http://blog.lib.umn.edu/otto0114/prelims/ in which Sno Cones attempts to dissertate en-us 2008-09-26T16:02:02-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/otto0114/prelims/145039.html I successfully defended my dissertation this morning! Whew! - it was actually enjoyable: a delightful intellectual conversation with some really well-informed and thoughtful committee members. Revisions are extremely minor: revise the abstract to reflect more accurately the contributions that my... otto0114 2008-09-26T16:02:02-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/otto0114/prelims/133506.html David Wilson (can it be the UI guy? sounds a bit off his usual subjects) teamed with John A. Jakle in 1992 to write a book called Derelict Landscapes: the wasting of America's built environment. Might be interesting if it... books to read otto0114 2008-06-29T14:24:28-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/otto0114/prelims/133505.html will appear in European Urban and Regional Studies sometime this year.... otto0114 2008-06-29T14:23:25-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/otto0114/prelims/129979.html Lots new! Since school ended (for me) on May 15, I've finished two more chapters (of 9) and have only two more to finish, then some revisions. Just now I requested two articles I can't get elsewhere: S. Britton's Envir... otto0114 2008-05-30T20:09:28-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/otto0114/prelims/118794.html I spent yesterday combing through my texts on economic development, and trying to pick out the themes I want to talk about for the chapter More of the same this morning, and then a brainstorm about how to frame the... otto0114 2008-03-20T17:05:06-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/otto0114/prelims/118638.html Really my brain is fried, but perhaps it would be helpful (for future weeks) to note the articles I've read today: Lovering on discourses versus jobs Stenning on PS mobility (Tr British Geogs) Stenning on the history of NH and... otto0114 2008-03-18T16:53:47-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/otto0114/prelims/118596.html Probably not the best use of my time right now to spend two days painting my sister-in-law's living room, but I don't want to be one of those people who says "no" to everything because they are so focused on... otto0114 2008-03-18T08:34:26-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/otto0114/prelims/103602.html I am trying to get back on track with finishing up my dissertation. My goal is to have a completed draft by 1/24, when I return to teaching. It's really hard to get in the groove of writing when I'm... otto0114 2008-01-07T17:14:59-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/otto0114/prelims/103529.html Tourism and Regional Development: New Pathways. Maria Giaoutzi and Peter Nijkamp, eds. Oxford UP, 2006. Focus on intersection of tourism, information technologies, and regional development. Sounds pretty au courant! Review in PG November 07 by Stephen Hanna says the contributions... books to read otto0114 2008-01-05T11:04:21-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/otto0114/prelims/101543.html Orlando Figes, who teaches history somewhere in the UK, has just published a massive tome on families of the disappeareds during Stalinism. I am looking forward to reading it even if it's 740 pp. If you go to his website... otto0114 2007-12-08T17:05:42-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/otto0114/prelims/097500.html It strikes me all of a sudden (working on dissertation is a 24/7 activity; even when you are working on something else, lecture notes for Central Asia in my case, you are thinking about it) that the tour companies in... otto0114 2007-11-11T10:52:58-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/otto0114/prelims/097499.html I have been working on chapter edits for my dissertation off and on for awhile. It's hard to "let go" and not be fussing with more editing, but last night I printed out chapter 3: "stick a fork in it;... otto0114 2007-11-11T10:44:10-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/otto0114/prelims/092113.html Finished the revisions to Chapter 3 a little while ago. I hope I can keep some momentum going this week!... otto0114 2007-10-08T17:08:37-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/otto0114/prelims/086981.html Time to get back on course. This is my public commitment to working at least 60 minutes EVERY day on dissertation writing or revisions, even with all my course prep. I can prep forever, but I HAVE to finish my... otto0114 2007-09-10T15:49:43-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/otto0114/prelims/084901.html More reading notes from long ago. The NYT mag issue on Money (June 10, 2007) has a number of interesting articles. One is by Roger Lowenstein on the income gap. The perennial question of redistribution of wealth - but do... teaching otto0114 2007-08-11T18:55:28-06:00