Make a website?

In class this we learned about google sites as a way to have an electronic teaching portfolio. I'm not sure about just the teaching portfolio but I can see google sites as a nice way to have a professional website to house your CV, research interests, teaching info, etc. Although I can't quite picture a hiring committee looking up my website  for my information over the paper copies I sent, I can see hiring committee members googling me (apparently it's a verb now) and coming across a website that would have all of the pertinent information at their fingertips. The site didn't seem that hard to make but did look like it might require a good bit of my time to put together. Is it worth it?

Grad school balance, check!

Grad school is set up to be one of the most unbalanced times of your life. In my experience, to be a successful academic, you must devote roughly 85% of your time to school/work, maybe 10% to family/friends/significant other, and if your lucky about 5% to yourself. This past summer a few friends and myself decided to break this unnatural balance and spend some time doing something we absolutely loved - we made a zombie movie.  For about 5 months we spent roughly every Sunday either in production meeting (usually at a favorite bar) or filming. we recruited an all-grad-student cast and spent only about $50 on costumes, make-up, and props. We ended up premiering the film at Cine on Halloween and had one of the best nights of our entire lives. I am 100% confident that no school related activity would have been that much fun or felt as rewarding. If interested, check out our local film, Dammit Zombie. Enjoy!

Also, as an aside, we were still able to maintain some of a balance during filming. Shortly after completion 2 of us passed written and oral comps and the other defended her thesis and completed her masters degree. Maybe we should add extra curriculars to the grad school requirement?

Blogging produces creative thought (in me)

In thinking about any benefits to blogging I've seen thus far, it seems like it is producing a lot of creative thoughts - even when not in front of the computer. When I come across something I might blog about, I immediately start thinking of ways to articulate my thoughts. Then, when considering blogging as an exercise for my students I thought what a wonderful way to get them to think! Perhaps this is a way to facilitate increases in writing as well as increases in creative and critical thinking?

Too many goals - including learning technology

So this is a blog, eh? In the past I've strayed away from such technology, thinking that it's excessive or unnecessary for me. But now, I have reasons to blog! Most of my reasons surround my aims to finish graduate school and keep in touch with friends and family as I find new surroundings. I titled this blog "Too many goals - including learning technology" because I have created a world of goals for myself to (hopefully) accomplish over the next year. I'm hoping that blogging will aid in achieving those goals.
Goals that I can recall at this moment are:

1. Finish my dissertation and PhD
2. Sell my house and complete all related daunting tasks
3. Finish/submit several papers and a post-doctoral fellowship application
4. Find a place to live in Australia (that's right, I'm moving to Australia!)
5. Find a temporary home for my dog while I'm away
6. Begin a blog to keep connected with friends and family after I move
7. Find a place to live in Baltimore (my post-Australia home)
8. Spend time researching non-academic careers

My plan is for my blog to support several of these goals (#6, duh).  Another obvious reason for blogging is that it serves a requirement for my final doctoral-level course and as a result, puts me that much closer to my degree. Finally, after reading How to Write A Lot by Paul Silvia (a fantastic book), I've learned that regular bouts of writing, regardless of the content, can boost writing in other areas and thus, I blog to help me finish my dissertation.
Well I think I did it. I finished my first blog post. Hopefully I can keep this up and reap the anticipated benefits.