The W-word

Most of the things we like to do, take time. I'd like to run faster. I'd like to write a lot. I'd like to learn Portuguese. And how to play the guitar. This stuff takes practice, and practice takes time.

And time is such a precious thing. I did not realise that until I turned 28, and left Italy. There are so many things to do out there, and yet we end up repeating that we "have to" work, and trying new thing looks like an impossible task.

I wish I could do it, but I don't have time for it - who has not said this at least once in life?

Peer-review my ass

Warning: Contains rants.

One of the fundamental goals, or rather THE fundamental goal, for an academic is to get published on peer-reviewed journals. "Publish or perish", they call it.

"Peer-reviewed" basically means that, in order to get published, your paper gets reviewed by 'peers', i.e. other academics who work in your same field and who, therefore, are deemed competent judges of the quality of your work. It is a quite controversial system (read this), to say the least, but it seems to be the only one that can guarantee "academic quality", i.e. that only valuable stuff gets published.

Waking up early: Mission Impossible

I am an academic, which is a great job to escape the horrible constraints of the 9 to 5 life, such as having to dress up to go to work every morning, driving to work at peak time, seeing the same annoying people every day... But there are lots of downsides with being an academic, among which there's the fact that work might follow you everywhere. The 9to5 person has an office, and work stays in the office: but for the academic, especially one who, like me, works always from home, there's the risk of work creeping into every aspect (and room) of your life.