"Je t'aime, amour, quand j'entend la voix"
So even though I haven't posted in absolutely ages, I thought I should probably update anyone who still pays attention that I've returned from the IU/OSU Folklore and Ethnomusicology conference not only in one piece but also laden with good information and a substantial reading list to make my next application process a much less haphazard one. I've got over a dozen schools to look at, probably 8 or 10 of which I'll apply to this time, I have advice about personal statements, writing samples, and how to get on JSTOR without university affiliation or a small fortune. This combined with a $15 outside lending card for the VU library and a valid Indiana driver's license to get me into the IU library whenever I feel like driving down there, I think this summer will be VERY fruitful.
I'm really excited about this - I've got a bunch of faculty and grad student contacts at IU, OSU, and WKU now, which I think is an excellent start. I will spend the coming months keeping those up and fostering new ones at the other schools I'll apply to. I'll need to decide if I'm willing to get a Folklore MA somewhere to make getting a PhD easier later (I'm leaning toward no, but WKU could be a special case, depending). Also I will READ. So many things I would need to know, and I just don't. I can't even tell you as much about the history and development of linguistics as these professors who were all like "Oh, I don't know anything about linguistics!" and then rattled off all this crap I never learned about (for example, we didn't talk about Chomsky much, largely, I think, because Judy hates him)...but whatever. I know how to DO it, which is the important part. But in terms of Folklore, I think I have a good reading list to pull from now, and as I mentioned, I got boatloads of useful advice from all kinds of senior faculty. I might even consider trying to arrange a visit to WSFS, which is at UCLA next month - it's actually in 3ish weeks, and I don't know that I'll get the opportunity, but it might be worth trying.
Anyhow, yeah - I'm feeling a lot better about this now. I know I said that after AFS, too, but I have a LOT of time now to fine-tune all the various parts of my applications, not least the fact that I know better what needs to happen now than I did the last time.
In other news, Nicholaus made me watch a lot of Community, and it's hilarious. Extremely weird, but hilarious. I also ate at Siam House twice in 3 days, got a monstrous headache that made me sure I was going to vomit during the closing remarks, didn't, and then got back to Nick's apartment and found out my favorite author ever and the person whose work I was going to study when I was still going to do just children's literature died. I mean, I realize that discovering a person's work when they are already 70 means you shouldn't hope to ever meet them, but it didn't stop me, and now I'll always be a little sad I never knew her as a person. At least I can devote some time and money to amassing a complete collection of her works - which I've wanted to do for 3 years, and this is kind of a perfect excuse. I'll miss her, anyway, and I hope that any of you who haven't read her work will. I'd start with Charmed Life or Howl's Moving Castle, but all of them are amazing. No seriously - all of them.
I think that's about all I've got to say at the moment. Good times, sad times, wisdom and delicious food - that's my weekend in a nutshell.
I'm really excited about this - I've got a bunch of faculty and grad student contacts at IU, OSU, and WKU now, which I think is an excellent start. I will spend the coming months keeping those up and fostering new ones at the other schools I'll apply to. I'll need to decide if I'm willing to get a Folklore MA somewhere to make getting a PhD easier later (I'm leaning toward no, but WKU could be a special case, depending). Also I will READ. So many things I would need to know, and I just don't. I can't even tell you as much about the history and development of linguistics as these professors who were all like "Oh, I don't know anything about linguistics!" and then rattled off all this crap I never learned about (for example, we didn't talk about Chomsky much, largely, I think, because Judy hates him)...but whatever. I know how to DO it, which is the important part. But in terms of Folklore, I think I have a good reading list to pull from now, and as I mentioned, I got boatloads of useful advice from all kinds of senior faculty. I might even consider trying to arrange a visit to WSFS, which is at UCLA next month - it's actually in 3ish weeks, and I don't know that I'll get the opportunity, but it might be worth trying.
Anyhow, yeah - I'm feeling a lot better about this now. I know I said that after AFS, too, but I have a LOT of time now to fine-tune all the various parts of my applications, not least the fact that I know better what needs to happen now than I did the last time.
In other news, Nicholaus made me watch a lot of Community, and it's hilarious. Extremely weird, but hilarious. I also ate at Siam House twice in 3 days, got a monstrous headache that made me sure I was going to vomit during the closing remarks, didn't, and then got back to Nick's apartment and found out my favorite author ever and the person whose work I was going to study when I was still going to do just children's literature died. I mean, I realize that discovering a person's work when they are already 70 means you shouldn't hope to ever meet them, but it didn't stop me, and now I'll always be a little sad I never knew her as a person. At least I can devote some time and money to amassing a complete collection of her works - which I've wanted to do for 3 years, and this is kind of a perfect excuse. I'll miss her, anyway, and I hope that any of you who haven't read her work will. I'd start with Charmed Life or Howl's Moving Castle, but all of them are amazing. No seriously - all of them.
I think that's about all I've got to say at the moment. Good times, sad times, wisdom and delicious food - that's my weekend in a nutshell.