Moment of Joy

Wait a minute... it's November?!?! But... what happened to October? You see, this is what I get for ignoring the entire month of September and pretending it doesn't exists; suddenly the end of the year sneaks up on you.

Anyway, I thought I'd post a Moment of Joy from waaaaay back. Now that I think about it, this picture is 6 years old. Holy crow! How did I get so old?!?!

This is from a series of pictures I took during my first semester of my undergrad career, a bright eyed and bushy tailed freshman. I loved that lake on campus. I spent a lot of time walking or just sitting by it, watching the geese and red-winged black birds, the beaver or just the way the water rippled in the wind. It sounds overly poetic, but I just liked being very still and watching things by the lake.

So here is an autumnal photo from years ago. I bet if I were by that lake now, it'd look very much the same.

Yeah, yeah, I know...

Bad, grad student, bad! Where have all the posts gone? What happened to September? Where are all the snarky comments? What about my Moments of Joy? Where have you been?

Honestly? I hate September. It's nice in theory, summer fading into autumn, school bells and bright red apples. But in reality? It sucks. It's not summer, it's not fall, you are so not ready to get back into the swing of classes and papers and exams and the month kind of creeps by in limbo. It's not one thing, it's not the other, and now it's over.

Let's move on.

Besides ignoring the month of September I've been studying for the dreaded Qualifier (yes, it's so terrifying it gets capitalized), the exam that will make of break my career. Seriously. If I fail this exam (ok, ok, so if I fail it twice, but still!) I am no longer a doctoral student. I'd need to beg (yes, literally) to get back into the program. I don't think I could bear the shame of failing this test. I keep joking about throwing myself into the nearest river, but I think I might actually do it... then again, the nearest river is filled with industrial waste, so I'd probably jump in and be able to walk upon the crust that's formed over the top... where was I?

Oh yes, big test, not blogging because I am studying, need to pass.

Oh, and it's in 11 days. Not that I'm counting or anything...