Rained in reading
Last night, I was still in my office at 5.30pm because I didn't get there until the decadent hour of 9am. The rain was coming down outside and my tennis partner called to cancel for the second time this week. You'd think with how much I love getting out on the court that I would be disappointed, but I wasn't. I'm so into my new project that I sat there thinking how great that was because it gave me time to read some of the articles that I had just printed. There is nothing quite like sitting under your favorite yellow lamp, curling your fingers around a hot cup of tea, with a good article to read while its dark and raining outside. Maybe this is my own version of new project infatuation, but I love that THIS is my job, and that I love it so much.
Knitting things in perspective
I'm not sure if it was taking a day off in the middle of the week, joining a knitting circle full of more mature women, or my attempts to quit coffee that have brought on the blissful wave of calm that I'm experiencing amidst everything I have to do.
I kept telling myself while I was writing my dissertation, as I increased my coffee consumption from one cup to three, that "desperate times call for desperate measures." I'm not sure if someone famous once said that, but it was a college friend's mantra, one that was repeated frequently as we stayed up late writing papers, eating donut holes and drinking our very fancy root beer. Clearly, this was before I had discovered lattes. Our all-nighters were frequently followed up by breakfasting on mocha-almond-fudge ice cream, justified because it was clearly high-protein with all that dairy and nuts in it. But, I digress, the point is that now, three cups later, the coffee has done me in more than I care to admit. My experiments with quitting this week, drinking weaker coffee and less of it, appear to be resulting in a level of calm that I have not experienced in decades.
Ofcourse, this is terrible for my productivity, reading, wordcounts and such, but I am still getting work done. I'm just not breaking my back the way I am so easily prone to.
I was admiring a friend's knitted shawl the other day and then I felt so inspired that I decided to start another knitting project. We ran into each other at the yarn shop and then brought our knitting to my favorite coffee shop in town and sat and talked and worked on our knitting. The next evening, we joined a group of women in a knitting circle, just some good conversation and knitting. I was amazed at some of these elderly women because they just seemed so grounded and centered and happy with where they were. I felt like it rubbed off on me. My usual angst seems to have disappeared somewhat and I'm feeling like the week just sort of melted away.
I kept telling myself while I was writing my dissertation, as I increased my coffee consumption from one cup to three, that "desperate times call for desperate measures." I'm not sure if someone famous once said that, but it was a college friend's mantra, one that was repeated frequently as we stayed up late writing papers, eating donut holes and drinking our very fancy root beer. Clearly, this was before I had discovered lattes. Our all-nighters were frequently followed up by breakfasting on mocha-almond-fudge ice cream, justified because it was clearly high-protein with all that dairy and nuts in it. But, I digress, the point is that now, three cups later, the coffee has done me in more than I care to admit. My experiments with quitting this week, drinking weaker coffee and less of it, appear to be resulting in a level of calm that I have not experienced in decades.
Ofcourse, this is terrible for my productivity, reading, wordcounts and such, but I am still getting work done. I'm just not breaking my back the way I am so easily prone to.
I was admiring a friend's knitted shawl the other day and then I felt so inspired that I decided to start another knitting project. We ran into each other at the yarn shop and then brought our knitting to my favorite coffee shop in town and sat and talked and worked on our knitting. The next evening, we joined a group of women in a knitting circle, just some good conversation and knitting. I was amazed at some of these elderly women because they just seemed so grounded and centered and happy with where they were. I felt like it rubbed off on me. My usual angst seems to have disappeared somewhat and I'm feeling like the week just sort of melted away.
Go Vote!
Just got my I voted sticker and my dad tells me I can get a free coffee at Starbucks today. So get out and there and vote if you haven't already. Postdoc U. is closed today, for the voting, I guess, so I didn't go in to work. InAdWriMo be damned. I just need a mental health day. After a miserable day in my office yesterday, I need to just enjoy the unseasonably warm weather and take my reading out in the park with my picnic lunch, then have dinner and go watch the unfolding election results at my neighbors' place tonight.
InAdWriMo 2008
Since InAdWriMo last year was a huge help in getting my dissertation written, I'm going to rejoin this year to get me moving quickly on Manuscript #2. I have serious doubts about writing the whole thing in a month, especially since the last one took so long. But, the thing is, I'm not doing much more research on this one, and I'd be happy with a decent draft. I don't need a whole done manuscript until mid December, but something that I can send out to friends for feedback by the end of the month would be fabulous. I'm guessing 8,000 words is a fairly challenging goal.
I've got a few more research things to do on this paper, so there may initially be some waiting on the wordcount for the next few days, but I hope to see that wordmeter on the left moving pretty soon and pretty quick.
I've got a few more research things to do on this paper, so there may initially be some waiting on the wordcount for the next few days, but I hope to see that wordmeter on the left moving pretty soon and pretty quick.
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