Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Hello, who are you?

Ah, the problems of being on the West Coast! Evidently everyone has been having fun participating in Mofo Delurk Day while I was hard at work. Or, perhaps, hard at avoiding my conference paper by obsessively organizing and re-organizing my job materials. And I don't mean the content-related materials, like the CV or letter or dissertation abstract. I mean the envelopes and labels and pens and things, thank you very much. Hey, it keeps me calm and is soothing --- as my brother the engineer likes to say, I needed to up my serotonin levels. Of course, I think he needs to admit that he feels overwhelmed and depressed and perhaps, shocker, talk to someone about it, but as an engineer he thinks the mind and body are machines that should be treated solely with medication or quick fixes.

But enough about me and my silly brother! Today is all about you! Yes, you --- the lurkers who have been reading my blog (I see you over there when I check on Sitemeter!) and do not comment. Come out come out wherever you are and say hi! I've been linked to by big fancy places recently and my blog traffic has gone way up, so I know I have some new readers. Stop a bit. Introduce yourself. Say hi. Have a virtual cocktail or something. That? Don't look over there ---- that huge messy pile is my dissertation research. I can shovel the piles of dirty clothes off the sofa and find you a seat, even. Uh, don't make too much contact with the seat --- I don't know when I last cleaned around here. Let me open a can of chickpeas for you! ... cause that's all I have for you to eat around here right now. Unless you'd prefer to eat job application materials. Or pencils? I have pencils.

Because, really, it's all about you ... you, and me being hospitable to you. I'm trying very hard. I'm thinking that I need to actually get the book from one of my new favorite writer/actress/comediennes/whatevers, Amy Sedaris, to more fully hospital-ize you and make my place properly spiffed up. Here, have some chickpeas. Because these chickpeas? They are sending you a message. And that message is I like you.

Seriously, if I could hand you a roast fowl the way that woman could, I would. Leave me some comments!

19 comments:

Meagan said...

Hi! I'm a recent lurker-- I don't remember exactly how I got here. I'm an ABD in comp/rhet-- slowly slogging through my diss. I have a blog too-- if you're interested you can follow my profile to get there.

vC said...

Fellow lurker lured here through Acephalous. Also ABD in Spanish Literature, working on my dissertation for my nth year (if I actually say the number then it will be true...) I have a blog: http://onetoughvoncookie.com. You'll see me here again soon, and I promise to say something much more interesting than this.

Loose Baggy Monster said...

I'm a relatively recent lurker who is in between grad programs at the moment. But I couldn't refuse the offer of chickpeas and pencils! I'll try to comment more often in the future, I promise.
~Sarah

Musey_Me said...

I am here.

azoresdog said...

I'm a day late on the delurking thing, but I live in Europe so I request amnesty. Granted? I was drawn over by the references to poststructuralist theory, which makes no sense at all because I, too, am an engineer.

I know. Figure that one out.

How's that rock?

Liza Blake said...

also a recent lurker -- hi! First year PhD in English and still bright eyed and bushy tailed ... for about the next week at least ...

Maude said...

i lurk. i have been for a few months. and i lurk a day late. your blog cracks me up and comforts me all at the same time.

and i happen to love chickpeas (ever toss 'em in a salad with vinaigrette and feta? yum!!) and amy sedaris.

withneedle said...

Delurking late--like Sue Who, I am an engineer who was lured here by reference to poststructuralist theory. I blame a professor who decided to try the experiment of teaching theory to brand-new freshmen, on the grounds that we wouldn't know enough to be intimidated by the texts. It was painful, but it worked.

Fifi Bluestocking said...

Hello! I think I got here via Dr Crazy and have been lurking for a wee while. I'm a new Prof and still very close to grad school days so I enjoy reading what you write. Thanks for letting me say hi.

Belle said...

Not a lurker, but your hospitable offer enticed me from the darkness.

Aren't you supposed to be working on something?

(That was a teasing nag....)

Bardiac said...

Hi!!

Mmm, roast fowl!

GZ said...

A MPhil student generally in the area of history, located at the ANU, in Canberra, Australia.

Sisyphus said...

Look, people! Hello everybody. Wow. And engineers, too! Hmm, that is confusing to me.

Hmm, if I had salad and vinaigrette and feta, I might be able to go there, "Maude Lebowski," but those items are not in the house. Nothing perishable is left, actually. I was thinking of serving the chickpeas in the can, but taking the label off, because, you know, the can is decoratively shiny.

Sue Who, rock? You keep asking about that rock. You mean that The Rock? Oh! Rock! Yes, I get you ... will post on the rock-pushing soon. (Belle will be pleased.)

And look, an Australian! Is Canberra near Perth? Cause someone from Perth definitely reads the blog regularly. Ooh, I may have a collection of Australians!

How nice.

Dr. Brainiac said...

Looks like the comment fairy has blessed you richly! I am always soooo out of the loop and usually miss stuff like this entirely.

*raises glass of shiraz*

k8 said...

I drop by now and then:-) I'm a PhD candidate in Comp/Rhet who is on the job market this year (very scary!). I also work with children's and young adult literature and I have a MLS.

Artemis said...

I confess to lurking from my lurking at Reassigned Time. I'm ABD in lit on the west coast tho not as far along as you. Good luck on the market!!

WildlyParenthetical said...

I'm very late and not even sure if I count as a lurker, given that I've seen you and you've seen me over at SEK's den (and I don't think I mentioned it at the time, but there's nothing more eyerollingly unsexy than boys hitting on boys and then freaking out; but I still like your plan for man-on-man action to decrazy-ify homosocial male sexuality in relation to women!)

Nonetheless, hi and here I am, and I'm another Australian - from Sydney this time; much *much* closer to Canberra [waves to George] than Perth (which ain't actually hard). I'm... er... a postgrad in Cultural Studies; I find your blog comforting, amusing and educational (and seriously, that last one's *not* an insult, I promise!). Besides, you combine funny and honest in a way I really enjoy.

And I have to curse blogger because a simpler way to say 'here's who I am' would be to direct you to my own blog, but apparently wordpress don't count as the *real* blogs of this world. Ah well!

Unknown said...

Hi.

I'm an undergrad in political science currently at school in Philadelphia, originally from the Bay Area.

I'm considering grad school and a career in academia so I basically just read for insight into those areas.

Sisyphus said...

I hope you brought enough shiraz for everyone, Dr. Shedevil. Things might get ugly here otherwise.

k8 you should be heartened by the number of C/R jobs listed this year ... it seems like every third one is asking for a PhD in that specific field. If I end up going more comp-y, I'm staying in CA. (whether the comp jobs would have me is another question.)

Artemis, I had to get a blog because I kept wanting to comment over at Dt. Crazy's, and here we are. Moral of the story: Run! Run NOW!

Hi WP! Is a "postgrad" someone who has graduated, or a graduate student? I like cultural studies. I think. Just don't ask me to define it.

Steven: see the above advice for artemis.