Small personal note...
Today I successfully defended my dissertation. This means that in a few days, after I've addressed a few minor corrections and changes to the document, I'll submit the thing to the graduate college and will "officially" have earned my degree.
It's been a long seven years out here in Arizona, but this chapter is finally closing, and I'll be heading back east to begin a new life. It think Joel once said to me "you can take the boy out of the midwest, but you can't take the midwest out of the boy." It's true, and while I loved my time here in Arizona, I'm very excited to be heading back to the part of the country that I'll always call my home (does Altoona count as midwest? Not sure. I don't care, it's close enough).
Things will still be hit and miss here at the blog for a while, as we'll be moving at the end of this month with all the chaos that brings. But life's soon going to return to normal, whatever the heck that is. Thanks in advance for continuing to visit despite my always-irregular blogging schedule.
Nice. Contrats Justin. Just don't change your site to "On Baseball and the Curve"
ReplyDeletehttp://www.altoonacurve.com/
Oh, I could never leave the Reds. I do plan to start following the Curve a bit though, if for no other reason than to scout out what Neal Huntington is doing over with our division rivals. Plus, my kid needs to get to regular baseball games--I need someone in my family that I can talk to, and I figure I can mold her into a fan if I try hard enough (hehe).
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, there aren't any good all-purpose Pirates minor league blogs like Doug Grag's one for the Reds. All they have are ones devoted to specific teams, and none are devoted to the Curve. Shame. I don't know if I'm up to filling that kind of niche (almost certainly am not), but it sure would make it easier to know who's worth following in their system.
-j
Congrats Justin! I am not sure I would consider Altoona the 'midwest', but the fact that the 'midwest' is actually quite east does it really matter? Sure, it goes back a long way for where that term comes from and it made sense 150 years ago... but it bothers me still when I really think about it because Ohio is considered 'Midwest' but is no where near the west, or middle for that matter, much less in the middle of the west. Enough rants, good job on your accomplishment!
ReplyDeleteCongrats, Justin!
ReplyDeleteCongrats Justin. I'll be defending on or about the end of August. Wish me luck.
ReplyDeleteCongrats Justin.
ReplyDeleteAre you going to post-doc or go straight to a "real" job?
Either way, you'll enjoy the pay raise.
Congrats again!
Thanks everyone!
ReplyDelete@Brad - good luck!! I was dreading mine, but the private session in particular turned out to be really nice: 5 PhD's all thinking, exploring, and discussing my work. Not often that you get that to happen. Not quite the pounding I was irrationally expecting to get...
@jojo - I got lucky and scored a real job, so that's where I'm headed at the end of the month. Should be a lot of fun!
-j
Oh great, now we have to deal with the Doctor complex. We'll never be able to argue with you now, will we?
ReplyDeleteCongrats, man! I know you've worked hard on it and had to make a lot of sacrifices, so I'm sure it feels great to have it all completed! Good luck with wherever it takes you in the future.
Yeah, now I'm genuinely infallible! Seriously, says so on the diploma. ;)
ReplyDelete-j
Just remember that a PhD is not a play' hatin' degree. Congrats!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on a great achievement. Arizona's great but it sounds like you've got some exciting stuff on the way!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations. I feel like you may have mentioned this before, but what is the degree in?
ReplyDelete@Ken, ... er.., I'll try!
ReplyDelete@jeff, thanks!
@Dan, thanks. I'm a biologist. I study insect vision, evolution, and behavior.
-Justin
Congrats! I'm about to start a PhD out at the University of Arizona, not sure if you are in Tucson or Tempe, any advice for an Ohio boy/ Reds fan heading out to Southern Arizona?
ReplyDeleteHi John,
ReplyDeleteI'm up in Phoenix, so I can't help too much. But I guess my best advice would be to make sure that you get out into the desert or up in the highlands (the Chiricahuas are fabulous, and not too far from Tucson) with regularity. Urban life in Arizona can be a bit of a drag. It's sprawl at its worst, and at least up in Phoenix, you have to deal with astonishing traffic and fairly thick pollution. But the wild areas are second to none in my experience. Even if you're not into hiking, just going out for a picnic now and then is worth doing.
Aside from UofA (which has a beautiful campus), the only thing I know about Tucson is their desert museum. It's a great place to visit, especially once the temperatures cool down a tad.
Congrats on entering your phd program and good luck! Being a graduate student is a damn stressful job, but it's also one that allows more personal freedom and room for growth than any other I can imagine.
-j