Thursday, February 01, 2007

Looking for love in the archives

My meeting with my advisor went very well. Now I'm just trying to find the appropriate love interest to star opposite myself in the forthcoming motion picture "Lazuli and her Dissertation." (The trailer [um, the proposal, that is] is supposed to appear sometime in May, I imagine). Thankfully, this search isn't quite like looking for love on, say, match-dot-com, since most of my potential prospects passed on before World War II or so. So I don't have to write little rejection letters to the catalog entries on OCLC, and apologize that I won't be trysting with them during a visit to their special collections rooms in Chicago, New York, DC, or wherever. I know which subset of potential partners I'm going for, it's just a matter now of brown hair or blond... so to speak.

Seriously? It feels gosh-darn good to be done with incomplete "coursework" and the nasty long exams so that I can actually get back to what really interests me and what I came to grad school for. I was positively giddy as I looked up various names from previous papers and notes and started to think more concretely about possible directions. Yes, I have a couple of papers that count as exams coming up, but they're both in my area of interest so I won't have to read zillions of pages about stuff that's not of primary interest. I've also gathered a bunch of new possiblities since I started grad school, hence the current need to chase around the archives trying to figure out what my "true love" interest is.

Is it true love? I certainly felt a flash of interest upon reading the WorldCat entries of a few potential matches today, but only time will tell where those will lead. My advisor was certainly adamant that my specific topic has to be something I "truly love" - with which I'd tend to agree. I mean, why spend all that time with something if you're not really "into" it, right? Especially now, as I see Coffeeboy stressing during the final months and weeks of his dissertation, I have a very vivid picture of why love in the archives can be so important.

But enough of this blather. I have a date with catalog entry number XYZ; maybe I'll wear a handknit shawl and some wool socks? It can get cold there in the archives.

11 comments:

Sheepish Annie said...

Amen to feelin' the luv! The class I'm taking right now is not my soul mate in any way, shape or form. Fortunately, I only have to pass it and get the credit. I have no interest in pursuing a career in this area!

Good luck in the subject search. This is really the fun part! A lot of work...but more of the "you" will go into it. And a big YES to the socks 'n such! Don't want you catching a chill in them archives.

Anonymous said...

Glad the meeting went well!
I agree with your advisor completely -- you should pick a topic that you *love*! Knowing that you love it will help you get through the rough days that you might encounter in the process.

Anonymous said...

Good luck with your second love and finding something that works for you. =)

Greta_Jane said...

I am amused because I recently told G that I felt like i had fallen in love with my topic.

Anonymous said...

Hmm. Are you willing to consider a topic that's... short?

Anonymous said...

It's really better to love your topic. I don't love mine, and it's slow going. When it's done, I never want to see it again. Maybe I can think about finishing the diss as the big break up :-)

Anonymous said...

LOL! You are too funny. Best of luck finding a topic you love.

Jessica
http://zarzuelaknitsandcrochets.com/blog

Anonymous said...

not only do you fall in love with the topic, but often you become obsessed with the historical characters in the diss. I feel like a lot of the evangelists I am writing about are now my good friends even though most of them are long dead....

Anonymous said...

Well, this time you only have to love your true love for a lovely two or three years, although if you divorce your true love after that it'll haunt you all your life like all divorces do :-) Gambate!

Anonymous said...

Sorry, I'm too old for this but I love seeing what you are doing, more or less! Happy Valentine's Day!

KosherAcademic said...

Good luck :-)

If you end up in Chicago and I'm still here, get my details from Greta-Jane and we can get together!