Enough About the United Conference Already

In the U.P., the end of indian summer is the start of almost-snow---we don't really have a fall. What I have come to refer to as fall here is a few weeks of strong winds and flood warnings. My boys and I ask each other: have the waves come yet? That's how we know.

Pre-winter is aqua waves filled with clouds of sand. So powerful, they actually churn the shore, creating new sandbars and dropoffs.

We go from shorts to sweaters, from green to red, and somehow I don't mind that this happens overnight.

But it's also the season for job-hunting, and that I do mind. The academic postings are slim. The likeliness of an interview, slimmer. Relocation: imminent--entirely unavoidable. I admit it, I'm scared.

And I'm frustrated, not only with the economy but with academia in general. Last year, assistant professor postings called for one book, "ideally." This year, it's two. Last year, postings flooded the AWP and MLA sites; this year, they're trickling in.

A teenage boy eats--on average--ten dollars worth of food per sitting.

Technically, I'm in grade 21 (22, if we're counting kindergarten). I could have been a neurosurgeon.

Autumn (n): 1) the season between summer and winter; fall: in the astronomical year, that period between the autumnal equinox and winter solstice; 2) any period of maturity or beginning decline; 3) the timeframe during which an MFA grad crams for the GRE while tailoring (frantically) letters of applications to jobs she may/may not be qualified for; a period of waking with the headache she went to sleep with.

Seriously, I am curious to hear what others think, as we finish our degrees and look toward academic and nonacademic job postings. Those of you who've completed MAs and MFAs and perhaps have editorial experience (but not with big publishing houses)---do you feel at all like you don't belong anywhere? Like you could almost fit in each of these jobs?

What are your experiences? Where are you now, and how did you get there? Are you pleased with the position? Tell me, tell me...my neuroses is full-throttle...and I'm seriously anxious to know.

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