Neist

This might be college student sacrilege, but I've never been to an Ikea. Oklahoma doesn't have one.

Man, all this running talk makes me wish I could still run. My knees just aren't what they used to be. Years of long distance running, along with a few unfortunate injuries, makes it difficult for me to run any distances greater than perhaps 5k. I think I might try to take up rowing. Oklahoma has one of the best rowing channels in the CONUS, and the university gym has a few rowing machines. I think I might enjoy that. I agree! But I didn't want to make any harsh assumptions on my part. Frankly, I don't know when he sleeps during training season. Triathlons must be hellish to train for. You have to squeeze in a lot to stay well-rounded.

Speaking of reading at desks, I highly recommend that people consider acquiring book stands. I got one a few years ago, and it changed my life (at least academically). There are physical limits to how much a person can read in a sitting, and a book stand allowed me to easily surpass those limits. Before, 5-6 hours straight would have been trying, but I could easily push through 10 now, if the necessity called for it. Anyone have a dream chair they'd love to own? I'd personally love a Swopper, but they are crazy expensive.

I completely understand! And I love it too because it does distract one from how long they've been at it. Unfortunately, I don't have any other suggestions. One of my faculty members is a triathlete who's competed internationally, but I realize that's different than being a graduate student. Also, love your screen name.

Ever considered audio books or text-to-speech while running? I've been looking into it, and I think I'll try to use it a bit to free up some time for fitness activities.

It's been painful, but they do now! If they do send something over, there's a unstated assumption that it might just disappear into the trash bin once my daughter loses interests. I think I will start a support thread. I'm studying for an exam at the moment, but it's on the list!

I play(ed) flute, too. Played for almost 7 years, actually. I tried pulling it out last year, and I remembered far more than I would have expected. However, my tone was awful. Either I'm just plain horrible now or the pads need to be replaced. Probably both.

It's definitely important to be in a program that best suits you, I say. Congrats on your decision!

Well, I'm not sure about the napping part, but I definitely think one should pick a chair that's perfect for them. I sit on a really short stool, but I'm a little weird. I can't imagine a more comfortable seat. I work at a law school and one of the faculty members was getting rid of a small, wooden children's desk. It's definitely big enough for an adult, but it's definitely on the small size. It's painted candy apple red, but whatever. I got it free.

This is a pretty insightful point. and I'll have to consider it in length. Some professional conferences I could attend (the ALA conference comes to mind) are definitely on the larger side, and while they'd certainly help me stay atop current trends in my discipline, they are probably less useful for networking opportunities. But, at the same time, some of my interests are specific enough that many conferences are relatively small, because my interests are somewhat esoteric. Both of your responses have been very helpful.

You know, in the history of science, I find non-native English speakers actually writer better than a lot of native speakers. Some of my favorite writers aren't native speakers. Even so, I feel your pain for reading badly written articles. I've read a lot of articles that are somewhat painful to slog through. One of my motivations for obtaining a PhD is that I want to write articles that normal, educated people can actually understand.

So, I've been avoiding this thread because I was sad I did horribly on my application. Tonight, I'll break the uncomfortable silence by drinking a good beer. Congrats to everyone who got one, but also realize there's definitely someone who sympathizes to those who did not.

Voice Dream is the big one people seem to use, but I wasn't sure if there's something better. As I haven't heard of anything besides Voice Dream, I thought it apt to ask. Even if I could only manage to listen to half of my readings, that'd be pretty fantastic.

Another random off-topic: Anyone use any text to speech programs? I need recommendations. I listen to a lot of podcasts and audio books. I've estimated that I've listened to around 20,000 podcasts in my life and I own 78 audio books. Needless to say, my listening skills are slightly better than my reading skills, despite being a history major. Those skills compounded with my fairly extreme myopia made me question whether I should consider text to speech options for my readings beginning in the fall. I'm going to get a Kindle in the fall, and Kindle's have built in text to speech that's pretty okay, but I need suggestions for programs/apps for PDF articles.

At least it didn't fall out. I've heard that's happen to people.

Don't feel too bad Dying hair is more complicated than it should be. My wife is a cosmetologist, and you practically need to be a chemist to completely understand its nuances.

I looked for a long time and couldn't find anything I really liked. I ended up getting a solid Craigslist deal on a wooden one. Why are desks so hard to find? All I wanted was something that didn't wobble when you sat at it. Ergh.

Congratulations! Sounds like you'll love it.

Congrats! I'm sure you'll do well there! I bet! I guess it does make sense though. I'm not incredibly familiar with science department funding, but I imagine it's easier to secure funding because the faculty member whose lab you'll work under probably knows exactly how much money they'll have for a given period of time (because it's from a grant or whatnot).

Thanks! I'm definitely not all that stressed about the presentation, to be honest. I gave the same presentation at a smaller departmental meeting in December, so it's practiced and somewhat polished. It was a bit mechanical in my first presentation, so I'm trying to prose it up a bit.

I'm not sure if anyone is loitering around here tonight, but I'm polishing up a paper/script for a presentation at a university wide research day tomorrow. I should be grading a few papers, but eh.... I'll feel better if I'm well-prepared for tomorrow. Also drinking a beer, cause beer is yummy.

This might be a bit of a blanket statement. I can imagine, depending on what's discipline and area of research, that it could be beneficial. It's better than doing nothing for a year, at any rate.

Congrats!

Congrats!

Is the HiLS program option 1 or 2 (not sure what rankings you were using)? Also, do you have library experience? A funded MLIS program is exceptionally rare, and if that's the funded program, I'd definitely advise to take it. With a little experience a MLIS makes you a fair bit more flexible in career paths, even if you later pursue a PhD. If the HiLS program is option 2, it'd make the decision a little bit more difficult for me, personally. Obviously I'm a little bias. I chose the MA/MLIS route. However, it is a good option.