I'm taking my second comprehensive Ph.D. exam today, sitting to write for 9 hours about the study and understanding of culture within sociology. As such, I won't be posting anything today, and figured I would write this for two reasons
(1) to inform people here in the mech forum that I won't be around today, and fill in on a major happening in my professional life
(2) to set a precedent that will keep me from posting today and wasting time during the test (I'll be at a computer with internet access). Now that I've told y'all that I won't be posting, I'm less likely to post and waste time from the test. Whereas yesterday, studying for the test, I posted a lot, partly as procrastination.

One other big piece of news: Wednesday night I learned that I was selected for a major graduate fellowship, that will provide funding for my next 2-3 years of Ph.D. study (depending on whether I finish in two or three more years). This is great news for me, and opens up a lot of flexibility financially, geographically, and in use of my time (since I won't have to teach undergrad courses - which I do really enjoy - to fund my dissertation work). But I've not had chance to celebrate yet, since I've been gearing up for this exam.

I'll glance back at this thread after my exam, and post an update if I feel I did okay.