Really done now.

NOS GUBERNATORES RECTOR SOCII UNIVERSITATIS MCGILL AD MONTEM REGIUM IN CANADA SITAE OMNIBUS AD QUOS HAE LITTERAE PERVENERINT SALUTEM. NOS UNIVERSITATIS GUBERNATORES RECTRIX SOCII TESTAMUR NOS
NICHOLAS PASQUALE GRECO
CUM CURRICULUM STUDIORUM PRAESCRIPTUM CUM INDUSTRIA CONFECERIT ET OMNES EXERCITATIONES QUAE EI SINT INIUNCTAE RITE PEREGERIT, CREAVISSE
DOCTOREM PHILOSOPHIAE
ATQUE EI OMNES HONORES IURA BENEFICIA QUAE AD ILLUM GRADUM PERTINEANT CONCESSISSE. QUOD AD CONFIRMANDUM HAS LITTERAS SIGILLO UNIVERSITATIS CONSIGNANDAS ET NOMINA EORUM QUI RES ACADEMICAS ADMINISTRANT SUBSCRIBENDA CURAVIMUS. DATAE DIE XXXI MENSIS MAII ANNI DOMINI MMVII


DECANUS, SCRIBA MAXIMA, RECTOR HONORARIUS, RECTRIX



WE, THE GOVERNORS AND THE RECTOR, MEMBERS OF MCGILL UNIVERSITY, LOCATED IN MOUNT ROYAL, CANADA, TO ALL WHOM THESE WORDS COME, GREETINGS. WE, THE GOVERNORS AND THE RECTOR TESTIFY THAT NICHOLAS PASQUALE GRECO, HAVING PASSED ALL EXAMS WHICH ARE AJOINED TO THE REQUIREMENTS IN THE CURRICULUM OF STUDIES PRESCRIBED, AND HAVING COMPLETED WITH APPLICATION, HAS BEEN MADE DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY. AS WELL, ALL HONOURS AND BENEFITS WHICH LEGALLY BELONG TO THAT DEGREE ARE CONCEDED TO HIM. AS PROOF OF THIS, THESE SIGNATURES AND THE SEAL OF THE UNIVERSITY AND THE NAMES OF THOSE WHO ADMINISTER THE ACADEMIC MATTERS HAVE BEEN AFFIXED, DATED ON THIS DAY 31ST OF MAY, IN THE YEAR OF THE LORD, 2007.


DEAN, REGISTRAR, HONORARY RECTOR, RECTOR



[translation of latin into english by Mario Bilich, my father-in-law]

About wasting time

Facebook is a real time-sucker, although I'm starting to get over it. Today I only spent a fraction of the time I did yesterday. I think it won't be so bad once the novelty wears off.

Today I need to set up a schedule for the next little while, in terms of what I would like to accomplish. What were my goals earlier in this blog for things to do this month? Publish in 4 places or something? Well, I sent in 2 applications for jobs, and I sent in 2 proposals for chapters in books, and 1 article to a journal for consideration. So I suppose that it wasn't that bad, then. Now on to the future.

I'm convocating on Thursday morning at 10am. It should be "fun." I'll finally get my piece of paper that says I have a doctorate.

That's all.

Facebook

I just joined, and I have the potential to hook up with a whole bunch of friends that I never thought I would again. I'm quite happy about this.

It's also a huge time waster.

Still plugging away

I sent in two more applications for one-year posts at a couple of Ontario universities, starting this September. If one of them comes through, it'll be a bit of a hectic time here, as we have now signed the lease on our apartment for the next year, until June 30th, 2008.

For those that might not know, here in Montreal, the leases generally start July 1 and end June 30 (that's for ALL tenants, around 60% of Montrealers). Landlords require a 3 month notice if you are leaving, but this is only before July 1. In other words, you need to tell the landlord that you are leaving by March 31, and your lease ends June 30. Unlike Ontario, where after the first year your lease converts to month-by-month, the leases here continue to be full years. So, for us, if I do in fact get a job for August or September, we are stuck in the lease, paying the monthly rent until the apartment is rented. And, since the leases all begin on July 1, the chances are lower that someone will be looking for a place in August or September, unless someone is newly moving to the city.

