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Tales from the Steppes


2004-08-31

11:52 p.m.
Ain't no beauty queens in this locality

I was supposed to think about the direction of my thesis while I was at Pennsic. Can't say I thought about it once. I would try and relate some of my various adventures, but they most likely would not make any sense to you reading them sober, in the daylight, with no drums. Needless to say, trouble either found me or I found it. But only the good sort of trouble.

To make up for my mental laziness over vacation, I have made excellent progress since then. As a recap, I have been angsting over whether to research a topic that bores me, but can be done on the clock (mostly) or whether to continue with a topic that I am fascinated by, but is more difficult and less lucrative. And then the angels sang "Gosh, do you really think those are your only two options for a thesis? Maybe there is a third, fourth, or even fifth option that might be well suited."

Just shoot me. Here I am, guilty of the sort of blinders on, sloppy thinking I absolutely abhor. Duh. You have my permission to shake me by the scruff of the neck anytime I do this.

So realizing this has made me start working this problem through a little more critically. I think one question that I need to answer is whether my job is truly a good match for me if I find the suburban revitalization question to be boring. Perhaps it is not my thesis that is the problem, but rather my choice of jobs. Maybe I can transfer to Parks and parlay my interest in use of space into something valuable. Maybe there are other topics I can dovetail with my current job. Maybe there is another way of looking at the suburban redevelopment issue that I wouldn't find so onerous. Maybe there is a way to finish my current reserch without having to spend so many hours interviewing.

Lots of thinking needs to get done in a fairly short time frame. But at least I am back on the right track. The answers you get are all dependent on the questions you ask. And if you frame a problem so that only answers are either A or B, then you have shut out many possibilities.

My first classes are tomorrow and hopefully I will at least have a plan of action thought out. In an interesting turn of events, the man who was my unofficial adviser will be teaching full time this fall. Normally, he is just an occasional adjunct professor. So I will talk with him and see if he has thoughts. He was very gung ho on my research but he does understand the balance with work.

Past Few Tales


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Thursday, October 26

Friday, October 20

Thursday, October 19

Wednesday, October 18


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