A rather momentous thing.

This afternoon, my thesis adviser/the director of my program told me he had been invited to write an article/essay for an anthology being published next year.  He wanted to write about an idea I'd had last spring, and asked me to co-author the piece with him.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First, I'm WILDLY flattered.  Second, I'm just tickled pink that I get to pursue this idea that I think is so fun and great, but doesn't fit into my academic trajectory in this program.

And finally, I'm irritated beyond belief that I can't share this with my friends in the program. If I announced it, they would only be snarky and belittling.  I understand that it comes from a place of jealousy, but I think it's completely fucked up that I have to choose between being publicly proud of my hard work and keeping my relationships pleasant and free from resentment and ill-will.  I wonder how much of me feeling like I need to keep my accomplishments private stems from me being a woman who's been conditioned to be seen and not heard.

If my classmates could realize that my accomplishments and hard work doesn't reflect on them in any way, doesn't diminish the hard work that they're doing, I think they'd be genuinely happy for me.  But I learned my lesson in the fall--they don't want to hear about my work, and they don't want to be happy for me.

But it doesn't matter what they think, because the smartest man I've ever met wants to co-author an article WITH ME!!!

Big things!

Since it's the beginning of the semester, I'm getting excited about all the things coming up in 2015.

• Being a teaching assistant for my favorite class and my favorite professor
• Putting up a production of a totally rad early modern play that's only been performed once in the last 400 years.
• Presenting a paper at a conference for the FIRST TIME EVER!
• Stopping in Ohio on my way to and from that conference to see my cousins.
• Finishing my thesis and defending it.  Passing without revisions (I hope)!
• Graduating with my first master's degree.
• Starting my second.
• Summer with my husband (maybe in Oregon)!
• Beginning the application process for doctoral programs.
• Submitting papers for the Blackfriars Conference.
• Attending the Blackfriars Conference, whether or not my papers are accepted!
• Watching my classmates present at the Blackfriars Conference!

Big things.  Big things!

2014: A Year in Selfies

In the spring, I snuggled this sweet girl.  It was great.

Tim came to Staunton and we went to Monticello.

We went to the end-of-season benefit concert at the Blackfriars.  Big smiles for these lovely people who've made my year so wonderful: Marshall, Adrienne, Jordan, and Molly.

We celebrated the end of the semester by eating obscene amounts of gelato.

We hiked around the National Mall on Easter.

I spent the summer researching my thesis at the Library of Congress.  I didn't get much useful information there, but I did get to spend an afternoon with a First Folio.

Jim Henson went to UMD.  I took a picture with the Kermit statue.

My oldest friend got married.  This was the only high school reunion worth going to.

Tim and I made faces.

Top Gun in the park with dear, dear friends.

Five-iversary waterfall visit!

I was sporty in the fall.

Spent a day in Baltimore with a sweet friend from fight camp.

Hamlet Christmas Eve Civil War Battlefield Tour Extravaganza 2014.  We went to Chancellorsville, Spotsylvania, and Wilderness.

Christmas day trip to see the model train at the Botanical Gardens.

Fort McHenry on a lovely, temperate day.

And finally, the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore.  We got excited about trains, and I bought a newspaper from 1861.  Have a happy 2015!