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Other entries in Brooklyn

Life

I thought I would just give a brief update on life in general here. Today is a beautiful day..supposed to reach 55 degrees so i am going to head into the city and enjoy the nice weather. Yesterday I was in Manhattan and had a great meeting with a guy considered to be one of the top researchers in gentrification. My phd dissertation is heading in the direction of gentrification even without input from my committee. I have emailed my chair a couple times but no response. The dissertation is difficult but in my opinion it doesn't have to be as difficult if i would get solid feedback from either my chair or committee. Needless to say I am down to a year left on the clock and very stressed over it. After my meeting with the gentrification guy I headed outside for a smoke. I was at the CUNY graduate center on 5th Ave. when I look up and there is Ethan Hawke. He was with a couple of people. They stood around and talked for a short bit before heading into separate black cars with drivers. Ethan Hawke acted in some of my favorite movies including Before Sunrise.

The job hunt sucks ass. I really enjoy teaching and enjoy the academic environment. People in academia don't seem to be as pretentious as those in the real world. I have been seeing someone for a couple months and i am constantly told I need to clean up...meaning become clean cut/trendy....that is just not me. It seems in Manhattan that it is more about the clothes/looks/social circles than anything else which is a sad statement, from my point of view, about our society. Academia on the other hand offers an environment where people don't bother trying to show off via the clothes they wear or the stuff they have. Academia is definitely a lifestyle I have loved and want to stay in. I am not cut out for the stress-filled, egotistical, money-driven fields that New York is noted for- fashion, finanace, and publishing.

This week I received an email from one of my previous students whom I did not think highly of in terms of intellectual capabilities. She is now going for her masters in tourism development in Auckland which I see as a good thing although i am really not sure how she got into the program. Until the last semester of teaching I had, I would have done anything for my students. There is nothing like opening up other's eyes to the world. The last semester, however, really damaged my idealistic view of teaching and while I will eventually go back into it, the troubles I had with a couple of the students will always be a part of my professional being.

Ok, I am off to what many consider "the center of the universe"

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