Pet Peeve

Books that only have quotes from reviews on the back, dust jacket, and/ or opening pages. I don't care if Joe Bob from the Third-Tier Newspaper Times loved the book - I want to have some idea what the book is about without having to read the book first.

(This comes up because my mom reads A LOT (and has books stashed throughout the house), so I always pick up some books to read when I come home.)

Wahoo!

I am finally, at long last, an official dissertator. Not every school uses that term. We have to do a qualifying exam, a preliminary oral exam and a final defense for our PhD programs. In my area, the qual is a written exam taken in year 2-3; the prelim/ proposal is normally done in year 4-5, and presents your defense topic, completed research, and a roadmap for the future direction; the defense is done after a draft of the dissertation has been submitted to the committee. Dissertators are people who have passed the prelim and fulfilled all course requirements. And I'm finally one, about two years after I would have liked to have been one. But I can't change the past, so I'm enjoying the present and the reduced student fees + increased stipend I will receive. Yay!

I'm also at home, in the sanctuary of my parents' house, where I don't have to do nothin'. I wake up late, eat bfast, surf the web, eat lunch, exercise, shower, and finally start my day around 3pm. :)