An email exchange

-----Original Message-----
From: [Articulate Dad]
Sent: 19 June 2006 20:42
To: [Rojo Bulba]

Subject: RCUK Academic Fellowship

Dear Prof. Bulba,

Perhaps you will remember me from the [recent conference in Scotland]. I came across the posting for the RCUK Academic Fellowship over the weekend. I'm quite interested in the opportunity. I would welcome the chance to hear from you more of the details about the fellowship and what you are seeking, in preparation for my application. I see the deadline is this coming Friday. Would I be able to submit materials electronically?

I have a PhD in [Field 1] and [Interdisciplinary Field] from the [University of Paradise]. Currently, I'm a postdoctoral visiting scholar in [Field 2]. My research focuses on [Area 1] and [Area 2], in particular [Research Focus]. I have one outstanding grant application (decisions in December), and will submit grant proposals for a planned longitudinal study this summer.

[Brief Description of Longitudinal Study]

For more information about my research interests and activities, feel free to visit my website http://[Personal Research Website.url], which also includes my CV and my dissertation, as well as postings regarding these grant projects.

I look forward to hearing from you,

Yours,

[Articulate]

_______________________________________
Articulate Dad, PhD [Field 1]
Visiting Scholar, Dept. of [Field 2]
[University of Paradise]

Dear [Articulate]

I believe that there is a way of applying on-line - the attached further
particulars will help you. I had a look at your CV which [Post-doc] passed
on to me. You have an interesting range of research - I think in an
application for this post you would need to emphasize the [Field 3]
nature of your interests and proposed research.

Rojo

GAH! Okay, it's not so bad. In fact, it's quite exciting to take the opportunity now to clarify and express my honest-to-the-heart ideas about just where my research lies, and specifically what contributions I can and will make to [Fields 1, 2, & 3], and [Interdisciplinary Field], through [Research Focus]. Am I scattered?

I feel like Dr. Sayre [fictionalized alias for Oliver Sacks] in the movie Awakenings is describing me, during the conference bathroom scene. If you're not familiar with the movie, Sayre has been working with a group of encephalitis patients who appear catatonic, yet who can under unusual circumstances (hearing music, having a ball tossed at them] awaken from their slumber. He hypothesizes that their symptoms are akin to someone with Parkinson's only their collection of tics is so pervasive that rather than constant motion, each tic cancels another out, rendering the surface appearance of immobility, while underneath a cascade of impulses threatens to explode in every direction. He follows a speaker (with a delightful Dutch or Afrikaans accent), who has just given a presentation on L-Dopa (a synthetic dopamine), into the men's room to ask about Parkinson's, L-Dopa, and to express his theory, while the poor gentlemen he accosts is simply interested in peeing and washing his hands. It's a great scene.

So, now I'm back to being swamped, since I promised revisions of my dissertation distillation article by the end of this week. The editor had requested by the second week of July, so I could let my self-imposed deadline slip. Well, now back to work. Where do I fit?