Fall term papers: complete; submitted. Minimally sufficient in one case; totally disastrous in the other. The process of the former taught me a great deal, enough that I don’t mind the mediocre product; the lack of process, as well as the poor product, of the latter will stand as a lesson. (Namely, Do Not Ever Do That Again.)
Ph.D. applications: complete; submitted. I’m feeling optimistic, triumphant, and frantic, all at the same time (think 3rd movement of Beethoven’s sixth symphony).
New Year’s Resolution: to be more careful. Not to involve myself in debacles of the sort that the term papers devolved into. To pace myself, forgive myself little gaffes in the interest of not committing big ones. To approach my academic world with more professionalism, more maturity. More on this, likely, later.
New term: one week old. Fresh, exhilarated. Dealing with my reservations (and resolutions) as responsibly as I am able. Ideas percolating, forward momentum gathering. Too much fracking Shakespeare.
Dissertation: the idea has been conceived. I’ll not name it for fear of jinxing it before it develops into a full-fledged diss-fetus, but, you know. Zygote. (Which, in some circles, counts as a life, so I’m already halfway there!) With any luck, three hours from now it will have an advisor (a midwife? a grandparent? a baby-daddy? this metaphor is taking me in unfortunate directions).
Holiday, tremendous need of: mounting. Paris next weekend? Yes.
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January 17, 2008 at 5:30 pm
squadratomagico
Congrats on the diss-zygote! What fun! I’ll give you the main piece of advice my own advisor always used to transmit: Let your question(s) stay messy for as long as possible. Neaten up at the end.
Have fun in Paris! Go to the Musee de Cluny and see if they still sell my book in the shop!
January 17, 2008 at 6:26 pm
hilaire
Things sound pretty great, in that sense of great that is wide enough to accommodate pain!
And yes, Paris – have a wonderful time! My suggestion? Have endless Moroccan mint tea and delicious baked treats at the Paris Mosque.
January 17, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Sisyphus
How can you have too much fracking Shakespeare? Unless you say there are not nearly enough beheadings, in which case I agree with you, but otherwise, it’s good stuff.
Congrats on the zygote! I’m liking the image of those medieval paintings where Mary is at prayer over a book and an itty bitty holy baby is floating down on a sunbeam to lodge in her ear. It’s kinda like that. (And I’d go with “midwife” over “baby daddy”.)
Don’t forget, the renaissance medical texts said that the unborn baby was shapeless and could easily be transformed or deformed depending on what the mother looked at while pregnant (like looking at monsters, or lame people, or whatnot). Unlike them, you should embrace this re. the diss. topic.
January 17, 2008 at 10:14 pm
neophyte
squadrato: I’ve always been ashamed of the fact that, despite having spent loads of time in Paris, I have never once set foot in the Cluny. This time, for sure (if, that is, I make it there at all). Thanks for the encouragement.
Hilaire: I love the Grande Mosquée. Fantastic little restaurant adjacent, too. Mmmmm. Paris.
Sis: Um, yes. Yes, yes, yes. Yes. Just hope the old womb doesn’t start on some migratory adventure in the process.
January 18, 2008 at 1:35 am
squadratomagico
Oh, the Cluny is great! Most people get excited by the unicorn tapestries, and they are vivid and wonderful. But I was fascinated by the cases and cases of tiny objects some fellow collected when the Seine was dredged in… early 1800s, I think? He went through all the muck and found all this great medieval garbage, including lots of little medals, or souvenirs, from pilgrimages to saints’ shrines. Most of them were the size of a dime or smaller. It drove SweetCliffie crazy after I spent an hour or so examining all these teeeeny li’l artefacts. Visionary guy, that muck-seeker.
January 18, 2008 at 5:45 am
renaissance girl
Squad–
Visionary muck-seeker: That’s a wonderful name for Mouse’s zygote!