the trees for the forest and the forest for the trees

As of today, my summer teaching is halfway over! And technically I only have 3 more weeks of instruction, because the students are presenting their final projects the last week of class. Woohoo!
Overall, the class has been fine. I do love teaching this particular class. The summer course is intense in workload, but the students [...]

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I’m still here…

Okay, well maybe I’m not really still here, since my posting seems to have become a 1-2 times a month thing. I just can’t guarantee that I’ll write here any more frequently in the next month or so. I’ll try, I swear, but a lot of smaller entries that I used to do (links, recipes [...]

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crunch time

Where in the heck did most of April go? Jeez. A few weeks gone in a flash, and now it’s the end of the semester, and even if I’m not presently teaching or taking classes, I’m feeling that all-too-familiar end of semester crunch feeling. The feeling of too much to do– too many different things [...]

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addictions

Addictions get a bad reputation.
Well, sure, some are awful– addictions to alcohol, smoking, drugs etc. And some are harmless– like my total addiction to Burt’s Bees honey lip balm. I even went and bought a bundle of 12 on ebay so I’d never leave the house without one. And I am shamelessly addicted to coffee, [...]

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Murphy’s Law

I remember my Nana evoking Murphy’s Law a lot. When I was little she had a friend named Murphy (a woman– I don’t know the origin of that name) so I, of course, thought that whenever Nana talked about “Murphy’s Law” it was her wise friend, Murphy, that she was evoking.
Murphy’s Law: Anything that can [...]

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too many books, too little time

I feel guilty. So far in the past 4 months I’ve only re-read books I’ve already read, and I’m about to do it again. A couple weeks ago I finished reading the Mary Russell series for the second time. It has to be my all time favorite series of books and I loved it so [...]

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writing mindfully (instead of with fear and dread)

I’m reading a book on writing. Actually, I’ve already read it twice. It might be one of the singularly best books of advice on academia I’ve ever found. I just can’t say enough about it.
And I’ve read a bunch of books on academia and writing. That’s what I do when I don’t know about something– [...]

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so where the heck have I been?

I’ve been here:

Yeah, it looks sort of drab. I’ve had to work up in the stacks because they’ve started construction on the ceiling in my favorite part of the library. Even though it is dark and I imagine the desks haven’t been cleaned since the 70s, I love it. I sort of adore libraries.
Here’s my [...]

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finally, I seem to be growing up a little.

I think others who’ve been in grad school forever will understand this. There is something about getting a PhD that puts you (sometimes nearly a decade) behind other friends your age in terms of getting out into the “real world.” You know, the “real world” where you work full time, make more than $3/hour, drive [...]

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Things I love about the internets: Part 2

While I’ve had a wonderful past week (going to Chicago, watching great movies, hanging out with Jo on her birthday) underneath all the fun some serious grumpiness is bubbling to the surface. I’m back to feeling like all I ever accomplish is at my day job (i.e. not my dissertation) and I’m feeling slightly swamped [...]

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scheduling life

I’ve been really into scheduling. At some point in the last 6 months or so, I realized it is the only way to really get things accomplished on a steady basis. And even though I was seriously thrown off schedule a couple times this semester (that awful flu, and then surgery), the schedule really did [...]

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burying my head in the sand

As illustrated by this IM conversation between my sister and I (she=pink, me=green), I’ve been pretty successful at altogether ignoring the presidential election.
Are you nervous for today?
No not really
b/c two people already read my draft and thought it was good
Huh?
for the primaries?
LOL
I thought you meant writing group
No lol
This cartoon describes exactly where I’m at with [...]

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Maybe multitasking isn’t such a great skill afterall

Yikes, is it really April? Am I really turning 31 tomorrow? Did I really plan to have 2 dissertation chapters written by the end of the semester? Am I really going on the job market this fall?
Suddenly after *trying* so hard to be done with grad school for so long, I wouldn’t mind if it [...]

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coincidences

I’m going to meet a professor for coffee this morning. And it is the result of a pretty random coincidence…
See, I am working on a chapter of my dissertation this week. And one of my favorite ways to keep myself from writing as long as possible, is to go through and re-read some of my [...]

