Northern Autumn/ Southern Spring Week 3

Students are back, and they are everywhere on campus - making huge queues in coffee shops, politely interrupting to ask for directions or standing around looking lost in every entrance and stairwell and clearly needing help, marking the hour throughout the day as they clatter and chatter in and out of classrooms and seminar rooms throughout our building.  Which means teaching is fully underway, and it's everywhere - all over my desk, through my thoughts and dreams, cluttering up my diary pages, breaking up my day.  It would be easy to complain about this, and it's very clear that there's less space for TLQ work during the semester time.  But there are pluses - the changed energy of campus can be invigorating, the pleasure of working with young people when they're enthusiastic, the near-instant rewards of a lesson that went well, or of finding the perfect reading for a class and the students loving it.  So for a topic: let's think about some of the positive ways that the return to a semester structure affects our feelings about and ability to keep up with TLQ stuff.

Hope everyone had a successful week!



Last week's goals:

Bardiac:

1. Work on my writing projects that aren't immediate (big project and my sabbatical report
2. Exercise.
3. Practice.

Dame Eleanor Hull

*garden work;
*daily reading/writing (x5), OR a weekly total of 50 pages read, 1250 words written;
*grade 1.5 sets of student papers;
*daily exercise and stretching (x6); try a muffin recipe;
*make at least two phone calls regarding appointments for maintenance of me and the house.

Elizabeth Ann Mitchell

Walk at least 2.5 miles x 5.
Take homemade lunch x 5.
Edit one page of Illuminated x 5.
Finish outlining the lit review of Aurelius.
Pull/shred fifteen files.
Destress, breathe, meditate x 7

Heu Mihi

1. 60 pages of proofs (to p. 135)
2. Sit x 5
3. Finish and submit second abstract
4. Read one grad student's chapter
5. All prep for Mon & Tues done by the time I go home on Friday
6. Sort clothes for donation
7. Keep the grading moving along, without letting Feelings About Grading get in the way

Humming42/Linda

1 Finish writing text for online course
2 Submit residency application
3 Submit job application
4 Finish and submit next book review
5 Write every day

JaneB

1) maintain the habits I started in the intersession (bed before midnight, 45s to get small regular movement in at work, keeping a food/mood diary, not eating refined sugar, leaving work before 6, doing something non-work every workday evening)
2) small things this week: finish drawing up a figure for the grant idea called PCfu (ProblemChild follow up) and send the draft to FormerPDF. move FlatProject reanalysis to the final step. Check with FormerPDF what she did about PC1 issue. Sort out FavouriteIslands samples.
3) prepare all teaching materials for following week, see all my project students.
4) read through last year's NaNoWriMo effort

OceanGirl101/Jenny

1. finish edited chapter #1, outline #2
2. get Dept Chair info requested to nominate me for term prof
3. get collaborators text
4. plane tic to Mom's memorial event in nov
5. exercise x 3

Susan

1. Finish reading dissertation
2. Grade papers
3. Read on section for journal
4. Keep up the walking
5. Read for pleasure

Northern Autumn/ Southern Spring Week 2

Last week JaneB talked about seasonal self-care.  As a follow up – a crucial part of self-care is kindness to ourselves.  I’ve been part of this group for five or six years now, and one regular pattern is that we all set goals that are beyond what we can achieve.  How are you kind to yourself about those things that don’t get done? I like to think that I can take what I’ve learned about dealing with the small successes and failures of each week to the bigger ones we all deal with.

As always, use the prompt if it works, reflect on last week, set goals for next week.

Goals from last week: 

Bardiac:

1.      1. First big committee meeting
2. Already grading
3. Start prepping for the search I'm chairing (it's a spring search, which seems weird)
4. Practice violin (I just joined an intermediate level orchestra!)
5. Get to bed by 9:30 most nights.
6. Get some exercise.

Dame Eleanor Hull

*tidy the garden
*daily reading/writing for research purposes (x5)
*grade one set of papers when they come in
*daily exercise and stretching (x6)

Elizabeth Ann Mitchell

Walk at least 2.5 miles x 5.
Take homemade lunch x 4.
Edit one page of Illuminated x 3.
Outline the intro and lit review of Aurelius.

Heu Mihi

1. 60 pages of proofs/indexing

2. Sit x 5

3. Language x 2

4. All prep for Mon & Tues done by the time I go home on Friday

5. Submit abstract #1

6. Consult with co-editor and determine next steps for collection

Humming42/Linda

1 Finish and submit book review
2 Submit article review
3 Finish writing sample for residency proposal
4 Write every day

JaneB

This week is induction week so we have lots of stuff for first years but all classes for higher years start NEXT week. Sort of a gentle start, sort of not! I also have agreed to do an outreach event on Thursday evening, sigh.

1) maintain the habits I started in the intersession (bed before midnight, 45s to get small regular movement in at work, keeping a food/mood diary, not eating refined sugar, leaving work before 6, doing something non-work every workday evening)
2) small things this week: finish drawing up a figure for the grant idea called PCfu (ProblemChild follow up) and send the draft to FormerPDF. move FlatProject reanalysis on one step. Check with FormerPDF what she did about PC1 issue. Sort out FavouriteIslands samples. Chase up obituary.
3) prepare all teaching materials for following week, and set meeting times for all my tutees and project students

OceanGirl101/Jenny

1) Complete chapter for edited volume, first draft
2) Send bits of conference paper to co-author for developing into chapter for edited volume
3) Pull new samples for Fri lab
4) Follow up with new decorator appointments
5) Exercise x 3
6) Plane ticket for memorial service for Mom to dedicate bench at Botanical garden

Susan

1. Read essays for Journal.
2. Send off violence
3. Look at Race, decide a plan
4. Walk in evenings if necessary
5. Read for reading group

Northern Autumn/Southern Spring: Week 1

Welcome to the new session of TLQ!  We will run until the weekend of 14-15 December.

