Well it’s that time of year, when kids go off to school and the parents see them off. The past few years, not having classes to take or teach, this hasn’t been a big part of my life. Now that I’m set to TA in the fall, I have to get back into that groove. I had a bit more to say about the class and all, but I will just not say anymore on it right now. Hopefully I’ll have an update soon.

A slight update on the teaching job I blogged about a week or two ago, the anthropology of religion course that a local university was looking to have taught. As it turns out it’s for next spring, which works out perfectly for me. I heard back from the university, basically asking for a copy of my CV and they’d be in contact to schedule an interview sometime this semester. I have sent of the CV and am waiting to see if I get an interview. Fingers crossed!

Another job offer arrived it my inbox today from my school listserv. This one at the Jewish Community Center that happens to be 30 seconds down the street from me. They were looking to hire someone last fall for an archaeology class. I think I blogged about that, but decided I had too much on my plate at the time to even inquire about it. Well they are still looking for someone to teach anthropology courses to senior citizens and other adults looking to just learn stuff. I fired off an email with an introduction and within an hour had a response asking me to come in and meet with them, see the currently classes, and so forth. I should be going down the street at some point this week. I was upfront and said I was pretty much busy through November, but that wasn’t a problem and they are willing to work with my schedule. This could be fun.

On to other school topics. The paper I have to give at the conference in West Virginia, well fortunately at least one fellow and one former student are also going. That makes the world of difference, I’ll at least have people to hang out with. So I’m more at ease now, knowing I won’t be shut up in my room watching TV or something.

Another conference opportunity arrived in my inbox today, this one again from my advisor. He was contacted by a woman looking to set up a panel at this years SAA (Society for American Archaeology) on prehistory in the Northeast. He was invited to participate, and he threw out a couple paper ideas to her. As it turns out, the one she was most excited over was one he suggested he’d co-author with me, blending my dissertation topic (burials) with his knowledge of other stuff in the region in general. So he contacted me to find out if this was okay and something I would be into doing. I of course said yes. For starters, I’ve never co-authored anything, it might be neat. To do it with my advisor is a pretty big honor, he is a big wig in this area. Oh did I mention I don’t even have to go to the meetings as he offered to go and present it? Yeah that’s a plus! However I will probably go. I will have the PhD by then (God willing!) and this is a national meeting. I’ve only presented one paper before at a national meeting, so this is somewhat big. Plus it’s an opportunity to look into jobs. The one thing that would keep me away, it’s in Atlanta. I went there once before about 10 years ago for a video game conference (the E3) when I was still doing video game web pages. Needless to say it was one of those places I can say I have visited once, but I’m not exactly racing to go back to (sorry Atlantans!).