- I am actively working on my thesis. I met with my advisor this week when I was on campus to do library business. I struggled a bit this week with carving out my daily schedule to be efficient and regular. I don't think I'll have as many problems with that next week, though; I think I know now what I need. If it doesn't work well on Monday, then I'll leave the house and work out in public somewhere. (Damned distractions. Damned internet. Damned wi-fi. Damned procrastinator and rationalizer that I am! :-)
- The weather here in SoCal has been gorgeous -- cool and "June-gloomy" in the mornings with full sun and breeze in the afternoons. Fabulous!
- I've gotten to see some good movies recently: Toy Story 3 (cried like a little girl for the last twenty minutes of it), Eclipse (liked it, want to see it again, and now that "Jacob" is 18, I can drool openly over his chiseled torso -- heh), Before Sunrise and Before Sunset (yeah, I'm a little behind in my cult favorites -- loved these movies, the second even better than the first), The Closer, Season 5 (which finally came out on DVD -- sheesh!). Looking forward to seeing Despicable Me, Salt, and Inception when they come out. I'm hoping to go see Winter's Bone this afternoon.
- My reading has been oddly varied of late. Naturally I've been reading a lot of sci-fi criticism and theory for my thesis. I did read Winter's Bone, because I knew I was going to want to see the movie; I really liked the book, though I'm having trouble explaining why. I think the main character is likable despite the world she's trapped in. I also just finished Barbara Walters' memoir, Audition, which I've had for, like, ever but finally just decided to pick up. It was a good balance of juicy and judicious, which I appreciated. I've just begun The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, by Aimee Bender. I've only read the first chapter, but so far I like it and am looking forward to reading the rest of it. I'm also reading Switch, which is about the psychology of change (both institutional and individual); I am learning a lot.
- Bought and love Sarah McLachlan's new CD. Will be going to Lilith Fair next week, which I hope will be fun. Court Yard Hounds are good, too. Bought but haven't yet absorbed the Eclipse soundtrack; same with the Sex and the City 2 soundtrack.
- Planning a road trip to the PacNW with nieces at the end of July, which should be fun. We don't have any other major vacations planned this summer. The thesis MUST be done this summer. Next summer we may celebrate with a trip to England -- yeah-uh!
- The theme for this summer: total enjoyment and self-discipline. I know, I know, those two things sound like oxymorons, but I think they're just a paradox -- they seem to be contradictory but they can coexist quite well. It's like a sonnet -- strictures of format but complete freedom within those boundaries to write about absolutely anything. My life this summer needs to become a sonnet.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
No more Debbie Downer for today
Other things are going on besides death and cancer this summer, so I figured I should include a post on those, as well.
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4 comments:
A sonnet- I like the image. I need discipline! It's true you can't really enjoy things if something is hanging over your head that you have to do- so the discipline allows you to compartamentalize and then enjoy the non work time.
I love your theme for the summer -- best of luck in living into that theme!
I am so impressed with your resolve to write your thesis. Mine seems to have gone by the wayside, and I don't seem to care anymore.
We'll be in Alaska late July and then WA State in the first week of August. Will you be around WA then?
thanks, lomagirl. it's all stuff i know intellectually. it's just the implementation and practice that are so damned hard. :-)
wn, thanks for your wishes. it's my daily prayer. you have some pretty good summer themes/focuses going on yourself. i like your wording -- "living into the theme."
jan, i understand. your loss of interest probably signals that you should be doing something else anyway. i haven't lost interest; i've just been the slightest bit immobilized, by...fear, i suppose, or overthinking, perhaps. we haven't actually blocked out our trip yet completely. we'll be in portland to start with, and right across the river in vancouver. i'm kind of harboring the desire to head up to seattle for a few days. yes, it's the last week of july and first week of august that we'll be there. we should triangulate!
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