khigh

I broke down and bought a PS3 on sale, so I'm revisiting my love of Assassin's Creed and MLB the Show. I've also taken to reading while listening to Dead Can Dance and then driving around with Led Zeppelin cranked up on full blast. And, now, I am preparing for Super Bowl Week. It's here this year, so I took the week off to participate in the local tradition of laughing at southerners when it is -20.

I was lucky to have inherited my grandparent's record player/television combo. You know, the big pieces of furniture from the 60s. I LOVE the way it sounds. There is nothing like Led Zeppelin on an old record player.

My GPA ended up being 3.457. I was a Criminal Justice undergrad about, oh, 14 years ago. I started all over, but my CGPA was affected by this. I can see that if OP has something like that that it would help.

Honestly, if I were on the adcomm and someone that wasn’t the best in the field asked for early decision like that, I would make the decision right there to reject. They may wonder what other accommodations and special treatment you would like.

Except for the Americanists in, say, military history, now that I think about it, you’re right. I was even told to pick a secondary and tertiary region even though I want to focus on one. Regional bubbles have never existed.

If you have any questions about working in a museum, let me know. I worked at a history museum for two years.

If you move to a city, there is Amazon Restaurants. Any restaurant in your area that has take out or delivery can be done through the Amazon program. I typically order from the bratwurst place or this nice Greek/Mediterranean restaurant. Grocery delivery also helps plan out meals because, at least for my couple grocery stores here, you can put in your recipes and what you have on hand and it will generate a shopping list that you can order from and have delivered. I do this for snow days because it is really worth the $5. I hate cooking, usually, so I typically do Amazon Restaurants or Amazon Prime Now.

Sorry, I guess I replied to the whole thing instead of specifically to you. I just saw you mention something about eating healthier and not liking to cook.

There’s also nothing wrong with ordering a pizza in on occasion OR you may be lucky enough to be in an area that has Amazon Restaurants. I can order from about 40 places in my neighborhood and have it delivered. Anything from German to bar food to Greek. You name it and I can have it delivered. I also get my groceries delivered from the local grocery store when it’s just too darned cold to go up there. I think they use Instacart.

It’s still weird, but yes, he was calling people he knew. I hope it works out, too!

He got his PhD from the same University and called his old advisor. They’re still really good friends. However, we call him Dr Sheldon Cooper for a reason. He’s amazingly intelligent but lacks social skills. He will call you during dinner or email at 2am if he thinks you had a bad day in class. He’ll do that for anyone. He will also stop class to get someone coffee if he thinks they look tired. For Religion and Magic in Early Modern Europe, he dressed as Harry Potter- robes and all. Downloaded a guillotine app to use during French Revolution class simulations. We also wrote memoirs for that class instead of a regular term paper. I used to translate his emails for other students because they can’t understand what he’s trying to say. It’s probably no where close to normal for him to call, but thankfully they know him. His old advisor spent 7 years with him, so I’m sure they understand his issues. Honestly, even if it hurts my chances, I would not trade my old advisor for the world.

My undergrad advisor called to check on my application today. I didn't ask him to, but when he called, he said the conversation was good but wouldn't give me any more information. I don't know what to do with him sometimes. He really confuses me, but I know he means well.

Bought boyfriend’s ticket home today. I haven’t seen him in person since March. He will be home in time for Super Bowl week (hosted in the city where I live). I decided to go all out and bought matching 90s outfits- starter jackets, baseball hats, acid washed jeans, Keds, and fanny packs. We’re going to go downtown allllll decked out to celebrate his return! He’s flying into Chicago, so I booked a private tour of Wrigley Field, too. I’m just excited to have my partner in crime home.

Only two weeks until the approximate date of the UMN acceptances. Fittingly, as I was driving home, The Final Countdown by Europe came on the radio. Then, as soon as I got home, I had to watch the Arrested Development clips of Gob's magic show (sorry, illusion) with the same song. Anything to stay semi-sane, I guess.

Honestly, if I were to do English Reformation, the only person I would really like to work under is Ben Kaplan at UCL. I once wrote him an email my sophomore year of undergrad telling him how much I loved his work and I may have called him a rockstar. We've sent a few emails back and forth and I love Divided by Faith. He mixes Low Countries and English Reformation.