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a new blog

In addition to Watershed, started a new blog, a kind of methods/research journal for my dissertation. It is sort of public, and sort of private. I don’t want it linked all over the place, but I would love for people who are interested to read it and give me their thoughts and feedback as they [...]

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transpiring now: actual research with actual people!

I am insanely busy right now with data collection, and I love it. I’m actually making great contacts with the “gate keepers” I need to be in touch with in order to gain access to people I need to interview for my dissertation. I just gained unlimited access to an online community with 10,000+ members. [...]

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a watershed book recommendation

This semester in grad school has been very different in tone for a couple reasons. First, I’m not spending entire weekends “binge” writing. Second, I’m not feeling guilty about taking evenings off here and there and relaxing with dinner and a movie.
So why this huge change?
I bought this book at the beginning of the semester. [...]

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distractions

My new plan for this semester includes 3 solid hours of writing/working on my dissertation per day. I go into work for the morning, and then head to my favorite library on campus (the Historical Society Library). Usually I work in either the huge, beautiful room on the second floor, or if that is invaded [...]

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wisdom of the sages

I love advice. I adore it, I collect it. I try to listen to, and remember all the sage advise of those older/more experienced than I am. Even when most of the advice I hear, I might not “get” until much later, I still try to collect as much as I can.
So I was thrilled [...]

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milestones

Today I reached 2 milestones in my journey to a PhD:

I defended my proposal. It wasn’t really a defense, though. It was more like a meeting– a discussion about my dissertation and what I need to do and think about going forward. It was amazingly helpful, and really not scary at all. They had some [...]

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telling the butterflies to fly in formation

I used to do children’s theatre when I was a kid. It was a particularly hippie kinds of children’s theatre; we sang a lot of sixties songs, did a lot of deep breathing and group chanting, and sang a lot about the light and the sun and stuff (hey, I told you it was very [...]

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tis the season

Usually at this point in the semester I’m freaking out. For so many years the beginning of December has been about the point where I kick into some freakish high gear, and start planning every hour of the day to get the seminar papers that I need to finish (and most likely haven’t worked on [...]

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Me, six years later

Yesterday I had coffee with a first year graduate student. She, like me my first year, has tons on her plate– teaching, classes, research, hourly work etc. Not to mention just the major adjustment to grad school. She’s really hanging in there, but had that frantic deer-in-the-headlights look that I’m sure I had my first [...]

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cold feet

I actually have a scheduled date and time now for defending my dissertation proposal. Just the scheduling was insane enough, but I suppose could have been worse. The actual proposal itself still needs some work (adding methodological appendices etc.) but I see a light at the end of what has been a very long dissertation [...]

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plowing ahead

The next week or so I’ll be incredibly busy. In fact, I might not blog again until I get to the East Coast on the 19th. I’m dog sitting for the next week, and then heading home for my sister’s college graduation the following weekend.
For the next bunch of days while my sister is sunning [...]

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savoring a moment

The long road to a phd has tons of highs and lows. I’ve noted them frequently here. Well, mostly I blog about the lows, because, well, that’s more interesting than when everything feels hunky-dory.
Although just a few weeks ago I was questioning that there was even a light at the end of the tunnel at [...]

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a few good things

The last few days have just been really nice. Just simply enjoying a few days might not be notable, but it actually is, as I feel like I’ve spent the last year or so learning how to really let myself relax and have fun.*
First off, the snow on Friday just really made me happy. I [...]

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looking ahead (the post in which I begin to stress just a tad about the job market)

Okay, with the way I have stuff presently planned out, and maybe slightly optimistically, I am 2 years away from finishing my PhD. That means I could be on the job market in a year- provided I have 3 writing samples, and a publication ready by then. It is never too early to think about [...]

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random updates

I finished another draft of my dissertation proposal last night, and sent it off for feedback. I think it is finally coming together- at least it feels that way to me. But, I put in too many hours on it in the last 4 days and my body is just not happy with all the [...]

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finally, some productivity

I don't know what happened, but suddenly, after dragging my heels for months on a specific writing "project", I am actively being very productive and making some serious headway. It is painful and slow, but moving along. Actually, aside from the article draft I finished a couple weeks ago, this is really the first time [...]

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