I've been working on some proposals for book chapters, one for a collection on Canadian popular music, and another for a book on The Smiths. I've sent one article off for consideration for publication. It'll need a bit of work before it's in publication shape, but hopefully a seed of worthiness is there, and the editor will see that.

I'm a big fan now of a band called The Long Winters, whose lead singer John Roderick is featured on Merlin Mann's excellent video podcast, The Merlin Show (you can watch the episodes straight from The Merlin Show page). If you're at all interested in communications technology as well as how independent rock musicians engage with it, this is a great podcast to watch. There are a lot of complex issues presented here, although everything is expressed in a non-academic and humourous way. There are a few swear words, though, so if you can't edit those out in your own head, take caution.

If anyone wants to buy me something...

I want this. Plus a pair of Polk speakers and a brand new iPod. Done.

(see http://impamp.com)

Off to Quebec CIty

Today we're off for a little mini-break, for some rest and some general "get-away-from-here-and-everything"-ness. It should be nice. Last night we celebrated A.'s birthday by going to a Mexican place in Old Montreal. It was nice, though a bit pricey, but I got to hear her speak spanish, which she doesn't do very often. So that was a nice treat for me. And I think she liked the food.

When we got back home, one of our electrical sockets was sparking. Not good, especially if you don't want to burn down the building you're living in.

So, last night, after some checking and looking around, we removed the fuse serving that room (which also serves the whole apartment but the kitchen). This morning, I wanted to check my email, so we plugged everything back in, and there has been no sparking this morning.

We'll remove the fuse for the weekend, and upon our return, we'll replace the electrical socket. Obviously it's time to invest in a fire extinguisher.

Another day

This weekend was nice. We were able to celebrate my sister's birthday, Mother's Day, my mother's birthday (a few days early) and my parents' anniversary (it was a golden time had by all). I was very glad to have a nice talk with a colleague of mine, who was actually my professor from years ago. It was nice to be colleagues and he was able to give me words of encouragement.

I sent off a proposal for an article in a book about popular music in Canada. I hope that I get a chance to publish something in that collection. It promises to be a very worthwhile collection. This week will be a week of getting a couple of applications out of the way, the last ones for this year. I'm still waiting on a few responses (it is hard at this point because it is pretty late for those jobs that start July 1 - I probably didn't get those positions, but I'd at least like to hear something).

My iPod has terrible battery life, and it's only 3 years old (only!). Who would have thought that I would not have bought myself a new one by now?

I DO HAVE SELF CONTROL!!

A quick quote from Richard Middleton...

In a recent article on the Blues (in Popular Music 26:1), Richard Middleton states:

"Records, far from destroying what we have lost, are better seen (like photographs) as producing this loss itself--or rather, as contributing to a momentous reconfiguration of the inter-relations of loss, memory and presence." (p. 56)

This is not necessarily new, but I like the way that he puts it. As part of my dissertation work, I discuss how loss, memory and presence, and desire, are inter-related in video and music presentations. So, Middleton and I agree. Who would have thought?

I AM SMART!!

Post-Boston report

My paper was extremely well-received, I think. The conference was quite interesting, with some excellent papers being presented. I was able to reconnect with a few friends, and I was happy to attach faces to a few names. My wife and I also went to Cambridge and visited Harvard and a couple of bookstores.

I'll be sending out a few articles for publication within the next few weeks, perhaps 2 to some prominent online journals, 1 to a print journal, and perhaps another work to a collection (although none of this is certain). Of course, I need to do a bit of editing and expanding to be able to do this.

I would also like to clean up this office of mine. It's really really messy and not a happy place.