Incendiary Librarian: 04/01/2006

bad, bad, absentee blog-parent

so i haven't been blogging much... what have i been doing? um. babysitting, watching tv, lifting weights, doing yoga, buying books, and plotting.

i am beginning to think that taking this job lo these long three years ago was the worst thing i could have done. i have effectively boxed myself into a nice comfy suburban corner, which is exactly where i never wanted to be. i live in a hermetically sealed bubble, surrounded by yuppies, and i work in an isolated, dead-end college. the college itself isn't dead-end, at least not for the students, but it's dead-end for me. there's no intellectual stimulation beyond a sophmore level. there's no cultural epicenter because it's a commuter school. there's no opportunity for interdisciplinary mucking about, because it's just not done. this is a place full of "experts."

i'm not an expert. i'm curious, and i'm suffocating here.

so i've spent a few years complaining and squirming, as i am wont to do, and i've come to this conclusion: i want to get a phd in sociology. do i still want to be a librarian? i'm not sure. honestly, i got a library science degree because it was the practical thing to do. that's not to say i don't respect the profession, because i do. and when i'm done with the sociology degree, maybe i'll decide that i really do want to be an academic librarian (after all, a subject degree will help me get a job in a university library). for now, though, i need to be more creative. i'm tired of answering other people's research questions. i want to answer my own!

here's my list of pros and cons about this plan:

cons - i'll be at least 30 by the time i'm done, i'll have to get used to being poor again, and um... people will think i'm a nerd?
pros - i'll learn things, i'll create things, i'll be able to talk to people about interesting topics, i can wear whatever the hell i want, maybe we can live in the city, and i'll have a sense of purpose in my life again. maybe i'll even learn how to make my own sense of purpose. that would be handy.

so that's the new plan. i'm applying to some local universities for fall 07. who knows where this will take me, but that's sort of the point. time to break out of suburban hell! ...again!