"When you look at what you've written here, can you tell the difference between good writing and bad writing? Or do you think this is good writing?"

Is this because you told him (as you said here) that you know all the writing isn't good and that's not what you are working on right now? Or did this come out of nowhere? The guy sounds like he totally doesn't get you or your process at all--which makes him pretty much useless as an advisor. Do you have anyone else with Math chops you can send your work to for a beta read?

Is this because you told him (as you said here) that you know all the writing isn't good and that's not what you are working on right now? Or did this come out of nowhere?

This was on something that I thought was pretty close to a final revision.

Have you talked to the department chair about this SOB, Hil? (I hope he isn't the department chair.)

I never wanted to be a princess. I wanted to be a paleontologist. My favorite fairy tale was Tom-Tit-Tot, which was a version of Rumplestiltskin, because the girl wins using her wits. I also admired her ability to eat five pies.

Have you talked to the department chair about this SOB, Hil? (I hope he isn't the department chair.)

I really don't think that would help anything. I'm not sure the department chair could actually do anything, and I know that my advisor won't actually listen if the chair talks to him.

I posted this in GWW, but I figured I'd ask here, too -- anybody willing to take a look at my teaching statement? It's about 2 and a half pages, and I can email it as a Word file. I just want someone else's eyes on this before I send it out.

I wanted to be Eowyn. Except for the whole settling down to heal people thing.

Or Leela from Doctor Who.

Hil, I don't have any advice. Only lots of sympathy for you and antipathy for your soit dit advisor.

Or Leela from Doctor Who.

If she'd existed when I was little, I totally would've wanted to be Leela from Futurama.

Actually, I should start taking notes now for next Hallowe'en, since there's no way I can get a proper Leela going in three days.

Seriously. How is that in any way helpful? This guy is in the wrong profession.

The thing is, student interaction (advising, teaching) is often considered much less valuable than the research aspect of the job. Very often academics don't tend to become professors because they love teaching students, more because they love the research. Especially in math/science, etc. That's my impression from working at a big mathy science-y research university as well as my masters studies, so I may be way off base.

I wasn't ever very Princess-y as a kid. Rather than pretend about being a princess I was more likely to concoct fantasies of having a small cottage, animal friends that talked to me, and walk through the forest foraging for food and wood for the fire. Or that I was on a deserted island or being like a female Tarzan (although I only knew about trazan from the cartoon).

I don't like Hil's advisor. He sounds too much like Tino.

I've never seen Tino and Hil's advisor in the same room together.