doncha?
One thing I am not particularly fond of in the field of academia is that of constantly shifting topics. It's all very fine with you're in class, and the discussion wanders across the board. It's entirely different when you're not in class, and you can't nail down a paper topic.
I have a little mini-paper (often the hardest ones to write) over one of two books this week. Wednesday, actually. I was supposed to write it tonight. Had a topic and everything. Some notes on where I could find support in the book. Formalist, and all that, so pretty much, just the book. But given the first para here, you know what happened.
I couldn't write about it. I had ideas, yes. I had examples, yes. But that's it. It would have read like a list of "see, look what I found!" points, in paragraph form. Maybe if I had time (or the desire) to re-read the second book, I could have made that work. But to be frank, I really wasn't very fond of the second book, esp when I had the first one to look back on. Of course, I'm very much enjoying Lolita, and find it horrifyingly hillarious. But that's in how you read it, I suppose. I also found Bend Sinister to be something of a comedy. Oh, the twisted, twisted mind of Rehkmira.
But to sum, I've stumbled upon a new topic, utterly unlike the first. And to write it, I have to have the first book here with me. I do not. Sebastian Knight is at school. So I can write my outline of very good potential points and connections. I can conjecture as to why N would have been writing in this manner. And I get to talk about heart failure and heart-brokenness. About fairy tales and unhappily ever afters.
The down side is that I have not actually written the paper. This was a hard night. I spent hours just nailing down this new topic, after the hour or so discovering the great many flaw with the old topic. Brainstorming, while good, does not a paper write.
Tomorrow, I have the DQ class (no, not "good eats/cold treats"), and I have not actually read the material for the week. It's only something like 200 pages, but those are 200 plot-packed pages. And I very much enjoy that reading. I am certain that I can get the paper plotted (and quotes/examples pulled) tomorrow morning, if I start an hour (possibly two) early in the wake/shower/dress/feed/leave cycle. Then an incredibly awkward class that I can nonetheless BS my way through (sadly, that is a skill one learns in high school, practices in college, and masters in grad school). Work, and paper writing tomorrow night, same time. Wednesday I can spend the early hoursreading for DQ and Scriptures in appointments with needy students, then work, class, and a horribly late night trying to do a week's worth of reading for two classes. Thursday will be hell, Friday I have a meeting, and might as well grade and read IH stories, and then Saturday, glorious Saturday, I can sleep in a bit, maybe watch a movie, play with the cats, cook something scrumptious start the whole cycle over again.
An odd note: I've come to the conclusion that the only reason I have to invite someone into my life is so that I have more than one person to cook for. I really like to cook gigantic meals and with stew and soup season upon us, I'll only be able to cook so often. Soup etc freezes well, but there is only so much freezer space. And only so much soup I can eat. Alas, I may have to only cook twice a month. Or maybe I can make smaller batches. I'm dreaming up a stock right now. I have veggie peelings, ends of carrots and such, a failed attempt to roast zucchini (dang mushy goop!), some onion ends, lots of celery, some outer leaves of cabbage, two corn cobs, the ends of several dozen green beans, and an assortment of other veggie odds and ends. I think I'll boil the frozen daylights out of them with some spices and call it veggie stock. In a separate pot, in go my chicken carcasses, with roasted bones, trimmed skin, shreds of meat, etc. Toss in an onion, some garlic, and about half of the celery and carrot remains, and I'll have two pots of stock! That stuff freezes well. But I may make a pot of soup while it's fresh.
Ah well. If I am to rise an hour or two early, I must to bed an hour or two early. Maybe I'll turn out a bit wiser.
I have a little mini-paper (often the hardest ones to write) over one of two books this week. Wednesday, actually. I was supposed to write it tonight. Had a topic and everything. Some notes on where I could find support in the book. Formalist, and all that, so pretty much, just the book. But given the first para here, you know what happened.
I couldn't write about it. I had ideas, yes. I had examples, yes. But that's it. It would have read like a list of "see, look what I found!" points, in paragraph form. Maybe if I had time (or the desire) to re-read the second book, I could have made that work. But to be frank, I really wasn't very fond of the second book, esp when I had the first one to look back on. Of course, I'm very much enjoying Lolita, and find it horrifyingly hillarious. But that's in how you read it, I suppose. I also found Bend Sinister to be something of a comedy. Oh, the twisted, twisted mind of Rehkmira.
But to sum, I've stumbled upon a new topic, utterly unlike the first. And to write it, I have to have the first book here with me. I do not. Sebastian Knight is at school. So I can write my outline of very good potential points and connections. I can conjecture as to why N would have been writing in this manner. And I get to talk about heart failure and heart-brokenness. About fairy tales and unhappily ever afters.
The down side is that I have not actually written the paper. This was a hard night. I spent hours just nailing down this new topic, after the hour or so discovering the great many flaw with the old topic. Brainstorming, while good, does not a paper write.
Tomorrow, I have the DQ class (no, not "good eats/cold treats"), and I have not actually read the material for the week. It's only something like 200 pages, but those are 200 plot-packed pages. And I very much enjoy that reading. I am certain that I can get the paper plotted (and quotes/examples pulled) tomorrow morning, if I start an hour (possibly two) early in the wake/shower/dress/feed/leave cycle. Then an incredibly awkward class that I can nonetheless BS my way through (sadly, that is a skill one learns in high school, practices in college, and masters in grad school). Work, and paper writing tomorrow night, same time. Wednesday I can spend the early hours
An odd note: I've come to the conclusion that the only reason I have to invite someone into my life is so that I have more than one person to cook for. I really like to cook gigantic meals and with stew and soup season upon us, I'll only be able to cook so often. Soup etc freezes well, but there is only so much freezer space. And only so much soup I can eat. Alas, I may have to only cook twice a month. Or maybe I can make smaller batches. I'm dreaming up a stock right now. I have veggie peelings, ends of carrots and such, a failed attempt to roast zucchini (dang mushy goop!), some onion ends, lots of celery, some outer leaves of cabbage, two corn cobs, the ends of several dozen green beans, and an assortment of other veggie odds and ends. I think I'll boil the frozen daylights out of them with some spices and call it veggie stock. In a separate pot, in go my chicken carcasses, with roasted bones, trimmed skin, shreds of meat, etc. Toss in an onion, some garlic, and about half of the celery and carrot remains, and I'll have two pots of stock! That stuff freezes well. But I may make a pot of soup while it's fresh.
Ah well. If I am to rise an hour or two early, I must to bed an hour or two early. Maybe I'll turn out a bit wiser.
posted by Rehkmira @ 22:59
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home