Friday, July 20, 2007

obligatory Harry Potter post

You know what's great about finishing a Ph.D.? They give you wizard's robes. I'm so excited about having a ready-made costume. (Why yes, I am a geek. How did you ever guess?)

Have been re-reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince so I can remember where we left off, and I have come to the following conclusion: Lord Voldemort is my academic job-search hero. I mean, how great would it be just to walk into somebody's office and demand the professorship that you want -- and then when they don't give it to you, curse it so all your rivals meet nasty fates? Dude, that's some serious job-search badassery. Unfortunately, I'm starting to think that may be what it takes to land a tenure-track position in English.

5 comments:

Sisyphus said...

Yes, yes, robes, very nice ... but tell us about the special powers you got when they made you a doctor. I want to hear about the wand!

And I'll be sure to put the Voldemort excerpts next to Getting to Yes and The Academic Job Search Handbook for this year's market attempt.

Lea said...

I want to hear about the wand!

I'm planning to hold out for a sonic screwdriver, personally.

Bardiac said...

They don't GIVE you the robes, though :( They should!!!!!

You know when at the ceremony they talk about the "rights" you get for getting your phud? What rights would those be? Seriously?

Fretful Porpentine said...

They don't GIVE you the robes, though :( They should!!!!!

True. And they really shouldn't run the scam where they try to sell you custom-tailored robes for $650 without mentioning that the generic ones are $75. The whole thing is such a racket.

Bardiac said...

It's all about the gold piping! /nod