I was talking to David yesterday when he suddenly realized that I could, in fact, leave Salt Lake at the beginning of May if I chose to. He was startled. It's a little stunning to me too -- I always knew that when I finished classes I'd be free to leave here, doing the rest of my reading and writing remotely, but somehow it never quite sunk in that it would be so soon. Given that I'll be away for February, it's hardly any time at all left -- if I choose to go.
That's the big if, of course. I'd need a place to live, which means rent money -- and if I went back to the Bay Area, a fair bit of rent money. I don't know if I could handle roommates again, after living alone; I've gotten set in my ways. Maybe in a big house. And lots of rent money means a job of some sort, even if only part-time. And that job is likely to take more time than teaching here would, which leaves less time for reading/writing. I want to finish my doctorate with efficiency, not turn into an endless graduate student. No dawdling! :-) It probably doesn't make sense to leave, at least not right away. But oh, what a seductive prospect. A little house in the Oakland hills, perhaps with a view of the bay... The Bay Area, it calls to me. I could go anywhere, I suppose, but somehow, after all my journeying, the Bay Area feels like home.
Which is, sadly, no guarantee of an academic job there once I finish. Right now, the preferred regional order is:
- Bay Area
- Seattle
- Portland
- Boston
- New York
- Los Angeles
- Chicago
- D.C.