In true grad student form, I require an excuse to actually get anything done. NaBloPoMo has given me that excuse.
The idea for this blog has been beating around inside my head since before the semester even started, when I discovered the hard fact of life about grad school: everyone is a fucking pompous asshole. No one cares about anything other than their field, politics, and sports. No one ever has trouble getting motivated or getting their work done. No one ever feels burned out on their topic.
I call bullshit.
I'm a first year Ph.D student studying computer music composition. I'm burned out and unmotivated more often than not these days. Grad school has thus far proven to be disappointing, confusing, and snobbish, though I've been assured that the first year is always the worst. I'll be blogging about many different aspects of graduate school; student teaching, stuffy academic writing, pretentious jerks, and of course music. Don't get me wrong, grad school is a wonderful thing. I love that I'm able to research and learn and teach, some of the things I love most in life. Sometimes, though...it really sucks massive Godzilla balls.
Since I both found out about NaBloPoMo late and took forever to get my ass motivated, I'll be posting twice for at least five days this month to make up for November 1st-5th. I say this knowing that it's not really feasible for me to post every single day...but I guess I'm going to try anyway. I'm even going to try to do a semi-periodic feature: Calling BS. I'll post a full introduction to the concept when I post the first entry, but the basic idea is to make fun of the academic assholes who make up their own words to sound sophisticated and to give me an outlet for the frustration this sort of behavior generates. Ultimately, if I end up with something close to 20 entries at the end of November, I'll be satisfied with my efforts.
So, there you have it. Outtakes, blunders, and gripes from academic America.
Grad school. I will likely be dead or insane before the end of my 5 (or 7, or 10, or 18) years here. Wish me luck.
