tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post6096180169666861548..comments2024-03-12T22:31:46.500-04:00Comments on What Would Phoebe Do?: Paid to read booksPhoebe Maltz Bovyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996039330841139883noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post-56397814625873927012013-04-06T17:12:10.114-04:002013-04-06T17:12:10.114-04:00"Is this my fate, or does the fact that I don...<i>"Is this my fate, or does the fact that I don't have the full year's food-service experience TGI Friday demands mean... what, exactly?"</i><br /><br />If showing off your blog at the interview doesn't cut you some slack off TGI Friday's stringent requirements, there is always <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2013/04/ask-a-jewish-person.html" rel="nofollow">this</a> as a potential fallback...Peteynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post-2490751307432286652013-04-05T13:30:31.732-04:002013-04-05T13:30:31.732-04:00"Started this post before seeing Rebecca Schu...<i>"Started this post before seeing Rebecca Schuman's great-if-bleak article. Guess something's in the air? ... And with that, back to the dissertation."</i><br /><br />I was wondering if that piece would make you decide to abandon hope, all ye who had entered.<br /><br /><i>"What follows isn't a don't-go ... I'd say it's overall been a positive experience. If you have humanities-ish strengths, and want/need to pay your own way/have your own health insurance, there's a lot worse you can do than end up in a funded grad program, researching a topic that fascinates you."</i><br /><br />Damn straight. I loved getting my MFA. Got paid well with good benefits and union membership. Had time and resources to practice my art. (Though I do feel slightly sorry for those poor undergrads I supposedly taught.)<br /><br />Plus, as an unattached male at the time, the bizarre demographics of being a <a href="http://whatwouldphoebedo.blogspot.com/2013/03/how-could-anybody-not-like-you-helen.html" rel="nofollow">a slightly-older single man in a college town, with a college affiliation, who will happily date 21-22-year-old college women</a> was a pleasant cornucopian bonus. Fun to play at being a rock star for a bit.Peteynoreply@blogger.com