Friday, March 30, 2007

I plead Dissertation.

I've been writing a lot on the darn thing, but it means I have little time for the net. Hopefully soon, but I figure since I seem to be in some sort of groove right now, I'd better stay in it. I'm getting tired of being in school as a student and I really, really want out ASAP. Of course, that's at least a year and a half away, but the more I get done now, the easier it will be once the nit-picky copy editing and source triple checking has to be done.

No promises - I will blog if I can, but the dissertation has more of a claim on my time.

9 comments:

Friar Tuck said...

What is the crux of your dissertation.

Friar Tuck said...

come back to us my friend.

annegb said...

I don't see how you can stand to live in Texas when you've lived in Homer. I don't see how anybody can stand to live in Texas, though. No offense, Stephen or anybody who lives in Texas (including you, Ivan).

I have to tell you something. You've had incredible impact on my life because you said tone deaf people could still be musical geniuses. I have natural rhythm. I've since discovered that even people who play the piano and read music can't do that.

I always naturally find the rhythm of any song.

Plus I have this sort of soft spongy voice (I also have a loud shrill voice, and one that leads people to ask for my mother, which I hate)that can blend with others. I have to watch their mouths when we practice, but I can pick up on them and blend with them almost perfectly. So it doesn't sound like two voices, it sounds like one voice, amplified and improved.

I now tell my daughter, who laughs when I sing, that somebody told me I was probably a genius (that would be you) in music and she can't count time, so shut up. And she sings beautifully, performs, and plays the piano.

I am so her better in music. She just hasn't realized it yet.

I'm assuming you'll get this in e-mail.

Ivan Wolfe said...

Yes, I got it in e-mail, and it was so cool I had to respond.

Thank you for the kind words, and no I really can't stand to live in Texas. I tolerate Texas so I can get the PhD done, but I have no plans to stay in Texas.

Unfortunately, there are no real jobs for people like me in Alaska, but hope springs eternal. I still return to Alaska in order to work for my dad over the summer, so I miss the worst of the Texas heat.

Keep it up with the music. Very few of us will ever be Beethoven level geniuses, but we all have our strengths. I know no one who is musically hopeless, and most people are musically talented in some way.

[I always find it interesting to see how Classical musicians, for example, can't seem to keep a good Latin rhythm, whilst Jazz musicians can keep good rhythm but can't always play the wildly complex passages required for the most difficult Classical music. Each musician has to find their strength(s).]

Keep the faith and all that!

Gary Hatch said...

Does this mean that you're through with your course work? Is the diss all that stands between you and graduation? Can you give me the one-minute cocktail party (alcohol free) version of your dissertation?

Ivan Wolfe said...

I am done with all my course work, yes. Right now, most of my comittie members are looking at a couple of chapters and the feedback will likely be coming in soon. If it's anything like the last chapter's feedback, I'll be doing serious revision.

I am an ABD at this point, with about half the dissertation written, and the other half slowly, slowly being written (with revision on the first half proceeding slowly as well).

My aim is to graduate in May '09. That gives me time to finish the revising and still be able to start applying for jobs in Fall 2008.

Is that the Gary Hatch, the awesome BYU professor that used to supervise my teaching when I was earning my MA at BYU? That's cool. Thanks for stopping by!

Friar Tuck said...

Hey there. Hope the dissertation is going well.

annegb said...

You didn't say what your dissertation is about. Or maybe it's here somewhere, I'll go look.

Bill and I went to Homer and stayed at the Chocolate Drop Inn and had dinner at a wonderful place. I hope you can find work back there.

When I'm feeling manic and grandiose and healthy, I think I'll take voice lessons. Mostly from your encouragement. I could be a genius in music :).

annegb said...

Your dissertation sounds like the pet peeves on my interviews. Incomprehensible, but sort of highly intelligent and cool.

Utopian literature, hmmm...