having my cake, eating it later.

in an earlier post, i promised to share my thoughts about the job search.

i still intend to .. but again, not right now;
instead, i thought i'd announce something else.

some of you already know about this, but for those few who don't:
the academy of finland approved my grant application.

yes!

one of my grants finally gets approved;
it was just a matter of escaping the u.s. to find the right committee. [1] (-:

so i could have stayed here for another three years as a postdoc, with little/no teaching duties.  they also agreed to the travel funds that i asked for, too ..

but yes: could have.

---

having agreed to a tenure-track offer in the states — given my word, two months ago —  this put me at an impasse.  so the negotiations began ..

.. and as of now, i'm deferring professorial life.  the position in the states is still reserved for me, for next year's fall, and i'm electing to stay in helsinki for one more year.

it's more than i could have hoped.
it's been a good year.

i'm slightly relieved, to be honest.  i still don't think i'm ready to be a professor yet, one of these more senior guys who advises and mentor students.  some of you may disagree, but the point is now moot:

i'm going to remain as janus for a while longer,
and professor geminus will have to wait until late 2013.

maybe i'll be ready for another chapter of my life, by then.



[1] i could spend the rest of this post complaining about the nsf .. but instead, i'd just like to express my gratitude to the academy and the nation of finland, who have been very kind and generous to me and my colleagues in the past years.