Updates...

Memorial Day weekend was a good one. Syracuse men's lacrosse won their 10th national championship and the Detroit Red Wings went up 2-0 in the Stanley Cup Finals complete with 2 shut out from Chris Osgood. From a sports point of view, it was a weekend for the history books.

In other news, I've got about a week until I depart for Ireland. I've got a ton of work to do while I'm there and I'm a little bit intimidated about the entire endeavor. It's safe to say that with all the preparation graduate school provides, it's difficult for an American university to prepare their students for European research (at least at my school that's the case). With the Euro and the Pound Sterling killing my savings account and little to no funding from other sources, it's fair to say I'm nervous. Hopefully, I'll be able to get some good pictures in my moments of free time over there and post them here.

Bring on Lord Stanley!

The Wings are back in the Stanley Cup finals! As one of about 10,384 who actually cares about the sport of hockey, I am pumped. The entire playoffs have been awesome this year and a Wings/Pens final should be a real show stopper. I think it's safe to say that Chris Osgood has solidified himself as a clutch goaltender and has proved he's a no. 1 guy in Detroit. Good man, Ozzie! Here's to another Stanley Cup in the Motor City!

Also, Syracuse men's lacrosse is back in the Final Four this upcoming weekend. They face Virginia in the semifinals - a team they lost to by one goal in overtime earlier this year. Hopefully the Orange can avenge their loss earlier in the season.

Officially ABD

Today I finally got an opportunity to defend my dissertation proposal. Unsurprisingly, I got a lot of good feedback from my advisers, and I have a better idea of how to structure my research and dissertation. The most pertinent suggestion was to limit the number of areas in my analysis. I had planned to hit as many cities in Ireland as possible to get a broad spectrum of evidence. My committee suggested choosing two or three cities in addition to Belfast and Dublin to conduct research. The most logical choices seem to be Cork and Derry based on a number of factors - presence of a local press and archives, recruitment levels during the First World War, and ease of access. Cork itself is interesting, especially in the late 10s and early 20s because it was a hotbed of Republican activity - a fact that may yield some interesting research findings. Now I've got three weeks to figure out my research agenda for my 9 weeks overseas. It is abundantly clear to me at this point, that this trip will be the first of several to Ireland. Although I can't afford to stay abroad for a long period of time, this trip will at least get me familiar with the archives and sources and help me to better plan future research in a more efficient manner.

Techno-aggravation

Last Friday my laptop died. Apparently the logic board on my iBook G4 went kaput. I took my machine into the Apple Store on Michigan Ave. The tech diagnosed the demise of the logic board and sent off the machine to get repaired. I tried to back-up some of my files before he took the machine, but I was having trouble with my external hard drive and the transfer would take too long, according to the tech, and I couldn't sit there all day. He assured me that the hard drive wouldn't be replaced so I relented. BIG MISTAKE. I got my iBook back today and they replaced the hard drive. Not only did they replace it, they failed to archive my old drive or provide me with the actual drive they swapped out (one would think that would be normal, like the auto industry. What are they going to do with my old hard drive?). The long short of it is that I lost four years worth of archived emails. Most pertinent, were items pertaining to my upcoming European research venture. I went up to campus today and talked to someone in IT. They said they'd try to recover some of my emails. I'm hopeful, but prepared for the worst. The moral of the story: make sure you back up. Ok, I already knew that. But if you find yourself in a similar situation, DO NOT let some tech pressure you into hurrying with your files. Take every precaution, examine the paperwork carefully, and make sure the repair people will archive your files if you cannot. I'm really angry at the folks at the Apple Store (although I retain my love for Apple in general), but I'm angry at myself for letting them pressure me into doing something that I didn't feel right about from the get go.