I'm a Published Author

Yes, I am. And I'm only saying that because my friend Deb said it, and I thought it had a nice ring to it ;)

Unbelievably to me, VDM Publishing contacted me and asked if I wanted to publish my master's thesis...as of today you can purchase it at amazon.com for mere $46 and free shipping. And I'll get royalties. I got to design the book jacket, write a bio about myself, and the picture my friend Tara took of me is now copyrighted. It was the cutest one I had, what can I say?

To be a published author...your name in print forever..it's an amazing feeling. Similar to winning a sports game? I'll never know, I've sucked at sports all my life (besides the bronze medal in Chess I won in 3rd grade). But sometimes life throws you a curve ball. And you feel the feelings you never thought you'd feel, and doors are opened that you never thought would be.

What's it about? Unemployment: The German Case. A Critical Analysis of Political Discourse. "Yawn" my parents said. Didn't even bother to call to congratulate me. Have you thought about writing fiction? they said when I finally got a hold of them. Well, that's okay. The whole thing is only DEDICATED to them in the acknowledgments ;)

Editing my own work five years after I wrote it was strange. It was amazing how out-dated it already was. It was embarrassing to see some of the spelling and grammar mistakes ('this is not meant to be an exhausting analysis'). And it was odd to see how much I was able to suppress the raw reaction I had toward some of the data five years ago. Just reading the cold analysis made my blood boil with anger toward the system that called five million unemployed people 'sick' and 'lazy.'

I am happy that my original research can add to the body of literature on political discourse analysis, especially in the EU. I bought a special bottle of champagne for the occasion.

So cheers to my parents.

And cheers to the millions who are living it.