Small mercies

Yesterday when I was composing my blog, I was starting to wonder if I would still feel motivated to continue if I knew no one was reading. Coming to the realization that this blog has become a nice meditative exercise every day, I decided that I ought to continue. Would you believe that I later received a comment from someone in Winnipeg (Winterpeg he called it, grin), someone who I don't know? Well, I may have decided that the blog was good for me, but knowing someone was checking it out made me smile. Thanks Eric, stay warm!

In my first year of grad school, gosh a mere decade ago already, one stellar instructor now working at the U of Toronto shared that it was tradition to stick a $20-bill in the library copy of your dissertation so that in future visits to campus, you could verify if anyone at all had checked out your work. At the time, just starting the climb, it seemed such a sad thought. Now, I hope no one is subjected to reading my dense passive-voice tome, but maybe that little voice that is my pride does want that gratification. But before you rush out to UC Davis' special collections to cash in, I never got around to it, and most of my fellow grads lacked the cash at the end of their sentences to do so either.

The acknowledgments for my dissertation filled two single-spaced pages, there were a lot of names, and some people feel that it cheapened the experience for everyone. I dissent. There were times when I was blue, other times downright tormented, and a smile, a pat on the back, gentle prodding for idle chit-chat made all the difference in the world. To all you nice people out there, thanks again, and keep it up!

By the way, Mike, I know you read my blog religiously. I hope you know you get my unspoken thank you for every breath you take. I love you.