The start of the new academic year is chaotic, and means saying goodbye to the slower pace and greater control of our own time that we (like to pretend we) get during summer, but it's also a time of new beginnings: new stationary, new students, new classes, new routines.  Whether you're already a few weeks into the routines of the semester, or still dealing with getting started, let's make the most of the "new start" spirit as we set goals for this session of TLQ.  It's become a good habit here that we set both writing and self-care goals (after all, the self does the writing, and if it's weary and worn it can't perform at its best) - so for this week's topic, if you feel like it, let's collect suggestions for seasonal self care (autumn or spring, whether it's a recipe (roasted butternut squash and chestnut lasagne...), a drink (hot apple cider with cinnamon...), or a thing to do (bring some leaves indoors, knit a new scarf...).

Anyone is welcome to join, as ever, and dropping in and out is also perfectly normal.  Join by posting a bit of an intro about yourself, your goals for the session as a whole, your goals for next week, and your topic response if you want.

If you're also reporting in on how you got on last week or during the whole intersession, using the goals you set yourself as part of the intersession, could you do that in a separate reply to help Susan and I keep track of which goals are which? 

Here's wishing you all a happy new (academic) year, and hoping it had at least some fun new stationary in it (I got a rainbow of washi-tapes and an expensive brand of brush pen.  I may be slightly infatuated with the brush pen)!

Intersession Week 3/End

Tiny intersession comes to an end...I’ve enjoyed the conversation. I didn’t manage to set goals for last week but I will for the week ahead. Although JaneB and Susan will start next session next week, I think we can still set goals and check in with each other. Looking forward!

Dame Eleanor Hull

*grade a short thing, make up two quizzes and grade them, other prep;

*daily exercise and stretching, adequate sleep;

*regular research, in whatever form (reading, note-taking, writing, planning) seems possible on a given day;

*make two appointments.

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell

Enjoy the Labor Day holiday.

Move half an hour x 6.

Find any old dissertation files in paper.

Pull/shred ten files.

Declutter the home study one hour x 3.

humming42

No goals set.

JaneB

1) pick up and hoover and dust downstairs, keep kitchen clean and on top of clothes laundry, do one batch of towels-type laundry

2) every day in my office, make some progress with tidying and with organising (e.g. set up one VLE page, block out one module, set up folders on the PC). Finish set up of my new teaching bullet journal system as far as I can.

3) make figures for ProblemChild followup grant proposal. Use writing group time to get PCfu ready to send to collaborators for comments.

4) leave the office by 6 at the latest regardless of when I get there, do 45s all day when I'm there and on non-office days whenever I am sitting at my computer or over my phone (set an alarm for 45 minutes. When it goes off, reset it, then do one of: run an errand/go to the bathroom, walk around my floor (the corridor is a single loop), do half a set of stretches, spend five minutes standing and actively moving stuff/decluttering, or put on some music and dance to one song). Go to bed before midnight. Do one small non-work thing every evening (can be fun or necessary).

5) go into town on Friday or Sunday (free parking) & do at least one of: get a fancy frozen drink, spend an hour in a cafe thinking about NaNo and starting notes, browsing the stationary shop and using the voucher (I have to have a blood test at the Drs on Friday, so...).

6) collect data on what I eat and when and how some symptoms react (I have a new notebook to do that in at least).

oceangirl101

1) write on Ch 6 secondary centers, try to finish

2) work with postdoc and grad student to get lab research pushed forward

3) make list of book writing left to do with calendar deadlines

4) meet with house decorator

5) exercise x 3, fun x 3

6) email to book editor

Waffles

1. Apply for 3 more jobs

2. Work on job talk

3. Create workshop presentation

4. Organize for review project

5. Intro for IRIE paper

Personal

1. Catsitter

2. Visa for China

Intersession Week 2

Hello all, week 2 here. I hope everyone is settling in or getting well prepared for the semester ahead. Like the other introverts, I’m appreciating the slower pace of the weekend to regroup for the week ahead. There are some interesting things to look forward to, and I am conscientious about avoiding shiny new object syndrome. How was your week? Last week’s goals below. 

Dame Eleanor Hull

*complete prep for first week of teaching;

*daily exercise and stretching, adequate sleep;

*regular research, in whatever form (reading, note-taking, writing, planning) seems possible on a given day.

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell

Move half an hour x 6.

Read first set of articles for class.

Find old dissertation file.

Pull/shred thirty files.

humming42

1 Complete and submit one book review

2 Complete article review

3 Submit one of two creative writing projects

JaneB

1) clean the kitchen, catch up on laundry, make another appointment with the decluttering lady

2) every day in my office, make some progress with tidying

3) work on the followup to ProblemChild grant proposal in writing group

4) leave the office by 6 at the latest regardless of when I get there, do 45s all day when I'm there (set an alarm for 45 minutes. When it goes off, reset it, then do one of: run an errand/go to the bathroom, walk around my floor (the corridor is a single loop), do half a set of stretches, spend five minutes standing and actively moving stuff/decluttering, or put on some music and dance to one song. Go to bed before midnight. Do one small non-work thing every evening (can be fun or necessary)

5) go into town on Friday or Sunday (free parking) & do at least one of: get a fancy frozen drink, spend an hour in a cafe thinking about NaNo and starting notes, browsing the stationary shop and using the voucher.

oceangirl101

1) syllabi and readings up to BB

2) write on primary chiefly centers for Ch 6 each day if possible

3) work with postdoc, new grad student to push lab research forward

4) get MRI and take meds during it so do not get panic attack like last failed attempt

5) email press editor about deadline extension for book (already got one from series editor but need to notify the main editor)