iExcelAtMicrosoftPuns

I'll be working as sous chef for an upscale caterer.

Woo woo. Me too!

Yeah - I sent you mine and I think I also invited Proflorax and Lostleaf . And if BhR or Aspire wanna join in they're welcome too. and cbtbtcher

I'm on Wordpress. WriterTyger is on Blog.com It'd probably be best if we tried to keep it all on a few platforms instead of several platforms - but I'm not picky. Imma put y'all's blogs into a folder of bookmarks.

Awesome! Yeah. I'm down for PMing our blogs and sorta keeping each other on "track" (albeit a leisurely track).

I've got a blog. If y'all start a blog we can blog to each other, comment, and bounce around like that. I may dust off my copy of "The Rhetorical Tradition" and blog my way through that... or I may just read some more Ellen Cushman.

Hey y'all! Anyone interested in keeping correspondence over the summer? Maybe share articles/bounce ideas around/debate the meaning of life the universe and everything? I’m all for having a summer “off” (unemployed starting May 31) to kayak, bike, sleep-in. But something I do for fun is just recklessly ponder intellectual stuff – anyone else in the same boat (kayak)?

:-) 16 April - We lived.

I bet the gold makes the chocolate taste terrible.

Starting this thread in order to get (and pass along) advice regarding emailing Universities. Perhaps I’m just awkward. Perhaps I have this deep-rooted sense of shame (I blame my parents). Whatever the reason – I occasionally struggle when composing an email. Lemme first preempt my defense. This in no way indicates I’m unprepared inter-personally. In person I am eccentric, agreeable, a basic (but gentle) nut. Email can be tricky… even as a rhetorician I find sense of awkward/shame (I’m not worthy!) clouding my intuition of audience needs. Whew! I find prompts and general guidelines helpful. Post your best advice and I’ll edit this first page to include your quotes. This way the folks coming behind us can quickly find answers for their email questions. I’ll start. RE: where do I stand?!?!? Scene: ErmahGawd! There are 3 acceptances on the board and 4 rejections… I haven’t heard anything and it’s been a week what do I do?!? Should I email them? Consider: There isn’t a forum consensus here. Some folks say “yeah man – if it’ll make you feel better” other folks say “I’d hate to bother them…” . I’m of the “don’t bother them” mindset. It’s not that I think the DGS are some sort of untouchable deities – I’m just not that bugged by waiting Email: I think Karmisha (sp) has had some luck with a quick note – “DGS, My name is BowTies R. Cool, I applied for Time Travel Paradox PhD and I’m looking for an update on my status. Thank you, B” RE: Seeking advice/insight on your rejected Apps Scene: ErmahGawd!!!! They rejected me, I thought I was a shoe in. I thought I was a great fit. Whadda I do??!?!? I know what I’ll do… I want to get to the bottom of this – I’m an inquisitive mind… why didn’t they want me? Consider: Have a drink. Hug a friend. Grieve for a bit. So far, I’ve only been rejected from 1 program. I didn’t ask for insight because I knew it was competitive and I knew it was a reach. Some people do ask though – and some people get great responses. Email: I wanna say Karmisha has done this before too. “DGS/POI, My name is XYZ I applied for ABC with a writing sample on 123. I was rejected from your program but I’m curious as to how I can strengthen my application going forward. Bla bla bla, any insight would be helpful. Thank you,” RE: Declining admissions Scene: ERMAHGAWDD! I’ve been accepted to 2 great programs! I think I have my mind made up but I dunno how to tell the other program. Consider: Have a drink. Hug a friend. Celebrate for a bit. This was hard for me – I struggled between sending a kind/short note and between sending a note with a little more insight into my decision making process. A good friend convinced me to go the kind/short direction – she said it’s almost insulting to tell them why you chose another program (bigger discussion here: Is it? I don’t think so. But I took her advice in order to be safe) Email: Send it as soon as you “know”. By all means take your time to make an informed decision but when you know do your waitlisted peers a favor and don’t dilly. My email had 3 basic components: Thank you for the offer and advice, I’m declining to attend U of A, and I look forward to seeing faculty and students in the future. --So, that’s my start. I’ll edit to quote more sage when y’all holla at me.

I'm your spunky side kick! I sets them up. You knocks them down

I made up my mind. I'm going to louisville.

Louisville. See y'all there!

That's really too bad - I heard they received funding and what not to start this new MA program... and here they are, unable to offer anything to the students.

Bananas are good. I like Bananas. I gave a theory book and a fun book to one advisor/letter writer A new theory book to another advisor/letter writer a bottle of nice Whisky to the final advisor/letter writer/current instructor They're grown adults and professionals I suspect they can/do seperate these sort of gifts from any idea of bribery/what-have-you.

I'll be friends on any sort of social platforms with you, Cat. I am unemployed from June 1 to August 20ish. So I'll be Kayaking, Jogging, Biking, etc. all summer long.

Eye like too play word games. Ever cents eye was young - dew ewe like two play?

Spear the clothing from coloring. They're beautiful the whey they are.

Miami of Ohio

Purdue keeps ENG folks waiting till the last minute too. This is the email they send: " Applications are evaluated on a rolling basis--meaning we make offers of admission over the course of several months beginning in early February and ending in mid-April, and candidates may receive admission or rejection notices at any time during that period. Last year, for example, we were able to notify a few candidates as early as the first week of February, but most of our offers were not finalized until mid-March (and one offer was made in the afternoon on the April 15th national deadline). To put all this another way: we can't predict when we'll be able to contact you, but you can be sure that we'll do so as soon as circumstances allow. We also want to emphasize that the English Department does not rely on a formal waiting list to make admissions decisions. We use an on-going evaluation/re-evaluation process that takes into account our changing areas of need and available funding opportunities, and we choose candidates from our pool of qualified applicants based on these factors. Finally, we recognize and understand the anxiety associated with the admissions process, especially given the proliferation and popularity of websites and wikis where individuals post information about their acceptances and rejections. Waiting to hear from schools is extremely difficult, and we know people worry about the status of their applications and their chances for receiving an offer. We want to emphasize the fact that, unless you receive a rejection notice from us, you most definitely remain a competitive applicant in our pool of potential candidates (even if other people are posting online that they have received offers from Purdue). "

:-) I'm glad I asked. I hesitated to put the little love bit in there but I'm glad I did that too. Let me be clear: I am not wanting for affection. I’m not looking for shiny star stickers on everything. I am not feeding some deficiency of ego by attending a grad program. BUT – my goal is a Ph.D. Y’all don’t need me to tell you that it stands for Doctor of Philosophy. You also don’t need me to break the word “Philosophy” down and point out the meaning of Philia. But I reckon it has something to do with love. I’m not entirely sure where my research will take me but my pedagogy is strongly influenced by Paulo Freire – in this regard, love (for the lack of a better term) is important. I’ve been in situations where, despite being a brilliant and hard-working member of the team, my ideas are not allowed to grow or folks pull rank and shut down conversation. If I’m in grad school I want a sense of community support. Sure it’s a personal and monastic-like journey. But even monks have a Sangha. All you need is love? – Naw I don’t buy that I think CBZ has some good points – application season is not necessarily a good indication of what your experience will be. Sooo, I’m glad I asked. It’s easy to get caught up and forget that these programs are courting us at this stage. One love, y’all.

Yay! I bet it feels nice.

Decisions... How swayed are y'all by the faculty's apparent excitement over working with you? Does it weigh into your decision making process at all? I just wanna be loved!

You best be april foolin' ! I'm pulling for you to get yours, bhr.

An April 1st birthday... boo! That sucks, it only comes once every four years.