A message from management

To whom it may concern,

If you belong to the Genus Rattus, could you kindly refrain from running across my boot as I try to get home from the bus stop? This request applies, in particular, to any individual norvegicus that approaches or exceeds the size of my own foot. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

GSH

Marking towards the low end of the scale

I love going to cafes to do my work. I find it strangely motivating to be surrounded by strangers, noise and bustle. It helps that leaving my home office usually means getting out of my damn pyjamas. I think I've conclusively proven that the flagrant and wanton wearing of pyjamas leads to procrastination of the worst sort.

I've got a beaker of lapsang souchong and a massive pecan fudge brownie in front of me, a pile of unmarked and ungoogled papers and a wireless connection. I have to google each of the papers because practically every one I've marked so far contains at least a modicum of plagiarism. It's a frustrating spectrum that spans from those who don't know how to paraphrase and really don't understand what they're talking about to those who pull highly technical info off the net and cut/paste verbatim. Sure, you're a first year college student who also moonlights as a doctor that writes articles on the complex interactions of anorexia-treating drugs. Why the hell not?

The red pen is getting proper exercise today.

In other news, a fly (the last tenacious little beast of its kind in the city) is repeatedly trying to use the pecans on my brownie as a landing strip. Why does everyone have to look at me the moment I try to swat it away? They can't see the blasted thing, so I look all "crazy professor" over here. For this, I give everyone at the cafe a "D". The fly gets an "F", just for pissing me off. Let this be a lesson: Don't mess with the red pen, for the primary export of the red pen is pain*.


*Unfortunately, to balance this all out, the primary export of the pecan brownie is heartburn. *groan*. The universe and I are now even.

Back to work

Today's proverb:

lyubish katatsya, lyubi i sanochki vozits

"Those who enjoy skiing downhill had better enjoy climbing uphill".

The downhill run I've been on since November 15th's chapter submission is over and the trek upwards is on. Got positive feedback from advisor, but she also introduced two separate ways the thesis could go. Direction A involves structuring the whole thing around three conceptual catagories that I discuss in my recent chapter. Direction B involves staying the course, with each chapter being a window into a different aspect of the phenomenon I'm studying. (A) would change things substantially, and possibly make the thesis more relevant to contemporary theory (though it would mean taking on some of the biggest theorists in a relatively small field). (B) gives me a chance to basically write a minimum of 5 articles based on the chapter topics (as yet completely ignored by academia), and in some ways will be less work but will result in a more pomo, disjointed sum. It will also let me be the first to write comprehensively on a topic that has not yet been addressed by any academic. I want to be the first, damnit!

Some real thinking and weighing of options lies ahead. A month and a half ago, this dilemna would have sent me into a cold sweat. Today I find it exciting and challenging. I'm carrying theory books around on the bus with me and am enjoying the feeling of nerding out in public.

Sunday

I love brunch. There's just something about it, though I can't quite put my finger on why I like it so much. Something about its socialness, about how it is a time to slow down and really enjoy the experience of eating and community. I reconnected with brunch in the spring when I was in Paris. Strolling the Marais' uneven cobblestones and looking in on all the chic cafes and restaurants, enjoying the way everyone looked: happy to be together, relaxed, connected. It didn't hurt either that practically everyone was gorgeous and well dressed in this uber hip queer community. I made a decision there and then: brunch was going to be my thing when I got back.

Of course, I can count on two fingers the number of times I've had brunch since then.

Today, despite the tag team of laziness and unmarked papers, I headed out to brunch with little bro. To be more specific: a blues brunch at a beautiful little yoga studio/eatery. We were seated at a large round table with a bunch of strangers since all the other spaces were full already, which put me in mind of previous musings on the social nature of the brunch experience. The room was lovely, all brick, hardwood floors and heritage fixtures. The real treat, besides the tasty food, was the music: for the price of breakfast (about 8 dollars!) and a donation to the food bank, we were serenaded by The Be Good Tanyas, Po'Girl and Bocephus King. They all jammed together, playing each other's songs interspersed with gospel and blues songs. You know that feeling you get when you are in the presence of amazingly talented people making music and it's all coming out perfect and you just want to join in? The way it is when the musicians themselves almost seem surprised at the music they are making together, as if they knew they could make it good but didn't know it would be this good.

