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Monday 20 July 2020

Summer 2020 Week 11

Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but last week's post reminded me of the delightful feeling after a delicious and maybe boozy but definitely abundant summer lunch with good company, when I am lazily lying around maybe napping, maybe talking, but just so relaxed.   (In the movie version, there are beautiful people lying in the grass, and there are no bugs or grass stains on the flowy white dresses the women are wearing, but in my version, we're really comfortable, and there are lawn chairs.)  So now that we're relaxed, what are we going to do with our relaxation time?  Have you been able to relax? I know Heu Mihi is at the beach (cue massive jealousy on my part!). We can't travel as we might wish, but what can we do?

Goals from last week:
Daisy
1) Prepare and deliver invited science talk about local work, this will be fun!
2) Finish the data processing that has been languishing in the dark
3) Dust off neglected paper near end of week
4) Exercise in a way that does not damage
5) Fun thing for child: individual friends in backyard and beach trip
6) Fun thing for me: giving fun research talk, and backyard visits with my friends


Dame Eleanor
Work 3-4 hours a day, five times, with some on each of research, teaching, service.
Regular exercise, stretching, safe eating, fun things.
~2 hours a day unpacking and/or life admin.
Keep track of what I'm doing so I don't wonder where the day went.


Elizabeth Anne Mitchell
Outline Illumination and Sources presentations to find the gaps where I need to read and write more.
Contact archive about when I will be able to visit to do research.
Take notes on one central article for illumination and sources. x3
Continue cleanup of paper and electronic files. 1 hour x 5
For fun: play around with the drawing app that a friend recommended.


Heu Mihi
1) Finish chapter 3 of the dissertation (about 70 pages to go)
2) Put in at least 1 hour a day on teaching prep
3) Spend 30 minutes writing x 2 days
4) Yoga x 2
5) Use my remaining time to read some stuff, relax a bit, and get ready for our trip.


Humming42
1 submit two past due essay peer reviews
2 keep up with grading summer online classes
4 spend 4 hours on Square
5 submit next book review
6 organize and deliver online freshman seminar


JaneB
1) getting to bed before midnight at least 3 nights and spending a few minutes at least in the yard most day
2) finish the webpage set up and participant emailing for the workshop next week
3) spend some time having fun with my teaching bullet journal setting up lists and so on for the next few weeks
4) do at least two Summer Things off my fun ideas list!
5) spend indulgently on avocados and beef tomatoes!
6) make a batch of lemonade!


OceanGirl101
1. Write up second to last section of Ch 7 and number crunch
2. Read another diss chapter for student
3. Get final figures ready for article submission
4. Exercise x 2 and rest up knee/hamstring injury


Susan 
1. Finish project office reorganization: list two bookcases to get rid of them, put the casters on when they arrive, and then finish going through the piles that got dumped in the living room.
2. Get Course 1 outlined, so I've done as much thinking as possible before next week's workshops
3. Read the rest of book ms.
4. Spend three hours one day on Famous Author
5. Read for fun
6. Have one visit with a non-work friend
7. Keep walking
8. Try to keep healthy sleep schedule, especially since the cats are determined to wake me up at 5 AM.




25 comments:

  1. Topic: Ah, relaxation. When the weather is more temperate, I enjoy sitting on my front patio. I plan to drive to some of the local state parks, even if it is too hot to walk much, just for the change of scenery.

    On a smaller scale, I have finished several needlework projects, some of which have been half-finished for years. I had to put my wool knitting aside, but can continue the cotton lace curtains.

    And on a truly kindergarten scale, I doodle on an art app. I can't even draw recognizable stick figures, but enjoying the colors and shapes helps.

    Last week’s goals:
    Outline Illumination and Sources presentations to find the gaps where I need to read and write more. Yes. Now, I need to contact the archive about when I will be able to visit to do research.
    Take notes on one central article for illumination and sources. x3 Yes, but only x2.
    Continue cleanup of paper and electronic files. 1 hour x 5 Yes.
    For fun: play around with the drawing app that a friend recommended. Yes, briefly.

