Search Me!

It has just come to my attention (and not as the result of direct action) that the MLA International Bibliography now turns up a result when my name is searched in the "document author" field.

Yes, I am slightly chuffed by this. But in the words of an archery instructor from my early adolescence upon the occasion of my hitting a perfect bullseye ("centre gold, American bratling," she would say): "Once is luck. Twice is skill."

One would think that publication would have resulted in my having some measure of confidence in my academic fortitude. If anything, I have less now than ever. My experience so far of every triumph I have had in academia is that it immediately diminishes in size and significance immediately after achievement. Alps on alps arise.

I am only as good as whatever I'm doing next. When, I wonder, if ever, does one get beyond the prelude?