Something fun to think about or talk about- what would be your dream course to teach? It doesn't need to be in your main field. Mine would be Historical Roots of Sports Ritual- like baseball curses (black cats on the field, goats at the ballpark, rallycat), the gjallarhorn/SKOL chant of the Vikings, mascots, and cathedrals of modern sports (Lambeau field, Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, Olympiastadion, etc). It's so far removed from 17th century politics, but would probably be very fun and interesting. Do y'all have topics you would love to teach in a perfect world?

It depends on where you are going to interview. Upper-Midwest (Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the like)? Knee-high boots with a chunky heel. Your legs will be less cold, your calves supported and the chunky heel actually helps with the ice and snow- keeps you out of the snow and you can use the heel part to dig into the ice if need be. I also wear cute, fur-lined boots and moccasins and Minnetonkas are cute, comfortable, and may even score you points in Minnesota because Minnetonka is headquartered in Minnetonka, MN. Another hint, wear fleece-lined leggings under your dress pants and a tight cami under your shirt. That extra (tight) layer will help a lot.

Oh, Vandy, the graduate school that means I am supporting both myself and an unemployed historian on my salary. That Vanderbilt degree sure got him a job...teaching at 5 universities in 5 years and now at a market in Germany making minimum wage while he researches- trying to publish anything. I make much, much more selling luxury cars in my (hopefully) gap year. Granted, I can't say much because I want to go to a lower ranked uni, but I would be happy teaching in the Minneapolis Public School system when it's all done. I've been following this thread and trying to come up with 5 schools in my sub-discipline that would match my interests. I can think of three and that's only if I can get the emeritus prof to serve as an unofficial advisor. Geographic restrictions narrowed that list to 1 (we love winter and the Midwest).

You’re right. I need to stop worrying about all the what-ifs.

I love archaeology. I worked at a museum in Oklahoma for a few years and got to volunteer with the archaeologist when the BOR inventory time came. They are a repository for NA remains, so I was able to assist in making sure they were all there. I also spent awhile cataloging and sorting beads that were collected in the 1960s (100k of them!) and helped track down some missing pieces from the collection. I'm sure you know, but it was not uncommon for museums and archaeologists to trade with each other in the 60s and 70s without keeping records. Some of our artifacts were sitting at the Smithsonian. I worked on collections of Jelks and RK Harris out of the Longest Site and Spanish Fort. If you are in NA archaeology, I can get you in contact with the archaeologist there. This summer, they are working on Longest again and there is a recent discovery of Bison antiquuis or Bison latifrons in front of the museum that will be excavated.

I have a decision portal for the program I applied to. I obsessed so much at first that now I have alarms on my phone for when I am allowed to check- 0800, 1200, and 1700. Outside those times, I will not let myself even attempt to log in. It's helped just a little bit.

I hate roommates. I'm talking seething, blood boiling, this is Survivor and one of us is getting kicked off the island, hate. I currently rent (alone) in a city that is typically more expensive, but not NYC expensive in an amazing part of town for relatively cheap. I could do it on my stipend if I needed to. But, there are compromises. I have a basement level apartment with drafty windows and the pipes sometimes leak. I don't have a responsive landlord, but that also means he leaves me alone. I don't have to deal with anyone else in my space and for me, that is worth every penny. My boyfriend will be moving home soon, but that is the only roommate I will ever have again. Roommates are worse than children stuffed full of coffee and chocolate with no bedtime in sight. Take my comments with a grain of salt. I've had horrible roommates in the past and I would never want to live through that again. But, you may find good roommates and it will be like the TV Series Friends.

Then I won't worry about it. It's just another one of those "what-ifs" that likely will never come up, but will be in the back of my head until i find out if I get accepted or not and then for awhile after. There are always those events in life where you get the inevitable "how did you meet?"

I know it's not common anymore. That's the only thing. I poured over my undergrad's faculty and student handbooks and the only rules they have are against sexual harassment and intimidation, but not fraternization, so we were in the clear. The policy was implemented in 1972 and never modified. It's the perception that I don't want. I guess if they questioned it, I could show the independent review of my work showing their was no favoritism, but I don't know if it would ever come to that. We might not get too much questioning because we are actually very close in age. I'm a non-traditional student, so it's not like some 19 year old undergrad dating her older prof.

I did a gap year this year. I'm in luxury car sales, so the pay is very good. I'd rather not be doing it my whole life, though. I have time to research and write at work (which is what I'm doing now), but it's not the same.