By This Time Next Friday...

...my dissertation proposal defense will be over. Until then, I will be one stressed out k8. I wish it were March 2nd @ 9.00 already - no, make that 11.00, after the defense has ended.

It should be ok (my director doesn't let people defend unless they are really ready), but I had such a difficult time writing it, that I am still concerned. For me, tying together all of the loose strands of thought that weave through comp/rhet, library & info science, and literacy studies was draining. I knew they all fit together, but I was having trouble articulating to others how they fit together. Above all else, I needed to find a way to discuss why those of us in comp/rhet should care about early twentieth century librarians and the ways they wrote about programming for immigrants.

I've also had to struggle with the fact that this is the project I'm doing. This is what I want to do, but the rural midwesterner in me thinks I should have done the pedagogically practical project about information literacy and writing from research. I do want to work with this in the future, but I finally decided that I can do this (very ambiguously described) project almost anywhere, on any campus. The same is not true for my actual dissertation project. I have access to materials here that I won't have at most campuses. And, I really do love my project - I mean REALLY love it! So, I chose the historical over the immediately practical (and, I am told, very marketable) project. This is where I am.

I Need This!!!!!!

Conferences and Grad Students

I just received the news that my proposal (briefly mentioned here) for the Children's Literature Association Conference has been accepted. Needless to say, I am very happy. What makes me happier, though, is that the conference is offering an inexpensive housing option. In addition to the conference hotel, which is reasonably priced at $99 per night, the conference is also offering suites (two rooms-for up to two people each - sharing a bathroom and living area) in a thoroughly modern resident hall for under $30 per night.

As a grad student "living" on a teaching assistant's salary, this seems so much more humane than the situation with CCCC this year in which the conference hotel rate was over $250. Granted, ChLA isn't in New York City like CCCC is, but in planning the locations of academic conferences, location costs (and the potential costs for participants) should be a factor. Once I realized the costs for CCCC, I knew I couldn't/shouldn't attend, even though my paper was accepted and it is a very important conference for comp/rhet folk like myself.

I'm not sure how I should or can rationalize that I choose to attend conferences in my secondary areas rather than those in my primary area of concentration. Right now, costs are a large part of my decision - I wish they weren't. At times, I've even hoped that one of my proposals won't be accepted so that I don't have to make this decision or justify attending or not attending a particular conference.

The hardest part of these decisions, though, is knowing that I'm expected to present papers at conferences as part of my professionalization, yet having to limit attendance based on the aforementioned reasons. Over and over again, we are told that we need to do this and publish, if possible, as much as possible before going on the job market to be a viable candidate for a job. I sometimes wonder, though, how "they" expect us to afford to do this. I refuse to have any credit card debt (I feel very strongly about this - I've never had it and I never want to have it), but I feel as if I am expected to accrue ridiculous amounts of debt in order to make myself worthy of being hired.

The situation is just plain messed up. I think I'll go back to commenting on student papers now.

Books and Anatomy

In case you haven't heard, there is a controversy with this year's Newbery Award selection, The Higher Power of Lucky. The author had the "audacity" to use the word scrotum in the text. You can read about it here at NYT and here at librarian.net.

Apparently, some parents, librarians, and teachers are trying to keep the book out of school libraries because of this one word (which, by the way, is used in a sentence that indicates that a rattlesnake bit a dog's scrotum - we aren't talking about pornography). I don't know why I'm amazed by this, but I am. I've never understood this problem some people have for actual proper words for human (and in this case, animal) anatomy.

Proposal Writing Season

I feel like that is all I do lately. Today, I finished my paper proposal for Library Research Seminar IV. I really want this one - it would be a great opportunity for me to get feedback from LIS scholars. Now that the paper proposal is finished, I'm working on a proposal for the pre-conference doctoral research workshop. This is more of a long shot - they are only accepting 15 doctoral students - but again, an invaluable opportunity to get feedback from my other chosen field.

I'm also working on a proposal for an MLA panel focusing on children's fantasy fiction (due March 1st) and for Feminism(s) & Rhetoric(s) (due April 20th). And of course, once the next CCCC CFP comes out, I'll be working on a proposal for that.

