Sunday, July 25, 2010

One day not quite a year ago, I decided quite suddenly that I wanted to keep a blog. I knew nothing of the magical world that is the science blogosphere; I just wanted somewhere to write, though I wasn't immediately sure about what. It occurred to me that my upcoming search for a tenure track job would fit the bill, according to the following course of logic: looking for a job is a process of sorts, and the "process blog" is a thing, insofar as people blog about the process of traveling around the world or the process of renovating their kitchen. And so On the Market: Fumbling Towards Tenure Track was born (we've trimmed the "On the Market" bit here for your convenience), and then my world exploded. In a good way! In case you haven't been following, the links below should help you catch up.

1. First, we back up to 2 years ago, and recount the hilarious tale of a phone interview I had with a Fancy Midwestern College. It did not, shall we say, go optimally.

2. I love New York and how you can get anything you want delivered in the middle of the night, just like how every other New Yorker loves that about New York, too. I also love my apartment and never want to leave, but not in a Brian Wilson kind of way.

3. The Society for Neuroscience NeuroJobs website is sort of like internet dating.

4. I wonder if it is OK to be drunk on the internet. Mom says no, blogosphere says, "bottoms up!"

5. My K99 application gets canned. It's disappointing, but there are some lessons to be learned (and a very topical Balloon Boy reference)!

6. I weigh in on the post-doc: good-or-bad? debate, and am called a money-grubbing whore by one of my commenters! I am still not sure if the comment was made in jest or not, but let's say not! It's funnier!

7. We all make French Onion Soup together!

8. Do I need a Glamour Mag publication in order to be competitive for a TT job? "Need" is a strong word, but...maybe.

9. I get a chance to speak at a big meeting, and it all unfolds After-School-Special style.

10. I get a kick ass Dharma Initiative lab coat for my birthday. Namaste.

11. The realization hits that I'll have to leave my post-doc lab soon, TT job or not. Like anyone would do, I call on Team America to help get me in the right motivational mindset.

12. I go to a conference and meet someone who knows someone who found a loophole in the K99 5-year post-doc limit rule. WTF, NIH?

13. Are my standards for, you know, my life, too low? Too high? And hey, remember how awesome the movie Singles was?

14. What does it even mean to be a post-doc these days anyway?

If you were reading between the lines, here, you've probably put together that I didn't get a TT job this year. It was...eye opening. It's a new year, though, and I've got some new things going on. These new things may or may not get me a job this cycle, there is one thing about which you can be sure: you will find all the gory and hilarious details right here.