Loudmouth Reformed!

I just got back from a colloquium dinner. For those who have no idea what a colloquium dinner is, I'll explain it all another time. Righ...

Anacondas dance / Will they be our doom?

Meanwhile, in job markets other than philosophy: Herpetologist and Educator I am looking for a unique individual that possesses two skills: ...

Rocking the Passive Voice IV

Here's a really nice illustration of how the passive voice functions as the perfect grammatical context for offensively condescending...

Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash

True story. Yesterday, not moments after after I posted about that paper I've got out under review, I heard back from someone whose co...

Brother Number What?

PJMB reader CT writes with this comparison of me and the Khmer Rouge: At least they had jobs! So true, so true.

The Longer You Wait, the Harder it is.

My supervisor caught me in the hall the other day to ask me how the essay I've been working on is coming. (I swear to god, it's goin...

Teacher's Goin' to Show You How to Get an A

I've mentioned a few times that an application for a job in philosophy includes a lot of different pieces of paper. In my continuing ef...

Spielen

Like a lot of philosophy departments, mine requires its grad students to pick up reading knowledge of at least one foreign language. I'm...

I Could Tell You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You

Speaking of trying to finish dissertations, check out this passage from Infinite Potential , F. David Peat's biography of David Bohm ...

Spring Break Dissertation Bender

It's spring break, which, for the graduate student, doesn't mean keg stands and Girls with Low Self-Esteem . It means a chance to ...

You Never Call Anymore

I'd hate you to think I was going soft after yesterday's post , so let me bitch for a minute here. You know what's really pretty...

Active Voice

Listening to Jimmy McGriff play "'Round Midnight" and getting some prep done for class tomorrow, grading some papers and drink...

Glossary of Obnoxious Insider Philosophy Job Market Jargon

PJMB reader JH has pointed out that some of the acronyms and other bits of jargon we've been using around here might be a wee bit obscu...

Rocking the Passive Voice III

It's been a long time since I rock and rolled: Our Search Committee for our advertised positions has met and, with difficulty, made thei...

Things Without Which a Dissertation Would Not Be Possible, Part II: An Ode to Ballantine's

The job market is a terrifically stressful enterprise, and Ballantine's offers unparalleled solace for the beleaguered grad student'...

One Tenth of a Meaningful Award

In case my post yesterday didn’t quite strike a bitter enough note, I’ve got more to say today about the C. Montgomery Burns Award for Outs...

Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence

I mentioned a couple of nights ago that the future Dr. Mrs. Dr. PGS and I went to this dinner function at my school. Actually, it was a l...

On Coffeeshops

My love for writing the dissertation in coffeeshops is boundless. Unbounded. Without bound. Sure, there’s the distraction of wireless in...

Never Tell Me the Odds

I mentioned a couple of days ago how people reacted when I told them I was applying to 94 jobs this past year. First, almost everybody wh...

Loud Mouth

So, I'm walking down the main stairs in my department's building, recapping the night in a loud, too-many-glasses-of-free-booze voic...

When I'm Sixty-Four

Sincere thanks to the two 60-something women in the coffee shop this morning, for deciding not to sit down and chat in the back room, since ...