the grid

the grid

Sunday, 15 June 2025

2025 Midyear session, week 5

Week 5 already; goodness, time flies when you're having fun! Thanks, JaneB, for doing last week's post, and for a fun on-theme discussion question. I'll be traveling again next weekend, so I hope you can pitch in again, but then I'll be back to do the midterm check-in and the rest of the summer.

Also, we're sending good thoughts to Contingent Cassandra and Daisy! We hope all goes as well as it can.

That's the housekeeping taken care of. This week's discussion question: what food do you like to pack for a trip? Is it different for a road trip or plane flight? Do you always hit a particular restaurant on your way out of or into town? As usual, answer if the question speaks to you, and skip it if it doesn't appeal or if you're in a hurry.

How did you do last week, and what's on your plate for the coming week?

Dame Eleanor Hull

- Have a good time at conference
- Visit the library here in hope of finding something useful for essay due in September
- unpack at home
- behave self at fundraising shindig
- put up next week's main TLQ post
- work on organizing either guest room or my study

heu mihi

1. Try very hard not to get kid's cold
2. Enjoy my birthday (tomorrow)
3. Enjoy kid's birthday (Saturday)
4. Italian novel to p. 147
5. Tenure letter, which includes finishing a book and reading 3 articles
6. Do at least one self-indulgent fun thing for my birthday

JaneB

1) building better habits: one creative thing with the hands, keep reading for pleasure, start a new yarn project
1b) go to physio appointment re Hurty Foot
2) Environment: get caught up on chores, make booking to see decluttering person
3) blocks: do one teaching block
4) writing: referee an article: spend an hour on one of the research writing things I need to do
5) grad students: meetings, start junior MRes student on their lab work
6) be kind to myself and stick to the three days.

Julie

1. Finish reading PhD thesis.
2. Progress review for PhD student.
3. Do some planning for a book chapter.
4. Boring admin stuff: send yet more details about patio furniture, collect prescription, go to doctor's appointment, get appointment and X-ray for son, renew library book.
5. Self-care/fun stuff: video call with friends, read, exercise, get back to healthy eating (fruit snacks!), get more sleep, maybe do something creative.

Susan

1. Finish the review essay
2. Draft keynote for the end of June
3. Read dissertation chapter
4. Keep unpacking and reorganizing
5. Get garage door fixed
6. Get organized for trip to UK/ France
7. Keep up with the exercise

Sunday, 8 June 2025

Midyear Session 2025 Week 4

 Hi everyone, I'm just popping in this week whilst our hostess is travelling - I hope it went well!

It's been a very slow/brain dead week here (end of term-itis, I hope) so I've been watching a lot of random short-form videos because that's been about the right speed.  I seem to have a fairly wholesome persona to the algorithm - rescuing cats from trees, a wombat sanctuary, baby zoo animals, baby goats, D&D facts or stories, random science facts.  And for some reason, this week, snack plates - people putting together a balanced plate of snacks for children after school, as a quick lunch, to go with a movie - so for this week's prompt, what 5-6 items would you put on an adult snack plate, whether that was to go alongside an afternoon of writing or sitting out in the garden, or for a lazy evening with books and cats/people of your choice? 

DAISY

Taking June off from goal setting

DAME ELEANOR

* finish first/most important conference paper
* Plan summer TA work to at least first approximation
* gym x 4, yoga x 5
* do some poking at one course proposal
* make appointment for eye exam
* at least 3 hours on garden
* work on organizing either guest room or my study

HEU MIHI
1. Italian novel to p. 98
2. Finish copy-edits
3. Kid's birthday prep
4. See some friends
5. Go for a walk in the woods

JANEB
1) building better habits: one creative thing with the hands, keep reading for pleasure
1b) pay contact lens replacement bill, book GP appointment re Hurty Foot which is Not Going Away
2) Environment: get caught up on chores, make booking to see decluttering person
3) blocks: make a list of teaching-related blocks for this summer
4) writing: do at least one hour on each of two different writing projects (in addition to meetings/emails with people about projects).
5) grad students: meetings, hope defense goes really well
6) be kind to myself because some weeks are just grey and low energy and that is just HOW IT GOES.

JULIE
1. Finish book and write review
2. Chase workshop participants, finalise programme ahead of organisers' meeting on Thursday
3. Read a PhD thesis in my research area.
4. Boring work admin: do mandatory online training, book Windows update, book train travel.
5. Boring home admin: cancel a subscription, chase patio furniture company, change son's orthodontist appointment, pack for weekend away.
6. Self-care: continue healthy eating (at least until weekend), exercise, sleep, journal, read.

