I wonder if it's normal to think the stuff you wrote before and thought would be easy to work with is actually, well, just not that good? I'm revising a piece I used to think was nearly there, and suddenly it's not there at all. Before you think this is just the usual insecurities, let me say I've also revised a couple of other pieces over the past little while and I used to think they were just plain garbage. Now, I feel kind of good about them. I guess it's a kind of cosmic thing: you're given a little here and a little gets taken away from over there. Hrmph.
In honor of Bug, I am going to make a reverse schedule to handle the next two submission periods, for both of which I've been granted little extensions (really little, like from the Monday to the Friday).
May 1 Final versions of everything to reader, including approvals form.
April: Respond to advisor's comments and format thesis as required for bound version.
April 4 Penultimate versions of everything to advisor, including approvals form.
April 3 Finish revising "Are We There Yet?"
March 31 Start revising "Are We There Yet?"
March 25-31 Revise "The Narrow Border"
March 21-24 Revise "The Table"
March 17-21 Revise "My Mother's Kitchen"
March 10-16 Revise "Nothing Was Said"
March 7 Second submission to advisor.
March 7 Revised versions of "My Mother's Kitchen," "The Table," "Nothing Was Said," "The Narrow Border," and "Are We There Yet?" to advisor.
March 3-7 Re-read and tweak everything.
March 1-3 Revise "Are We There Yet?"
February 25-29 Revise "Nothing Was Said" and "The Narrow Border"
Put like that, it actually doesn't look too bad. Wish me luck. The first "leg" coincides with a snowboarding getaway (this Monday to Thursday). The plan: hit the slopes in the a.m., hit the keyboard after lunch, take the evening off.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Wayward Blogger, Miscellaneous
I know from my own blog-reading preference that a blog with a focus is more attractive than one without. For example, the latest blog I'm really enjoying is Zen Habits. Why do I like it? First of all, it's pleasant to look at. Simple and easy to navigate. Second, I really like the whole zen idea because I crave simplicity in my life. So that's an attractive world view to me. Third, I pick up stuff I find useful there. For example, there is a set of strategies for emptying the inbox. As someone with an inbox that has about 1500 messages in it right now (at least I don't have a backlog of unread e-mail), while at the same time having a strong preference for an empty inbox, that gives me a possibility and a strategy for getting there. I like that, too. It's also a blog where there are links between articles. Because it has a unifying theme, when there is a post that relates to an earlier post, he points that out and provides a link.
Anyway, my own blog is a mish mash that even people who know and like me can't, I'm imagining, find particularly compelling as a 'read'. It doesn't even excite me! So I think that's one of the reasons I've taken to blogging infrequently. That and the frenetic chaos that is my daily life!
More miscellany: I got comments back from my advisor and they were positive, despite my sending her a package that fell short in volume and quality. At least I'm getting there. She's very encouraging and thought well of the revisions. They were substantial and I'm still at it.
The "barely there shawl" (note to RB: the colour is Brick) is coming along nicely. I'm doing research for an article I'm writing about knitting and the research requires (requires, I say!) me to knit at meetings and presentations and so on at work.
We're crawling through Season Six of 24, which we have on DVD. I'm squirming more than usual. Must be getting soft.
Weekend plans: lots of writing. Dinner out with friends tonight. Two movies (it's a long weekend here -- new holiday, "Family Day," because the government decided we needed a long weekend in February to fend off depression, suicide, etc.): The Kite Runner tomorrow night and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly on Monday afternoon. Some exercise: at least 30 minutes of something every day. Measured use of "scrabulous," which has made its way to the top of the "fun ways to procrastinate" list.
Anyway, my own blog is a mish mash that even people who know and like me can't, I'm imagining, find particularly compelling as a 'read'. It doesn't even excite me! So I think that's one of the reasons I've taken to blogging infrequently. That and the frenetic chaos that is my daily life!
More miscellany: I got comments back from my advisor and they were positive, despite my sending her a package that fell short in volume and quality. At least I'm getting there. She's very encouraging and thought well of the revisions. They were substantial and I'm still at it.
The "barely there shawl" (note to RB: the colour is Brick) is coming along nicely. I'm doing research for an article I'm writing about knitting and the research requires (requires, I say!) me to knit at meetings and presentations and so on at work.
We're crawling through Season Six of 24, which we have on DVD. I'm squirming more than usual. Must be getting soft.
Weekend plans: lots of writing. Dinner out with friends tonight. Two movies (it's a long weekend here -- new holiday, "Family Day," because the government decided we needed a long weekend in February to fend off depression, suicide, etc.): The Kite Runner tomorrow night and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly on Monday afternoon. Some exercise: at least 30 minutes of something every day. Measured use of "scrabulous," which has made its way to the top of the "fun ways to procrastinate" list.
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