The Academic Job Market is Evil

I'm deep into the process of applying for academic jobs and it's hell. I met with my advisor today and I left feeling like I have an impossible amount of work to do before sending out my first round of applications. Some applications require that I send everything up front--including my writing sample. Others only want a cover letter, abstract, and C.V. I've been working all day, everyday, to get the samples into shape, but they're still a long way from where I want them to be. I will continue to plug away and hope that I can get it all together, and that someone out there will see fit to hire me. Sigh.

On other fronts, I'm getting psyched about the marathon. I"m feeling physically ready, given that the training runs have gone well and I'm still running injury free. I just received my confirmation ticket from the Chicago Marathon today and it made the whole thing seem much more real. I'll be leaving on Saturday morning and staying in Chicago until Sunday night. Aviva and I will have a hotel room in the heart of Chicago and she will probably meet up with other partcipants' husbands/wives/partners to travel along the route and cheer us on at various points along the way. Though we won't have much time to explore the city, I'm looking forward to my first visit to the proverbial windy city.