Gearing up

I'm back in DOU-Town, and feel like I acquitted myself well at the interview.  It's for a position that, for reasons of long-term planning, I don't think I would take over the fellowship I won.  However, since there was an outside chance that they could talk me into it, I went on the visit.  Plus, they comped me for the airfare and the hotel stay, so why not?  Besides, I figured that it would be worth my while to get familiar with the questions that I'm likely to field on campus visits, especially when I can start with a situation like this, in which the pressure is relatively low and I feel free to experiment a bit with my affect and approach.

Meanwhile, the countdown to my dissertation defense is now approximately T minus 45 hours.  No doubt I'll sleep very badly tomorrow night, but for now I still have the sense of serenity that comes from feeling that I've done all that I can, and that I have done it reasonably well.  My serenity may well evaporate soon, but for now I'm clinging to a comment that Dr. Awesome made to me yesterday.  Zi told me that another prof on my committee -- please don't ask me to concoct yet another pseudonym right now -- told Awesome that zi had read my diss and liked it.  I can only wonder if I will hear this myself at the defense, but still, it seems positive!