SUSAN
1. Finish everything for book and share file on Monday
2. Write review essay
3. Unpack, get house organized
4. All the appointments
5. Find new home insurance
6. Get exercise


Monday, 2 June 2025

Midyear Session 2025 Week 3

I've enjoyed the reminiscences and recipes shared so far! Thank you all. I hope any travellers have had/are having good trips. Contingent Cassandra, I hope you're doing well. 

This week's discussion question is about meal plans: do you plan for the week? And if so, how far in advance? That is, do you make a meal plan and buy things for it, or do you go to the store (or farmers' market), see what looks good, and plan from there? Or no plan? And how do your meal planning methods map onto your approach to planning work? 

JaneB, next Sunday I'm traveling to a conference, so if you could handle the check-in, that would be great! 

Let us know how you did with last week's goals, and we'll cheer you on!

Daisy (held over)

Catch up from conference absence
Extensive journal tasks
Read and edit thesis chapters
Read and edit three student project proposals
Write outline of paper from conference talk

Dame Eleanor Hull

* celebrate birthday and anniversary
* 8 hours work toward first/most important conference paper
* 2 hours planning summer TA work
* gym x 4, yoga x 5
* do some poking at one course proposal

heu mihi

1. Finish and submit abstract (due Friday)
2. Work through copy-edited version of Front Matter, Intro, Chapter 1, Chapter 2--aiming for one document a day for four days
3. Read prospectus (and prepare for Thursday defense)
4. Start Italian novel
5. Maybe?? begin storage room clear-out
6. Exercise
7. Put feedback on essay into one place so that I can easily access it later

JaneB

1) building better habits: three gentle movement sessions, one creative thing with the hands
2) Environment: get caught up on chores, contact decluttering person
3) blocks: make a list of teaching-related blocks for this summer
4) writing: make a list of all the writing projects and where they are on 1st June. Do (much postponed) task for the Wednesday meeting this week.
5) grad students: read things, meetings, prep questions . . . 

Julie

1. Mark three dissertations.
2. Mark one exam script that slipped through the net.
3. Reference for former PhD student
4. Read book and write review.
5. Book London train tickets.
6. June birthdays: niece, MIL, FIL.
7. Finish patio furniture
8. Pay in cheques.
9. Self-care: healthy eating, exercise, sleep.

Susan

1. Finish most of last work of Famous Author:
-- Request permissions
--- Read through one last time
(There are a few minor references I will do when I get home, but my hope is that by the middle of the day Wednesday, I can turn my attention to other stuff.
2. Re-read book I'm supposed to write 3000 words on by June 1. (Goal: June 6)
3. Return all books to library stacks, scan stuff that will be useful to scan
4. Pack up my books and get them approved to leave the library
5. Pack up apartment
6. Keep having a good time
7. Try to get some exercise!

Sunday, 25 May 2025

Midyear Session 2025 Week 2

In the US, we have a 3-day weekend to celebrate Memorial Day. As an official holiday, it's supposed to commemorate those who served in the armed forces, but I think it has roots in older customs of tending graveyards and giving them a good spring-clean when the weather warms up enough to do so. So the theme for discussion this week is a dish or meal that you associate with someone you'd like to memorialize: Grandma's cookies will do fine if you don't want this to get too heavy.

I hope you've had a good week, and that Contingent Cassandra and heu mihi are enjoying their travels! Late additions are welcome, as some of us are still goal-setting for the session, so if you've been thinking about it, here's your engraved invitation. Please join in! 

For a bit of inspiration (I hope), roughly five years ago we were imagining magical assistants to help us tame the monster of preparing to teach online in the fall. If you want an alternative to this week's food theme, is there a magical assistant you'd like to have for this session?

Let us know how you did with last week's goals, or what fun things you did on vacation!

Daisy

Catch up from conference absence
Extensive journal tasks
Read and edit thesis chapters
Read and edit three student project proposals
Write outline of paper from conference talk

Dame Eleanor Hull

* prep food for 2-day symposium, go there, try to have a good time
* finish new raised bed and plant veg
* swim x2
* write 2x 1 hour
* scholarly reading/note-taking 2x 1 hour
* hang out with visiting friend next weekend

JaneB

1) set session goals in personal and professional spheres
2) TRY to get caught up with feedback to graduate students on written stuff (four items to do - realistically I should manage two)
3) mark two pieces of undergrad work that had extensions
4) set up a new teaching notebook
5) do gentle stretching workout three times
6) DON'T do any work work at least two days at the weekend

Julie

Finish marking exams (due Thursday)
Book travel for two workshops in June.
Finish assembling new patio furniture (unless it rains); buy new pots and plants for patio.
Prep for daughter's birthday party on Saturday.

