And The Great Whatever Gets a Kick Out of Watching Me Work From Above (Eating Popcorn)

I am going to have to face it. Eric Spina at Syracuse University once told me, "Getting a doctorate and taking a faculty job is a lifestyle choice. The pace is what it is and it never lets up."

Looking at my January calendar yesterday I realized the yearly dossier is coming quickly. That means I have to update my CV and cover letter to scribe all that's been accomplished in the last 365 days. I welcome the yearly tradition to reflect, but because I am always doing reports for NWP and grants, I feel like I keep saying the same things over and over again (and that is why I am advising myself to cut and paste).

And, as always, I'm thankful for college basketball as background noise as I look in the January mirror of the 365 days that have just been - even when my teams seems to tank at the glass yesterday.

I often tell my colleague, Ryan, I don't mind working and doing as I do, but having to stop everything to tell everyone what I'm doing is the place in the year that drives me the most nuts. I get it, though. Higher Education is a competitive environment and colleagues want to be sure their colleagues are holding their own. That is what the peer-review process is all about and, because February 1st is rolling upon me quickly, it's time for me to once again submit my materials.

Fortunate for me, Syracuse University's Future Professorial Program (FPP) conditioned to be in this habit. Like Pavlov's dogs, I salivate when the bell is ringing and that's what they do in my department after the holidays.

And so, drool is dripping from the corners of my mouth in the academic slop that has become my life.  I feel like Lossine's pillow after a night of sleep.