I didn’t really know what kind of ritual I wanted to do to signify to myself that grad school is really over. Luckily, my husband had the perfect idea. He photocopied the signature page from my dissertation and brought it with us in our post-defense celebrations. He encouraged all our friends to sign it, and also asked that they make the page look “like it has been through hell.” The project was enthusiastically embraced by all, and I have one really fantastic memento of my defense day to show for it. It was a great party, and those signatures not only show how I was supported by friends (and in some cases, people I barely know), but that I’m a doctor now in the eyes of the world! It’s an accepted fact. And I’m pretty psyched about it.
Becoming Doctor Jones 
Don’t forget to get the regalia and walk at graduation. Both the graduate school one and the big one on the South mall.
This is hilarious! It gets me at just the right time, because this week I came into my office, to find the final draft of my first paper I’m going to try to publish sitting on my desk. Yea! My advisor finally got around to reading it. But then, not yea… his wife had scribbled names of the 4th graders in their daughter’s class all over the cover, and removed the bottom half of the first page for scrap paper. What would drive a person to use some one else’s work as scrap paper I have no idea. But seeing this makes me laugh and look forward to my “post” defense party someday!
Karyn, OMG, your advisor & his wife sound like they present a lot of interesting challenges. (But then, all advisors do . . . ) Good luck with your article!