Writing, money, and fun

[brdgt]

Dissertation: Trying to finish a draft of this rheumatic fever chapter by the Fourth of July. Not sure if I'll make it, but I'm enjoying writing it and getting in a good productivity groove around it. It makes me hopeful for finishing the whole dissertation this fall. I can write a chapter a month, I really can. The chapter combines some old favorites (The Welfare State!) with some topics that I'm discovering are very understudied and would be great material for future articles (especially the history of convalescent homes and the field of occupational therapy). I also have some meta thoughts in my head right now about the privileging of fiction writing over non-fiction writing....

Finances: I have an interview with Ancestry.com next week for a part time historical digital specialist, so send some "good luck" my way. I have about one hundred dollars to my name, although some careful planning from earlier this year means I can survive a little longer (combined with Nick's salary), but I need something soon, especially with fall tuition coming due in September. Chatting with a fellow historian girlfriend of mine about the realities of this job market, the two-body problem, quality of life, and altered expectations cheered me up some. We both struggle but also count our blessings that we are with our partners, live in a part of the country we like, and can practice our profession even if it's not the way we expected to. I struggle with the bitterness sometimes, but playing the victim about the status of academia right now is naive and disingenuous - there are lots of things I could have and can do, while still seeing being righteously angry about the status of our profession.

I mean, apparently, we live in the least stressful city in the United States!

Fun: We got out to a minor league baseball game on Monday, which was really fun.



We have two apricot trees in the back yard (one hanging over the fence from the neighbor that is ripe now and the one just outside my window that will be ripe soon) so I am looking into canning, drying, and fermenting them. The first two I've done before but I've only ever made kombucha, so it will be a fun new endeavour to try making mead. I need a few supplies (a carboy and an airlock) but I can get the books from the library and have a perfect home set up for it (our wine cellar has seen more use from aging beer and kombucha than wine...).



We are planning a trip to Glacier National Park over the holiday weekend. It's a ten hour drive, which we'll probably do overnight. It's Nick's favorite park and he's been there twice - once car camping and once backpacking. The Glacier NPS website is ridiculously helpful - they have trail updates, historical fill times of campgrounds, and daily updates on plowing (the main road through the park is still impassable due to snow - welcome to the Rockies!). We will consult with rangers when we get there about what we can access and have equipment for (we aren't as hardcore as ice picks and crampons... yet), but the Three Passes hike looks perfect.

Comments

[loreofcure.livejournal.com]

I want to watch minor league baseball! Low stress and good seats!

[brdgt.livejournal.com]

Baseball is truly my favorite sport... I'm sorry: pastime.

[monkeyhouse.livejournal.com]

sending you some GOOD LUCK for the interview!

apricot mead, eh? i hope that goes well, too! sounds yummy.

[brdgt.livejournal.com]

Thanks! My friend who does a lot of fermenting tells me mead is super easy...

[rubysnow.livejournal.com]

This is all just the best. You live in such a great place! I'm so jealous of your apricots (and climate in general). I've never made this, but I've heard this is a great apricot/habanero jelly, if you're into hot stuff: http://www.bernardin.ca/pages/recipe_page/51.php?pid=111

[brdgt.livejournal.com]

Nick actually says he misses the humidity - he's crazy!

Thanks for the recipe - that looks amazing - I even have some habanero seeds I've been thinking about starting!

[astronautical.livejournal.com]

you are brilliant, self-motivated, resourceful, and also all around charming. I just wanted that down - for the record.

I'll send you all the sparkly vibes for the ancestry.com interview!

[brdgt.livejournal.com]

Awh, thanks *blushes*

[pot-t-mouth.livejournal.com]

Where are you going to enter the park, West or East Glacier? I can give you some recs on where to stop and get huckleberry ice cream, maybe.

[brdgt.livejournal.com]

We'll be entering from the West, although most of the hikes are in the East. Currently the Going-the-Sun road is blocked, right in the middle, so that may complicate things. Send along the recommendation though - we love checking out the local places around parks.

[pot-t-mouth.livejournal.com]

OK! I love Hungry Hose. I always stop at the gift shop with the two red horses in front, it's kind of ancient. You can also something huckleberry-ish at the Huckleberry Inn in HH. But also at Apgar Village in the park, even though that's a zoo. Between Columbia Falls and Hungry Horse is a magnetic vortex, "The House of Mystery," it's cheesy. Don't know if you are into that. Also past the house of mystery just a mile or so after you start driving next to the river, you will see a spring and a plaque on your right. It's one of my favorite places, but not sure why. We just always stopped. Fill your water bottles here. Yummy water.

We had a cabin between East and West Glacier on 2 so most of my favorite places are outside the park itself. Too bad about Going to the Sun Road or you could loop.

I am from Whitefish, which is out of the way a few miles, but has really great food. It's a bit expensive though, so hold on to you $100.

Butte Mt is so cool. Make a detour if you can. It's like a giant ghost city. I love it, but I adore urban decay.