The rest of the day has been a mix of long phone chats with good friends, catching up with my reading, cups of tea and patting the beast (a newly washed, dried and flea free beast...the wounds he inflicted during this process are healing nicely, thank you for asking). It's dark now, the room is warm and there are beautiful holiday lights across the street. I think Sunday is growing on me.

To do, continued

I hate making a list, accomplishing one thing on it and then having to deal with a much larger list the next day. On the menu for today:

Buy the damn hand brace, already.
Take beast to the vet or at least make an appointment.
Send off Ev's chocolate, since she was nice enough to send me her Russian books.
(Buy more chocolate since I ate the last bunch I bought for her).
Buy new library card, already. Deal with the fact that it is lost and will cost $10 to replace, and that there is some kind of lesson to be learned in that.
Get college essays sorted and ready to mark after meeting with prof tonight.
Do everything on yesterday's to-do list too.

I've decided that in aid of my goal of working for Unesco (okay, the goal is really just to live in Paris and get paid enough euros to be able to go to brunch in the Marais with my fabulous (and as yet, wholly imaginary) friends every Sunday), I'm going to brush up on the various languages I've studied. I've rented the materials from the library, and am going to work on them every morning. (Stop rolling your eyes! I'm going to do it this time!). To begin, let's all learn today's Russian proverb. All you grad students out there will like this one:

lbom ctenu ne proshibyosh.

"You cannot break through a wall with only your forehead". My cyrillic transliteration may be a bit rusty, but that's the gist. Happy Thursday.

Hot toddy*

Amazing what a little rum and tea can do for one's mood at 10am. Not to mention my allergies have cleared up and my hand feels okay (but not so okay that this will be very long).

Join my breakfast medecinal drinks club by doing this:

Mix 2 tsp sugar, 1 tsp butter, 2 tsp lemon juice, dash of nutmeg/cinnamon/ginger/cloves. Add shot of rum. Pour in a cup of hot, strong tea (I used organic pekoe today), stir, drink. Voila, an end to flu symptoms, sore throats and congestion. Even grandma would approve.

I guess, technically, you should have this before bed and maybe just have the one.

Onwards with the to-do list:

Remove mouse from jaws of companion animal. (*much freaking out* check)
Walk animal companion since it's so deliciously foggy outside and said companion would appreciate it, especially considering how I ruined his fun just now (see above).
Flesh out a rough outline for new chapter. Write 200 words, just to ease back into it.
Start waving comically large butterfly net about in hopes of catching research participants**.
Update and send out new query letters.
Make wishlist***.
Fix up budget, pay bills.
Tea with Red.
Read something thesis related.

*Since I'm not really a fan of the name Tod (sorry dudes, no offence), and feel abit queasy at the diminuative "toddy" (yes. I know, they're not related), the drink shall henceforth be named: "Hot Rum Drink".
**If you are from the university research ethics committee, please consider this a metaphor. Yeah, um, just a metaphor, right.
***New holiday gift receiving strategy 2005: make a publically accessible list more than 2 days ahead of the gift giving holiday.

Oh the pain

No update reason= flare up of injury in right hand, brought on by much typing. Trying to rest said hand so that work and blogging can progress. More soon, perhaps via proxy typist. Off to get hand brace thing, too hott for words.

Just got confirmation that my review piece is running in small local publication, and my copy should be in the mail today. It's not a big thing, and like I mentioned below, it doesn't pay cash, but it's nice to get a little recognition from an editor I haven't worked with previously and get published in a publication targeted to professionals in a field related to mine.

The day after

I feel drunk with power. Okay, I always feel that way, but just that little bit more today. It is sunny outside and I don't have to do anything I don't want to.

Got dear friend off to the airport, in time, despite car trouble. Well, not trouble in the conventional sense of the word. I couldn't find an ignition on the Prius I was driving for the first time (who knew the little bastards aren't like real cars? What do you mean, find the power button?). Luckily, with a little cell phone usage (those things are handy! Remind me why I am philosophically opposed to them again?), some tech support and cheers from the peanut gallery, we were off. We kept thinking the car had stalled, but duh, it's silent when stopped.

As a treat, the parking lot was in the way of the filming for Xmen. Paging Patrick Stewart and Ian Mckellin*. Just as I was ranting about film industry types being all haughty and lame, one of them stopped traffic for me so I could merge onto a busy rush hour clogged road. *Blush*. Film industry people are the best.

