The walls are whispering

Since August 31, 2011, things in Lindaland have been pretty stable. Grad school, like all school, puts you on a path that is dynamic (so many books and tests and benchmarks and papercuts!) yet also fundamentally predictable, in the sense that it gives you a long list of things you must do and a separate but related list of things you should do, and you're encouraged to structure your life around those lists for a number of years. If you opt in and resist hitting the EJECT button along the way, it makes for an orderly existence.

At this very moment, my diploma is awaiting my pickup at Lyons Hall, meaning that there are X's in all the checkboxes on my must-list and my should-list is pretty darn complete, too. The coming year will be a year of writing a new checklist, from scratch, which is something I haven't had to do in a while (since around 2010-2011, to be precise). For me, blank sheets of paper are always exciting and unnerving in equal measure.

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Predictions of Varying Certainty for 2017:
- Guys, this is terrifying, but: I will defend my dissertation and earn my PhD.
- I'll go on the academic job market. I'll dislike the rigamarole, possibly intensely, but will admit that the process is enriching.
- I will finally visit London. Before I do, I will renew my passport, which has expired.
- GR and I will consider moving apartments but will ultimately decide to stay put in our current pad, despite the annoying construction happening next door.
- I'll learn to cook in a more real and grown-up way that involves finding and trying new recipes for me and GR to both enjoy, rather than cycling through the same six-ish basic meals on a continuous loop, which is what I've been doing since college.
- I'll have a real-life celebrity sighting. (Because I live in neither LA nor NYC, to date, my most brag-worthy celebrity encounter is shaking hands with George Wendt in 2005. This is the bar I need to clear.)
- I'll go rock climbing for the first time in roughly eight years. I'll have fun but will be very disappointed indeed in my noodly arms.

How prescient I actually was:
- Reader, I done it. A truly touching number of family and friends came to my defense in September, and (along with a couple other 2017 graduates) I semi-unintentionally helped to make PowerPoint presentations a standard part of BC English defenses, much to the bemusement of the Luddite-inclining faculty.
- Yeah, I guess. I'm on the market, and I put my best foot forward in my applications. All told, I didn't find applying to be all that unpleasant, but I also didn't find it that enriching, either.
- Success! Even though I genuinely didn't think this one would happen! GR and I visited London in August mostly thanks to a snafu in my defense scheduling. Obviously, I'm also now the proud owner of a renewed passport, which features potentially the least flattering photo I've ever taken in my life.
- Confirmed. And the construction next door has indeed prompted me to question the wisdom of this decision on numerous occasions.
- This... was also kind of a success? This was another item I threw on this list with no real hope of achieving, but I've gotten into the habit of finding a new recipe to cook or bake every couple weeks.
- Fail. Not even a Wahlberg or Affleck bro.
- Fail again. While in Denver a couple weeks ago, though, GR rediscovered his own interest in climbing, so there's hope I might belatedly achieve this one in 2018.


Predictions of Varying Certainty for 2018:
- Let's pack all the big stuff into to one: GR and I will move back to the Chicagoland area, landing in an apartment in a near-enough suburb that makes it easy for GR to access the city for remote work, but is also conveniently near to the college where I'll be adjunct-teaching.
- Before we go, I'll make a Bucket List of Things to Do in Boston That I Always Meant to Do But Never Got Around To -- Until Now!. I'll achieve approximately 50% of the Bucket List items.
- We'll buy a car. My guess is that it'll be a mid-2010s Mazda sedan, or else a mid-2010s Honda Fit.
- I'll go on the academic job market again in the fall, giving The Dream another go.
- We'll visit Sydney and see Drew. I will have at least one experience there that will make me think, "Oh, so Australia really is like that."
- I will publish at least one academic article and present work at a conference.
- Inspired by this transitional moment in my life, I'll reinvest in one of my former hobbies with renewed interest (possibilities include: graphite/charcoal drawing, rock climbing, concert-going, flute playing, frequent blogging).
- Babysitting will cease to alarm me and will instead become a regular part of my existence. No children will be harmed in the fulfillment of this prediction.