I must like blogging away the Mondays.

Because I always seem to blog on a Monday morning. Maybe that is because I am procrastinating the beginning of yet another week. Which I’m usually afraid is going to suck.
But not for much longer!
The perk of being in academia is definitely the summer break. This summer, I have every intention of finishing my second [...]

Procrastination: I’m supposed to be working, but instead, I’m wasting more of my potential.

Alas, it is a beautiful day here in Berkeley, California.
The sun is shining. I can hear the bells of the ice cream truck outside my window. The kids that live next door are enjoying their plastic pool. It’s 75° and a cool breeze is blowing.
I am inside.
Why?
Because I’m supposed to be writing my first field [...]

An entire month passes in academia . . .

. . . without me noticing. It’s sad how disconnected I become during the academic year. I lose all sense of what is going on in the world, mostly because my nose is forever buried in some tome that is supposed to be teaching me more about the world.
College campuses aren’t real. Oh, occasionally the [...]

More stupid teenagers, early 20s coolsters . . .

In light of the Miss South Carolina debacle, I thought it would be fun to post this.
One man went in search of ‘young people’, aka college students, to ask them what year 9/11 happened. This might have been entitled, “Man goes in search of people to make Miss SC look smart”. Surprise, surprise! He found [...]

Another Semester Begins

Another semester begins next Monday. Yuck. Yeah!
In honor of my mixed emotions, I’ve put up a new page, where I encourage people to weigh in on an issue that isn’t in any danger of being taken too seriously. It isn’t the Iraq War, it isn’t about human rights or the environment, it’s basically just poking [...]

Bird flu article is finished!

I just put the finishing touches on my article for Language and Politics, an academic journal which is publishing a special issue on avian flu. This afternoon, I sent it off to the editor, two days ahead of schedule. So, in other words, I’m feeling pretty good and largely carefree right now.
The article is entitled, [...]

Back to Bird Flu - Politics and Public Health

I’ve been asked to write an article on the political language of bird flu, specifically as it relates to the recent battles over viral samples from China and Indonesia. I’ll be focusing upon China, and discussing how public health is pretty much synonymous with politics these days. Basically, everything about global public health as it [...]

The Negative Side of Having “Potential”

Summer is stretching its long arms out in a near mind-crushing expanse of potential. Classes are over, the days are longer, and I have a summer stipend which means I have nothing but time and sunshine in which to write. I have no deadlines and no one expects me to show up for work at [...]

Year One is Over

The first year of my PhD program is officially ended. I turned in my last paper this morning, and now I am free to do and to read whatever I want. This means that I actually have to begin writing that second book. Ouch.
Back to the 500 words per day daily grind, people. But, it’s [...]

Procrastination facts

Clearly, I am procrastinating. But, ever the perfectionist, I wanted to make certain I was doing it right. So, ergo the following, taken from an institutional (oops, I meant to say educational institution’s) web page. For your own procrastinating pleasure. And, please, let me know if any of the following seem all-too familiar.
Procrastination and Its [...]