I really am lucky

You know how people are always telling you to make sure you get a job you love? "Find something you love and then find someone to pay you to do it" is the best elucidation of the concept I've ever heard.

Well you know what? I do. I am head-over-heels in love with what I do. I can barely think of anything that excites me more. Here I am, making discoveries, thinking things no one ever has before, seeing texts history has just passed over... By pure chance (or perhaps divine providence, I am in the incredible position of being on the front edge of a whole new field of medieval studies. It's wide open spaces, baby.

On the professional activities front, I am in-process for actually publishing some stuff. Nothing is certain yet (except for the book review which I really ought to get my rear in gear about), but it's a good feeling. The pressure to publish, even when you're still a student, is intense. One item is a revision of the Margery Kempe paper I gave at the York-Norwich conference, and the other is shaping up to be a killer article for the Journal of Fifteenth Century Studies. I can't say more about it right now, so you will just have to take my word for it. But really, it's awesome. Greg and I have been geeking out about it for the past couple days, which is what spurred this post initially.

And while we're at it, I've gotten my first submission for my k'zoo 2009 session, which is cool. I should write something brief up as well, for form's sake. And also so that I know what I plan to do.

And that's about the state of the nation at the moment.

A little bit of peace

I had some country-music-inspired sobbing episodes on Thursday. More sobbing tonight. Uprooting is hard.

I'm really glad for my dad. He was wonderful and hugged me while I cried and then helped me pick a fighting style to get involved with at York. I'm going to learn ju jitsu! And we talked for a while, and I managed to find him on MSN at last. Knowing that the lines of communication and contact are that much stronger did a lot to stabilise me.

We just talked for a while, and made a date for just the two of us. I'm going to miss him.

He also encouraged me that this is not the end of the world, and if it doesn't work out, that's not the end of the world either. I promised him I'd set some concrete goals for my first month at York, to give me focus and to strive for. I arrive in York on Jan 21st, and Feb 21st is a memorable date for personal reasons, so One Month it is.

Ten One-Month Goals: (in no particular order)
1. Establish my kitchen. Find the staples, spices, and equipment that I will need in order to successfully feed myself.
2. Join the ju jitsu club.
3. Find a church.
4. Bike around campus and learn where the important buildings (admin, library, international students office, shops) are.
5. Have tea with at least two classmates or housemates.
6. Meet with my advisors and figure out my schedule (including Latin class).
7. Acquire a cheap Region 2 DVD player and Season 1 of F/X: the Series. Watch it.
8. Chase some ducks.
9. Make my room feel like home.
10. Spend at least one morning walking around the downtown.