What's New With You?

Me:

1. Still way behind in dissertation work. What else is new? But I went to my first baseball game of the season. Gotta have priorities.

2. Writing two potentially publishable Law and Society-angled papers this semester. One is a review essay on organizational culture and leave policies. The other is actually original, on sexual harassment and the mobilization of rights.

3. Preparing for 15 minute oral defense exam to advance to candidacy. 15 minutes?! In front of a committee that doesn't work on the areas of law that I'm doing?! Without even my advisor there?! More on this later. I am in such a fake doctoral program.

4. Work/life balance still sucks, although it helps to be flexible and consider time spent in the same room as quality time, even if one or both are unconscious. Also, Trader Joe's pizza dough is fast, filling, and fun for a weeknight, since I'm back to long days that start around 6:30 am and don't end until...well, they never really end. So it's nice to have dinner ready in 20 minutes. Also, I am thinking of getting that Swiffer thing.

5. Going to your partner's work shindig is fun, if slightly awkward. Celebrating the closing of The Deal is super, even if this means more nights of long hours for TD to actually implement The Deal. It's a big accomplishment, and not even my ire at the myth of the ideal worker could cause me to diminish this. But it is weird being thanked by the CEO for being understanding about the long hours TD works, and being told that "that kind of support is very important." Kind of retro, but there were two female execs there, so maybe it's a gender neutral sentiment. Although I am but a grad student, I have a job with long hours too, although they are way more flexible, admittedly. But I didn't say that out loud. In the spirit of bon homie and mature tactfulness, I took this "behind every good man is a good woman" sentiment and smiled graciously and demurely, and talked flatteringly about TD and made chitchat about windsurfing vs. kitesurfing, even though I do neither. It is a good thing I don't go around talking about my work on employment discrimination law from an organizational perspective concerning work/life balance. That's always kind of a conversation killer. But it was nice when one of the guys toasted the closing of The Deal and said "and to all of our partners, for their support and understanding for the long hours we had to work to make this happen." It's nice to have that acknowledged. I think I'll put that in my Footnote 1 every time I publish an article. Or not.

What's new with you?