A Lesson in Academia and Little Black Dresses

Flattering in their simplicity, little black dresses (LBD's) hide a multitude of sins. A girlfriend of mine has said she thanks her conservative parents no end for dressing her in the plain, unadorned LBDs amongst the scrunchy socks, vibrant fluoro colours and jelly sandals (these have made a comeback??) so prevalent in 80's and 90's babies. Sweat-drenched and inescapably illuminated by stark white stage lights, I was also saying thanks to the creators of the LBD for making my first plunge presenting in the academic forum world a little less physically embarrassing. 

I was sodden! A swamp monster, on stage of a higher education professional event, attempting to sell my wares and share knowledge which I believed innovative and important. I opened my mind and generously threw my ideas out into the crowd for commentary and (hopefully) constructive criticism. Annnd my research was torn apart... leaving me a drippy, ragged mess in a very lovely LBD.  

I had recently received a promotion at work acting in a position of team leader and I was riding high on the warm fuzzies that the recognition had brought about. Suddenly the source of this joy was a point of contention, that I would potentially be in the position to manipulate the outcomes of a project because I was in a position of authority! How could they assume I would do this? Surely they realise I'm not ethically ambiguous? I thanked the audience for their commentary, walked off the stage with a modicum of confidence, and then crumpled at one of the round conference tables, wishing the cinema-carpet-printed office chair would sink into the concrete floor and drop me into the lounge bar below. 

So, this is where my honours thesis currently lays... on the sticky floor of a hotel lobby bar. Perhaps it's unrevivable. Had one too many tequila shots at the end of a night red wine drinking. It had so much promise, but it's hampered by it's inability to get off the ground. 

Welcome to the Development section of my blog. Where I attempt to resuscitate my love of academic study, the beauty of investigative research and the generation of knowledge. Because I can own a million different LBDs, but learning based development can only come from me.