Oh, and I'm still waiting to hear from ChLA about that proposal. I actually connected it to my dissertation! It's titled: Representing Patriotism: Marketing Campaigns for Children’s Books During the World War I Era. Here's a very truncated version of the proposal:

...Capitalizing on the national mood, publishing companies produced and marketed children’s and juvenile books as instruments of patriotism. The advertisements from these marketing campaigns, focused on developing patriotism in both ‘new’ and ‘old’ Americans, were frequently placed in library practitioner journals such as Library Journal and Wilson Library Bulletin, and Public Libraries. ...In this paper I analyze texts and images within advertisements published in library practitioner journals for children’s and juvenile literature as serving both national, corporate, and institutional interests. Specifically, I look at the ways publishers represent American identity through their advertisements in these journals, and the ways in which American childhood is reified. In addition, I ask the following questions: How do publishers and advertisers situate these books as representative of American childhood and culture? ...

The Receptacle of My Family's Genetic Waste

Yeah, that's what I am. I just returned from a fun visit to Urgent Care and then the pharmacy. Winter and my hyper-sensitive skin don't seem to agree with one another. My skin is red and irritated and semi-rashlike - and apparently, in need of antihistamines. The problem: I'm allergic to benadryl. Yes, you read the correctly, I'm allergic to the most commonly used treatment for allergic reactions. I'm also allergic to several commonly prescribed antibiotics.

The genetic waste part of this? All of these allergies and skin sensitivities skipped a generation (they come from my grandfathers), skipped my siblings, and landed on me. And I'm still a little bitter about being the shortest by 3 inches.

Labels

I just returned from my errands. While at Target, I noticed that the contents of one aisle were labeled "Feminine Treatments."

Really, I didn't realize that femininity needed to be 'treated'. Talk about pathologizing women's bodily functions! I don't know if this is better or worse than "Feminine Hygiene Products" as an aisle label. Unclean or diseased, what a choice.

Fire and Hemlock

Why did it take me so long to get around to reading Diana Wynne Jones' Fire and Hemlock? I think I see a potential project coming along, but I haven't quite sorted it out yet. In the meantime, I can only thank Jones for reminding me that Hero was a woman.

Now I must begin a hunt of texts within the text, meanings within the meanings, etc.

I'm A Wimp

Yes I am. I cancelled class today, since the university didn't seem to be willing to take the initiative. Seriously, everything around us was closed due to extreme weather/cold.

Then, I hear that Rick biked to school today! I am weak.

One Last Post Before Sleep

I'm happy happy happy about the Colt's win!!

In other news...here is the current weather advisory (the temperature is -12):

A WIND CHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM CST TUESDAY.
BITTER COLD TEMPERATURES AND WINDS OF 5 TO 15 MPH AT NIGHT...AND 10 TO 20 MPH DURING THE DAY WILL CAUSE FREQUENT DANGEROUSLY COLD WIND CHILLS INTO TUESDAY MORNING. WIND CHILLS WILL FREQUENTLY BE BETWEEN 20 AND 35 DEGREES BELOW ZERO.

WHEN IT IS THIS COLD...BE SURE YOUR VEHICLES FUEL TANK IS AT LEAST HALF FULL...AND THE BATTERY IS CHARGED. DO NOT TOUCH METAL SURFACES WITH UNCOVERED HANDS. YOUR SKIN MAY FREEZE ON CONTACT.

Of course, the university hasn't cancelled classes for Monday. As much as I love winter, this seems like dangerous weather for students to be walking around outside. I know that cancelling classes is a big decision, but doesn't this count as extreme weather conditions?

Oh well, maybe I'm just getting old and overly cautious.

Super Bowl - Halftime

Ok, I'm feeling a little better about the Colts' performance. But, OMG, I can't believe Vinetieri missed the FG!!

Have I ever mentioned that I was obsessed with Prince when I was 12 years old.

Super Bowl - 1st Quarter

It isn't going so great for the Colts right now, but I have to admit a fondness for rainy mudball. It reminds me of those late-fall high school games.

Speaking at Conferences

The latest issue of Cites & Insights contains a great section/compilation of advice about speaking at conferences. This comes from the Library and Information Science world, but I think it applies to all of us. There's some good stuff here. Check it out!

The Frozen North

Current Temperature: 4
Tomorrow's Projected High: 2
Sunday's Projected High: 0
Monday's Projected High : -2

Then it bounces back to about 4 degrees. In the meantime, all errands have been run, hot chocolate ingredients are present, books are a'plenty, and I have a recipe for baked oatmeal that I've been wanting to try out. If I didn't have to venture out into the world on Monday, it could be perfect. Now, if only the Colts can pull out a win on Sunday....