Slacker

That's me, being a slacker--I haven't done any campaigning for a couple of weeks, because I am far behind on an NIH postdoc proposal. And it would not be bad, necessarily, to skip volunteering for work if I had actually done much work. But being in Ohio sucks my will to live at the moment, so I have spent waaaay too much time surfing the web. Luckily, something in my brain finally came together this past weekend, and I have made some progress on the proposal. It's slow progress, but progress nonetheless.

Word of advice: Never attempt to collect qualitative data while applying for jobs. I don't know why I decided to do this. Really, what is so wrong with another year of grad school? The only plus side to this situation is I've lost some weight. But I think I'd prefer to have the weight back.

In other news...there is an interesting article on race from Frank Rich, one of my favorite NY Times writers. I have been thinking about this topic a lot recently. I try to hold off my excitement for what I believe will be a blowout election, in case anything goes horribly wrong. But it is hard not to get verklempt at the prospect of electing a black man as president. What an amazing thing that is. I know that racism will plod along as ever. In fact, much like Rich, I think the concern regarding white Americans is misguided. This is not because racism does not exist, but because racism is much more insidious and structural than the media choose to portray. White Americans can vote for a black man if it suits their interest--and many of those who do will continue to cross the street when they see a black male. And teachers will continue to overreact to black students' classroom behavior, creating a cycle of conflict with authority and the court system. And whites will continue to flee diversifying neighborhoods (while gentrifying others). Racism, in its most insidious form, is invisible. Worse, it's the logical extension of culturally constructed "rationalism." The system allows for the Barack Obamas, Colin Powells, and any other number of successful black americans--in fact, it depends on them, because images of success make racism that much more difficult to combat. It depends, too, on those few whites who espouse obviously racist rhetoric, as the fall-guys for racism. But for the most part, those "hicks" aren't the problem--they are the prop against which the rest of us (particularly the media) measure ourselves.

On to other subjects! Since I have been primarily interviewing and procrastinating, there is not much to say about my life recently. I have been running more, which is keeping me happy and sane. I have completed 12 interviews at the second school--18 to go! I am hoping to finish at least five today and tomorrow, and then I fly to Philadelphia tomorrow night. I'll be back here for a week to wrap things up in mid-November. The interviews at the second school have gone well. These students are, by and large, much better off than those at the first school. Most of them still want to stay in the area (WHY?), but they have higher aspirations for college and careers. One of them shook my hand after her interview, which I found really cute. Another asked if she could choose to not take the incentive money, until I explained that it was from the university, and not from me.

Lastly, I am trying to decide on a really simple Halloween costume this year, because I have neither the money nor the energy to be creative. Last year Alison and I went as UNC undergrads (we were in Philly). This year, Alison is going as a vampire. What should I do, people?