D-Day is January 17*

*Pending coordination of schedules, signatures in triplicate signed in blood, promises of firstborn children, and exorcism of assorted demons. Your mileage may vary, no money back guarantees.

I am having a thousand small nervous breakdowns about seeing a dissertation defense date in print, but there it is. I thought I�d better commit it to an audience before I talk myself out of it.

Between now and then I still have to take two exams, give a conference paper, apply for five or six jobs (one of which is at a so called elite college that may or may not be located in southwestern Connecticut and that turned down my grad school application) and, oh, yeah, finish editing the damn diss.

But it does help to have a real deadline.

I am on campus for meetings and library errands all day. It is soggy and chilly and my toes are squelching around in my shoes. But it�s a cheerful day. Even the conductors on the train were cheerful, announcing all the stations in verse.

And now, I must return to my meltdown. And my editing. I may try to post again later when I�ve glued my eyeballs back in my head and picked my jaw up off the floor.

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