Susan

1. Keep plugging away on Famous Author. With luck get everything just about done by Friday. Including asking for permissions.
2. Exercise
3. Enjoy myself in my last two weeks here.


Sunday, 18 May 2025

Midyear session 2025 Week 1

This will be our first goal-setting week, and it's a good time to set session-long goals. How long is the session? Fourteen weeks, once again, so the final goal-setting week will be week 13 (10 August) and the reporting and rejoicing week will be 17 August. We'll have a midterm check-in on 6 July, week 7.

What do you want to rejoice about in the middle of August? That is, what accomplishment of yours shall we celebrate? Since it's summer (for those of us in the northern hemisphere, and in recent sessions that's been all of us [anyone Down Under want to join in? please do!]), I think some Fun Life Goals would be a good accompaniment to academic goals. 

Our theme is food, so consider whether you want to have a starter, main course, and dessert, or a succession of small plates, or a buffet from which to pick and choose.

So, three things, this week, assuming you introduced yourself in week 1 (and if not, please go ahead and do that this time): session goals, goals for the coming week, and, if you like, a suggestion for a quick and tasty meal, maybe a one-pot wonder.

Oh, and here's the boilerplate from previous sessions about goals: Goals can be in any aspect of life, although the key focus is often writing tasks that are personally and professionally important but that never quite tip over into important AND urgent. Urgent things sometimes find their way in here too; that is completely okay, and process goals are also most welcome. 

If you've been thinking for awhile about joining in, we'd love to have you try us out this time around!

Saturday, 10 May 2025

Midyear session 2025 week 0

Hello there! It seems like time to have some announcement of a new session. I hope things have been going well during the time since the last "real" session wound up (and thanks to Susan for doing the intersession posts). The end of my term seemed like a mad scramble, and I dropped some small balls like sending congratulatory e-mails to students who won awards, but all the big stuff got done (so far as I can tell . . .) and I've just attended graduation. 

JaneB and I both offered to host for the summer, but we've had no further discussion of whether we're sharing or what. That's one reason to have a Week Zero. Another is that you may just be finishing up a term, or not yet done, or have done so a few weeks ago and be on holiday; one way or another, you might want some time to think about goals for the next session, rather than starting right in.

I'm thinking of a cooking/recipe theme for this session, both literal and metaphorical. On the metaphorical level, at Week Zero we don't even have a meal plan, just a mass of ingredients: staples in the cupboards, stuff in the fridge that needs to be used up, some bags of groceries that someone else shopped for, through which we're searching for what we need and finding various things we didn't put on the list ourselves. 

So, stop by in the comments to introduce yourselves and give us some idea of the ingredients you're working with this time. Next week we can think about the actual meals we need to produce/goals for the next few months! Right now, it's just "What's on your plate?" or "Oh dear, here's this Jerusalem artichoke I'm going to have to do something with." Feel free also to make suggestions about how long this session should run, though I'm thinking of winding up around mid-August. 

Newbies or returners very welcome! Come hang around the kitchen and have a drink while we take inventory of the ingredients.

Tuesday, 29 April 2025

Intersession week 4

 Sorry for the late posting -- a friend was visiting over the weekend and I had NO TIME!  

But, since we did lots of fun things, tell us one fun thing you did in the last week, something that gave you pleasure.

Goals from last week:

JaneB

- mark three final year projects and at least two questions from first year short answer quiz
- get caught up on dishes
- read an entire novel and an entire non-fiction book as a MINIMUM

Daisy

ALL the admin things - I have a two-page list...
Finish all grading
Read new thesis chapters
Do a bunch of analytical work for upcoming talk/paper (THIS IS IMPORTANT!)

Susan 

1. Finish restructure of chap 6/7 into 6/7/8
2. At least look at Epilogue and think about how to split (this is less difficult)
3. Do Conference submission
4. Finish expenses
5. Weights x2, Yoga x1, walk x 2
6. Enjoy activities with friend from home who is visiting this weekend.