Hey, Strangers!

Dall-E AI created image: an image of fourty year old man, with a goatee that's starting to show white hair, who is a busy academic going from project to project, in the style of asterix
I guess that's me, in the style of Albert Uderzo

OK...so it's been a while since I last blogged! (checks his notes... December 31, 2023!!! Great Scott!😬🤯) You'd think that I had given up the blogging practice, right? 😅.  Well, you wouldn't be blamed if you thought so! 

Contrary to appearances, I'm still around!  It's been a busy Spring semester...and a busy Summer...and now it's looking like it's going to be a busy Fall semester too! It's been so busy that at times I feel like I am running from project to project, and then I am left with little time to ideate, ponder, or react in a form that is longer than 280-500 characters... 🙄, or even just empty my mind and think of nothing. I can't complain though, because I  think it's a calamity of my own making 😅

This might take more than one blog post to collect my thoughts and write about. In fact, to get to a completed post it's taken me a few weeks (this tab has been open in my browser for more than 17 days). But... as the saying goes, every journey begins with one step...so here's that proverbial step!  I asked Dall-E (via Bing credits) to create an image of a busy 40-year-old academic man in the style of Albero Uderzo (of Asterix fame). While I love the comic depiction of me (much more in shape than I am!), I am worried about the white hair at 40 😂. Anyway, it's all in good fun.

Like many folks, I've been messing around with Dall-E, ChatGPT, Claude, and Google's offerings to see what they can (and more crucially) what they can't do. I've read too many articles over the past number of months, for peer review, that make wild claims about what AI can do, or will be able to do in the near future, without these things being labeled as speculative futures.  Speculation and fantasy are being packaged as fact, which is challenging to my critical leanings...

Soooo...circling back to having no time and feeling overwhelmed, I think I've finally cracked it! And...I think that some of you may respond with 🚫💩🕵️‍♂️ (lol). 

Anyway...For quite some time now I think I've been trying to do "all the things" (btw, tried to get AI to make me an "all the things" image and it failed spectacularly). While I've mostly written off a traditional academic career (mostly because I find the tenure system bonkers and don't wish to subject myself to that), I still have this little demon on my shoulder telling me that I should still be attempting to do some trad-Ac things,...things like researching and writing articles (which can be fun), and/or peer reviewing academic articles (😒), and/or trying to write a book (which could also be fun, but who's got the time?), and/or adopt CIEE-J (which is a separate blog post), and/or continue to take on teaching loads.  

Keep in mind, dear reader, that I have a day job, and all this stuff would be done on my off time, which brings up a job-and-a-half syndrome (or perhaps the 2x job syndrome...😫).  All this stuff (or rather "all the things"), done in my free time, are crowding out other activities (like going for walks and smelling those metaphorical roses) and ultimately have me feeling a tad bit burned out (ooof😓). Oh, I am also now my union's grievance secretary, so add that to the mix for the next few years (✊). It's important work, but it does take time, cognitive energy, physical energy, and socioemotional energy.

Part of me is wondering if all this is a sense of FOMO manifested to the extreme, or if it's something else. I wonder what other PhDs (or EdDs in my case) out there who are on an AltAc path deal with not going the trad-Ac path. Is there self-imposed pressure to do all the things? How do you deal with it? Do you want to do all the things just in case something on the tenure track comes along that might be appealing? What do you choose to focus on? 

Part of me is wondering what exactly I can jettison and what I should retain as hobbies; in other words, finding out what is an energizer and what is a drainer.  To add to the challenge, some things pay (hobbies with benefits? Is that a thing?)...and some do not. Should I keep the things that pay? Or should I stick with some purely volunteer things?  If it's a combo of things, what is the right combo? 🤔.  What have you discovered in your neck of the woods?

That's all for now.  Thoughts and ideas are welcomed!

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