mountainmelody

I presented my research this morning--I think it went well. In the middle of the presentation, they asked to extend the discussion from thirty minutes to an hour, in order to consider my work for an upgrade.

I won't bore you with all the details, but this upgrade means I am officially, 100% on the PhD track. I hadn't expected to formally upgrade until next year. So I'm taking this to mean that they were pleased with my progress.

The professors can be very critical of people's research, so I was relieved that their comments to me were positive. Here are a few things they've said about other people's work:

• I have no idea what you're talking about!
• This is really not worthy of a PhD.
• You have about three PhDs here, but you can only write one.
• Maybe this makes sense to you, but I'm afraid it doesn't to anyone else.
• You need a lobotomy!

This afternoon's presentation on "the literary macrostructure of the book of Revelation" was so scintillating that two professors fell asleep.

Let's hope that doesn't happen when I present my research tomorrow morning (2:30 AM Birmingham time).

Now off to a lecture about Estonian hymnody--

So maybe the lock guy didn't do as great of a job as I'd thought... This morning I got stuck in my room again. I ended up jumping out the window to get to class. (Now that's a dedicated student!)

It's supposedly really fixed now. We'll see!

8:30 PM: stuck inside room again

8:45 PM: front desk guy comes to check it out

9 PM: calls locksmith

10 PM: locksmith arrives--loud drilling and banging sounds

10:20 PM: door opens

This morning I was late for church. I was ready on time--I just couldn't get the door to my room open.

Something was wrong with the lock (or my keys). I even pushed a key under the door to my friend, but she couldn't unlock it from the outside either.

There's nothing like being locked in your own room!

Fortunately, the office had a spare key that worked (although apparently the guy at the front desk didn't seem the least bit concerned). Here's hoping mine will work next time...

Guess I could always jump out the window. :P

I'm in Prague!

Notes to self (for next time):

1. Get a scale (or find some other way to weigh luggage).


2. Don't put voltage converters (with two metal prongs) next to dense books in your carry-on. Apparently this can look like a homemade explosive device in the x-ray machine. (Who knew?)

Otherwise, the trip was fairly uneventful. Having a non-stop flight from Atlanta sure is nice!

You have to get a little creative with food here--they don't serve supper, or any meals on the weekends, but there's no refrigerator or microwave you can use. There is a water heater thing in the room, though. Here's what I've come up with so far (minus tonight's sandwich, which is sitting outside on the window ledge):

Two-thirds of Americans under thirty would rather pursue their passions than make a lot of money.

Girl: Do you know the KKK?

Me: (pretending not to hear)

Girl: Hey, do you know the KKK?

Me: (quietly) Yes, I know what that is.

Girl: We learned about it in school. My teacher is so old that she was alive when that was happening! She's FIFTY-ONE!

I went to the doctor (nothing serious). Summary:

• 90+ minutes of waiting
• $150+ in fees and medicine

Insurance sure isn't all it's cracked up to be.

GA 1: Dear God, please help my brother stop being so annoying. Make him stop bothering me so much.

GA 2: God, please help me be nicer to my brother. And I hope you have a great day tomorrow.

I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see.

-John Burroughs

Me: ...So these verses tell us to be kind to everyone, even people who are different from us.

Girl 1: There's a boy in my class who's different. He has diabetes. He has to go to the nurse at the beginning of gym class every day.

Girl 2: There was a new girl in my class and I tried to be nice to her.

Girl 3: My grandma's cat has diabetes.

Me: Did everyone have a good time over the holidays?

Second grader: I got a Dell laptop!

So I'm still spending a lot of my weekends reading old magazines for my research (exciting, I know). I thought I'd share part of a poem I found in a 1938 publication:

I wonder what we’re coming to,
Fifty years from now.
I wonder what we’ll think and do,
Fifty years from now.
I wonder how we’ll eat and dress:
Will we wear more clothes then, or less?
We’ll do some funny things, I guess,
Fifty years from now.

Our homes will be on wings and wheels,
Fifty years from now.
We’ll ask the wireless for our meals,
Fifty years from now.
We’ll never sleep and never tire,
We’ll eat by proxy, think by wire,
And all keep warm without a fire,
Fifty years from now.

Improved machines will wash the dishes,
Fifty years from now.
They’ll do the job just as one wishes,
Fifty years from now.
They’ll wash and scald and dry them, too,
And put them up like people do,
Then sweep the kitchen ere they’re through,
Fifty years from now.

Words, which are the dress of thoughts, deserve surely more care than clothes, which are only the dress of the person.

-Philip Dormer Stanhope

more signs