Mike Holmes is my hero. He wears overalls without shame and perhaps even with pride. He fixes stuff no one else would touch with a spirit level. I've never really been a DIY show type girl until I found Mike.... I think I mostly like the idea of fixing broken things and making people feel much better. Also, while Mike is not a stylish-designer type, the home invariably looks more professional and more put-together than it did before he started. Holmes on Homes isn't even a guilty pleasure for me - I proudly admit my undying admiration for the man, the myth, and the movement.
I've been asked to contribute a chapter to an upcoming academic book. I don't really want to put what it's about out here because it might be more personally identifiable than I'm comfortable with, however, I mention it because I'm slightly pleased with the progress I've made in this area. I can't say that this Masters degree has been a boon for me, but in hindsight I realize that I've met lots of interesting and brilliant people and gained some pretty arcane knowledge. If I do manage to put something together that is book-worthy, then I will be a published academic. Still can't decide about that PhD, though, which is a bit irritating. I'd like to be able to make my mind up on it but I think I just need this extra year of working to really figure out what direction I want to go in.
To tie all this together, I currently kind of regard myself as a sort of quasi-Mike Holmes... I'm making my own life right, or as right as I can at this very moment in the circumstances I find myself in. This past year has been a little difficult as I took a job I knew wouldn't suit me and have had to live with those consequences. I've got a good lifestyle but little professional satisfaction... and I know that this isn't really working for me. I'm not saying I want to swap - no lifestyle but much professional satisfaction - but I need to find a job I can respect in an organization I can feel an affinity for that is willing to pay me enough to keep me in the style to which I've become accustomed. It'll happen - don't know when or where or how, but if I can use the experiences I've had in the past little while as a springboard, I can hopefully get to where I want to be. That's why I feel a bit like Mike Holmes - right now, I've got some serious issues with the pre-existing framework.... but I think that if I just keep knocking down walls and fixing the wiring and tiling and whatever else I get my hands on, it'll all be okay soon enough.
It's all in the details.