Okay, brace yourselves people. Buffy and Angel, complete series boxsets are now available. Everyone probably knows this already, but I'm liking my odds for this holiday season. They are cheapest through Amazon in the States, but the billing info says that it might be subject to import duties and taxes. How does that work? Will it make it just as/more expensive than ordering from .ca?




*They didn't respond to my page. Which, actually, isn't surprising, since it wasn't really a page. I am, however, holding out for seeing Patrick on the street and him calling me "darling". I hear he calls everyone that.

Chapter submitted, yes!

Picture a Napoleon Dynamite-esque arm motion. I just emailed my chapter to my advisor. Damn! Somebody get me a (chocolate) martini!

It needs work still (and really, could be a thesis in its own right, which was part of the difficulty in writing it), but this draft is done. I think my dear advisor will be pleasantly surprised.

Other good things on the horizon:

Harry Potter 4 on Friday, oh hell yes*.
Annotated Sherlock Holmes volume I waiting for me to make a cup of tea and snuggle up with the cat.
Buying the Firefly dvd set tonight as a treat for finishing the chapter.
Time to work on more freelance articles.
Maybe getting paid this week by Mr. Recalcitrant Publisher
A full box of organic Earl Grey tea in the cupboard


Now off to ice the twisted claw my right hand has become from typing nonstop for the last 5 days.



*Provided it continues the cinematic excellence of the 3rd installment and foregoes the craptacularness of the first two non-movies.

Teaching carnival

The new teaching carnival is up over at Scrivenings. Man, I look forward to these so much. It's part of why I started my blog (which will branch out to talking about other things than just this one chapter, as soon as I send it out to my committee tonight). I'm going to try to get something together for the next one, in December.

T minus 26 hours

I've got 23+pages of chapter done, a stack of books to go through and am feeling pretty good about sending the sucker in by tomorrow night. Yeah, it'll be rough in spots, like the paragraph where I discuss one of my main theorist's concepts but I can't actually find the source that proves that he actually talks about what I'm crediting him with. Hmm.

In other news, I'm really mad at the CBC for only showing one half hour of Coronation Street on weeknights now. Yeah, I get more done and I don't end up spending 5 hours of the week watching the show, but come on! I blame Rabinovitch, personally. First he attacks The Current (which is rapidly turning into the only thing I can listen to in CBC's daytime schedule), then he moves on to Corrie. Ach.

Oh bloody hell

Was sitting down to work, and wouldn't you know, I had to go and check something really quick on the net (just for 5 minutes, I swear!) and it turned into an hour long distraction.

May I introduce a handy-dandy tool for finding folks that are plagiarising your stuff online:

www.copyscape.com

A brief check over a recently printed article had it turn up, full text, on various sites. None with permission. Ahem, ask permission first, foo*.


*And if you're going to post my article full text on a corporate site, for no identifiable reason, don't bother asking permission. I'm not going to give it, so just don't do it.

Today in thesis writing

Goals:

Edit chapter down, find theoretical holes, insert plug.
500 new words
Finish rereading key theoretical pieces

Set up:

Computer on. (check)
Beeswax candle lit. (check)
Cup of organic pekoe tea (check)
Music in background. (check)
Actually doing the work. (in progress)

Reward:

Rewatch Firefly, disk one. Eat chocolate. Have someone else cook dinner.

Hmmm. So procrastination applies to blogging too.

So, I have gained second wind, which is probably why I started this blog and promptly neglected it, all within a few days. Fire is now under proverbial ass (in a good way, honey, don't worry).

Some stats for those keeping track:

Words on current chapter written to date: 4500+.
Due date: soon.
Likelihood of actually finishing chapter by deadline: Signs point to yes.
Units of caffeine consumed: Is it wrong to see bugs on the wall? I mean, too much to quantify.
Number of hand wringing episodes: Negligible
Number of blogs surfed: Countless
New songs downloaded to help with writing: Franz Ferdinand "Take me out" & "Matinee", Ciera "Oh", PopWillEatItself "Ich bin ein auslander", Nin "The Perfect Drug".
Freelance pieces currently accepted for publication: One
Payment: Zero $, free desk copy of great book, copy of publication.
Free booze consumed Friday: 4 martinis, 1 Lagavullin whisky, 1 plate of pierogies (which is not booze but should be classified as a narcotic).
Attitude: Kathie Lee Gifford level of positivity, pre-Sweatshop scandal and excommunication from Regis' power hour.

Huzzah.