Happy New Year

Dearest Friends:

Work week over, academic year about to begin. Not at all sure what to do with the blog. On the one hand, I need a tool to follow dissertation progress, on the other want a forum to document the daily adventures that are now my life, my work, my interactions with the Austin community and surrounding areas -- for example, I met the Mexican consul here in Austin the other night at a very nice community outreach event, spent the last two days at a most interesting training/conference on domestic violence, and have already scooped up copious hours of overtime and gotten very good feedback on the work I have been doing from my boss. I think the safest thing to do is simply use this blog to document dissertation progress. I suppose it's neither wise nor professional to blog about work, so those of you interested in the goings on will have to get that information directly from me. I suspect, moreover, postings here will no longer be as regular as before.

On other fronts -- got an official job offer from my department today, turns out they do have a position available. Afraid they're a day late and several dollars short.

So the academic year begins! This weekend the students move in and classes begin on Wednesday. My PCL study probably won't come through until a couple weeks into the year, so I'll set up shop in the architecture library until then. Plan is to start off re-reading the core US materials on PIL as the US model will have to figure more prominently than I previously expected.

Sent in my IRB continuing email today, so I should be fine there and also tried to schedule a fellowship post arrival language test, but the company that handles these things is proving inept. On the future travel front, R has suggested we do a conference in Berlin mid-2007 and i'm game.

so again, love my job. It's the healthiest, most well-balanced I've felt in some time. It's in line with my dissertation, I'm learning so much and the work is highly rewarding, if highly demanding. I'm coming in contact with incredibly bright, interesting people taking on things like women's advocacy, setting precedent on issues in domestic violence, and impact litigation in rural texas -- tell me that's not a job! I feel strongly that I am exactly where I ought to be doing exactly what I ought to be when I ought to be and I haven't had that feeling in a long while, if ever.

Finally, this weekend I also formally resume running. De and I have been doing a bit here and there, mostly walking and drinking coffee; now it's time for the real deal.

It's going to be a great year.

B.