Fate?

Well, my friends, I received another dossier request. This one came from The One. Like The One you want to marry in dating terms, but this is in the professional sense. It's the job located where, once upon a time, I stated to several people along the graduate school route, I'd love to end up teaching in X State (for all sorts of reasons). Then, lo and behold a job opening in my field comes up, not only in X State, but in at Perfect University with Wonderful Department. Add to this:

• I know people there. Like, I was solicited for an article by one member of the department who is in my field and now in a Dean's position.
• I also know the other senior member of the department, who is also in my field, but works in the latter part of the century I specialize in and in another genre (thus avoiding the "we don't want to duplicate Great Scholar factor"). And when I say "I know this person," I mean I invited her to give a keynote at my department early modern studies group, we went to lunch, we talked, we hugged, and I adore her work. She is a warm, compassionate, admirable, and indefatigueable colleague and person that anyone would be lucky to work down the hall from, much less to have as a mentor.
• Add to these facts that this person has known my dissertation advisor for many years. They are good friends, and contact has been made to ensure that even if Great Scholar isn't on the Search Committee, she knows that I'm a candidate.
• I come from a state like this. I studied at a school like this. I would happily play well with the people that make up this department because I see that they produce smart, productive, professional active graduates, and they provide great mentorship for junior scholars as well.
• It's in an area that is "great to raise a family in" and beautiful on top of everything else, without being close to a coast (where it seems many scholars want to live).
• It's close-ish to family, but not too close.
• Good college football.
• The job is one I'm perfect for in that I compliment beautifully the research interests and records of the established scholars in the field/department. I don't duplicate their work, but I would love and benefit from the intellectual collaboration that would come from working in such a department.
• I know these students. I was one of these students. I would easily fall in love with these students and have them over to my home for readings of Restoration plays and we'd have pizza, and all would be well in the world.

In short, naive as it sounds, once upon a time, I said, "Wouldn't it be great if I could end up in X State?" And now, even though at least 3 other people (according to the job wiki) got dossier requests, there's a chance fate may smile on me, and I deserve it just as much as the next person. I'm just as qualified, and I've dotted all the "i's" and crossed all the "t's." PhD in hand. Publication accepted. Publication under review. Research agenda in line, and good teaching evals to boot. Except there's little I can do except sit back and wait, hope, and pray that I get an intervew request.

I can *DO* this job. I can be fabulous at this job, and love it and pet it, and sing to it, and never, ever leave it. This is a place where I can see Hubby and I putting down roots and retiring for good. The hard part? Not getting my hopes up for something I want so very badly.

And thus the need for the crazy pills. And wine. And a strong husband who supports me through it all, including a 6-day trip to London for research starting on Saturday. Right now, that sounds like heaven!! Archives, a theater show, reservations at one of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants, the tapas bar Barcelona, which is beyond amazing food (Zagat rated and totally affordable)! I can't wait to sleep in a little, work all day, people watch at Covent Garden, and maybe do some Christmas shopping. Things are okay for now...please send good vibes my way for an interview. I really believe if I can meet these people in persons, they'll see that I'm already one of the departmental family.

Reading and Note-Taking: A Question for the Dissertators

Since the last thing I want to do is look like a dumb ass to my advisor, I pose this question here to other dissertators. I seem to have a problem. I'm a nerdy sponge reader. What the hell is that, you ask? Let me define.

Nerdy sponge reader: a person who enjoys the dissertation subject being researched so much and is so concerned with making sure she doesn't leave a research stone unturned, that she reads most items cover to cover, soaking up everything and taking lots of notes.

While I can usually tell fairly quickly if an article or book really isn't going to be useful to my project, I have an extremely difficult time "skimming" the items that are related to my area of study. I find myself reading cover to cover, thinking that you just never know what else may come up that might be of help in my project. Now, reading an article start to finish isn't too much of a waste of time. But a book? Sometimes I have the advantage of a great table of contents, and I'm able to determine that only one or two chapters will be of use. And I'm somewhat lucky in the sense that there are only a handful of book-length studies done on the writers I'm studying. However, many of the books are only indirectly linked to my project. My project works to link them directly, of course, but in their own right, they're doing something else. I want to avoid the problem I had when I started reading for prelims: I read cover to cover, outlining entire books and taking pages of notes, rather than simply reading enough to get the main argument of a book.

So, my question to all the other dissertators is: Is it general practice to cherry-pick from your sources? Only read/use what seems obvious and directly related to your project? Don't you need to read most of a book to determine what's connected and what's not? Isn't there the danger of taking something out of context if one doesn't read the "whole" argument? I'm still trying to figure out the ropes here, and I want to make sure I'm "casting my net widely enough" as one of my committee members put it, but I also don't want to waste precious research and writing time reading something simply because I'm really interested in an indirectly-related source. I realize that some sources will turn out to be dead ends. But it seems more difficult to distinguish between sources that will be "a bit useful" and "maybe useful" and the "interesting, maybe I can use this" source. I'm guessing I'll get better as I go.