La...La...La...

Well, folks. "Lots and none at all indeed" aptly describes current events.

On the positive side, I successfully defended my dissertation on May 3rd. I am now technically a Doctor of American Culture Studies. So, if there are any symptoms that your American Culture is experiencing, I might be able to help diagnose them.

More positive is that Jenna and I found out that our landlord was over charging us by about $200 per month compared to other properties. So, we talked her into lowering our rent for the forseeable future. Woohoo!

On the more negative side, my committee had lots of "suggestions" for revising my manuscript of my diss. That's what I get for taking on the history of narratives and one of the most beloved genres in the history of film. Oh, and I am also throwing in a redefinition of the idea of ethics in there for good measure. Blech. So, I have been redrafting large sections of my diss to answer some of their questions and concerns.

On the wholly negative side, I was not able to land a full-time teaching gig for the coming year. It looks like I will be working as an Adjunct Professor at our local Community College, which isn't so bad, but they can get away paying us very, very little. Thankfully the people there are very nice, and I like the students for the most part.

Also, after much fretting and the serious consideration of selling my nearly paid off car, it looks like I might have enough income this summer that this is not necessary. Yay!

The best part is that my wonderful wife has been super supportive and excellent about everything, at least as excellent as I was myself.

I wish that I had the energy to bash all of those short-sighted schools that did not hire me and the stupidity of the strict disciplinary boundaries that kept me out of a number of positions that I was perfectly qualified for, but I don't have the heart. I've been blessed, even if not in the ways I might prefer.

Now, I just have to finish the manuscript, send it to some publishing friends, turn some chapters into articles, and rock the next year of job searching. It is sad that I probably will not be able to see most of my friends at all of the conferences that I like/need to attend, but it is not in the cards.

I really hope to be posting more often now for the handful of you who read this. I had the hardest time when Blogger switched over to this google thing. I had to change my name and password multiple times. I think I have it now.

I have so many things that I want to write about, but I have to get the important things done for the moment.