thunder both rock.

Box Nine by Jack O'Connell is a fantastic modern horror/mystery thriller. Check it out if you can find it. All comic geeks should also give Austin Grossman's Soon I Will Be Invincible a look.

Battlestar Galactica Season Three rules. Except sometimes the weird trippy style on the Cylon ships feels unnecessary and needlessly confusing.

While I still like the more current B.P.R.D. issues, the weird depressing tone/big gun battles is less what I want from this series than quirky humor and creepy atmosphere. I'm reading the Black Flame arc right now (yes I'm way behind) and it just clicks less. But I did dig the hell out of the first volume of the new Iron Fist book. I picked up the collected volume of the first Harbinger run, from Valiant. It's good but very 90s: heavy on unnecessary exposition and stating character thoughts. Kind of odd to read. But I think I'll pick up more as they come out. It was the first thing Valiant did after all, and you need to give it time to grow a little I think.

That new Fringe show looks neat.

We're going to try and get back into jogging again, after a month off. Between travel, my cold, visitors, and school starting up - we totally got off track.

Pallin for McCain is a joke. And what's this rumor about her last kid being her kid's kid? The fuckity fuck? Biden is an all right choice for Obama. He can be boring, so they gotta reign that in: having two people who can't connect with the Average Joe at times can be a risk if you ask me. Plus, running on "change" with a life-long Senator who hearts big corporations is an issue. No one was perfect for that job (except Jim Webb if you ask me) ... but yeah. Biden beats Pallin for sure.

OK. I think I've told you about my whole goddamn life now. I'm outta here.