Well, having finished the various papers I wanted completed before turning to other things, I’ve now turned to other things. What I’ve not mentioned so far is that I’m actually on sabbatical this semester. Due to being too stupid to say flat out NO to various things, even though it was supposed to start in early January, I did not really get things together until the end of the month, but I’m happy to report that I’m properly in sabbatical mode now.
My plan for the sabbatical is to work on a specific project, and little else, right through until the late Summer. Sabbaticals come only once every seven years, and so I want to structure things to use the time as well as I can, but the nature of what I want to do with the time means I need to disconnect a bit, so I won’t be attached to a particular institution (as is common with sabbaticals), but instead will be a bit of a nomad. At times, I’m just going to be on Walkabout for a long stretch, taking my work with me wherever I go (the wandering is actually part of the work, in a sense) and just lying low, drifting from town to town like Kwai Chang Caine (I’ll try not to get into any fights, and, for the record, I’ve no plans to go to Thailand). Appropriately, therefore, I’ve dug out a snap from a recent visit to the desert by way of illustration.
From time to time I might show up in your town, so wave if you see me. My current trajectory sees me in Western Europe for a bit, perhaps washing up on the shore of various cities in countries such as England, Scotland, Spain, and France… who knows. Much depends upon how I feel upon getting up in the morning. Later trajectories may see me doing bits of the Americas, and also Asia. I’ll report here from time to time.
The Project? It is exciting to get to stop and do more than just poke at it a bit. What is it? Well, it is mostly in my head and I can’t really tell you about it since I really don’t like publicly discussing my ideas when they are not more fully formed than this is so far. The act of doing so tends to feed back on the forming process in ways that I do not believe it is yet ready for, so I’ll try to leave chatting about it until later. Sorry. Beware that I’m allowing myself the freedom to try something that won’t work, so it is also possible that you won’t hear about it at all because it failed. So it is with the process of trying to do something new and worthwhile. I like it this way.
-cvj
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Enjoy your sabbatical. Let me know if you make it to England/Scotland. We can schedule a single malt.
–IP
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I’ll see about Chicago. Good idea…
Best,
-cvj
Great News. Perhaps when you return to the Americas, you can pass through Chicago and see a CUBS game.
I will be in Netherlands/France in last week of March but on a pretty tight schedule. But if you happen to be near Amsterdam or Paris during that period, drop me a note and we will see if we can synch up.
Best of luck with your work.
e.
Hey Yvette! I love Paris in the Springtime… Not sure where I will be at that time though, although I’m not too far from there at present. I hope you’ll have fun.
Deep? Ha! I strive to never be accused of engaging in that! 😉
-cvj
Hey Jude,
Thanks for the link!
Also, yes. It is good to get out of comfort zones from time to time and be supported in doing so. This is one interpretation of what sabbaticals are about.
-cvj
I love this sentence ” Beware that I’m allowing myself the freedom to try something that won’t work, so it is also possible that you won’t hear about it at all because it failed.”
That puts the sabbatical year in an interesting light. Of course, you know which bit of North America I’m in. I thought you might find this article on the arXiv interesting since I wouldn’t know it existed if it weren’t for your blog: http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/print/1962
Sounds fun! Though when I go on crazy trips around the world I don’t make it sound so deep. 😉
(Also not sure when you’re heading out, but will be in Paris in early March for spring break- I mention this because there is no way any interesting journey would involve Cleveland.)
Good luck on your sabbatical. I look forward to seeing what your new project is.