Sunday, March 18, 2007

A Bend in the Road

Academia vs Blogging, Part 2

My wife Rachel is wrapping up her PhD and had applied to various locations in North America for postdocs. One by one they were coming back rejected.

Last week she was bummed out, low self-confidence, and feeling like a failure; so it was one of the few weeks that I could really relate to her well.

Sat night, the last place that hadn't yet replied, University of Toronto, sent her an acceptance e-mail: an offer of a postdoc and a nice salary for next year.

Rachel was over the moon, crying and laughing simultaneously for a half and hour.

The bad news is, is that I'm staying in Israel where my kids still need me, so we will be having a long-distance relationship for a year. Urm.

Eitan is going with her, probably, while I will be here. Ariella is going into the army. She has her dad's to go to, but I hope I can give her something in the way of support, anyway. Saarya doesn't need me much, as he only sees me once every three weeks anyway. Tal, on the other hand, is starting a new school for ninth grade.

The good news is, is that this is great for Rachel's career. She'll write a book, she'll make contacts, and she'll travel around doing some lectures (depending on how much time she actually needs to be at UofT).

The other good news is that she'll probably come back to Israel twice, and I'll probably go to Toronto, twice. Or so.

So after four years, it's: Academia - one-year postdoc and a nice salary. Blogging - $75 and a great group of readers.

Time to rework the resume, again. Suggestions are still welcome. Offers of work, too.

One day I hope to be as famous as one of my favorite fantasy writers, David Eddings, who wrote The Belgariad series (the second best fantasy series ever), and just recently burned down his original manuscripts, office, house, car, and mother-in-law (almost) when he decided to see whether a big puddle was flammable by throwing a burning piece of paper into it (it was).
"One word comes to mind," the renowned wordsmith said as he stood in a pajama shirt and slippers. "Dumb."
Yehuda

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