    Analysis: Over the weekend, I ran into a food that hated me, so that was not fun. One more thing for the "do-not-eat" list. Once I'd recovered, the week went pretty well. Like the previous week, I set daily goals and timers, and took breaks by continuing to organize the attic. Today is the Philosopher’s birthday, so it will be broken up by treating him to lunch and dinner.

    I found out two days ago that a conference that I declined to attend in person, wants me to participate virtually, although that was not an option in May, and my participation is next Monday. I understand things are up in the air, but really??? I have had conferences for October cancelled months ago. Sigh.

    We are still planning to have students on campus for the Fall semester, although my class is fully online, and I will be able to work with researchers by appointment only or by scanning what they need.

    Next week’s goals:
    New writing 1 hour x 5.
    Proofread 1 hour x 5.
    Call for doctors' appointments.
    Go to doctor's appointment.
    Record presentation.
    Make hotel reservations for "medical vacation."
    Take notes on 3-4 articles for the lit review.
    Continue cleanup of paper and electronic files. 1 hour x 5
    For fun: one new craft project 1 hour x 4.

    I look forward to hearing other forms of relaxation that don't make me jealous (looking at you, heu mihi!). Float like mist, everyone.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can't tell if you feel it's a good thing or bad to have the conference want you to participate virtually. It's nice to be wanted, but I do not like Zoom (etc) meetings. Good luck with that and the medical stuff.

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    2. You've described my mixed feelings perfectly. I have the option to record the paper, in sort of a webinar fashion, and I think that may be the route I'll take. I will miss the live Q&A, but I'm not sure I want to do live Q&A on Zoom, to be honest

      Thanks for the good luck wishes.

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    3. I love the idea of doodling. I have a mandala coloring book but can't seem to bring myself to sit down and do any kind of art project. The courage to be carefree and just enjoy the play is an excellent thing.

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    4. My experience of zoom Q+As after talks has been a lot better than I expected. I was very unenthusiastic initially but I've participated in quite a number now in various formats and overall it has been surprisingly pleasant and interesting. It might be worth a try for the conference talk, when the discussions are well managed people get quite a decent conversation out of them.
      Good luck with the conference and the medical stuff, and with getting some relaxing time in there too!

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  2. I really enjoyed our garden party as well, thank you everyone for getting right into the spirit! (Or getting into some of the excellent spirits that we had there!) My week went pretty well after the party! My talk was excellent and I enjoyed giving it, and had some great questions and a lot of chatting afterwards. It was definitely worth doing. I also got great satisfaction out of skipping a boring presentation in the teaching course and having coffee with a friend on her porch – being the coffee fairy for the afternoon was hugely satisfying!

    What am I going to do with the feeling of relaxation? I did well on the weekend – read books in the sun, which is also my go-to relaxation thing. Anything with water is good too, beach, river, doesn’t matter. On small scale, I get a huge amount of joy from a simple good coffee, sometimes alone, sometimes with people… Morning tea on deck has been wonderful too. Running usually works, but that’s restricted until I fix the injury caused by running too much a couple of months ago!

    Last week’s goals:
    1) Prepare and deliver invited science talk about local work, this will be fun! WENT VERY WELL
    2) Finish the data processing that has been languishing in the dark NOPE
    3) Dust off neglected paper near end of week OPENED FILE, CLOSED FILE, FILES STILL CLOSED
    4) Exercise in a way that does not damage SOME
    5) Fun thing for child: individual friends in backyard and beach trip YES
    6) Fun thing for me: giving fun research talk, and backyard visits with my friends YES

    So far this this week I have completely run out of steam. I think the excitement of the last few weeks with actual science and the interview has worn off and I got the big post-event crash that usually follows conferences. Yesterday I wrote one sentence of work… And it wasn’t even a good one. Today has been similar. So I’m quitting for the day, and taking kid and friend to the beach this afternoon. Sitting here staring at the screen and doom-scrolling is not helping so for this week I will set minimal goals and just get two major things done for society work and a big committee. If I send those things off then they will become someone else’s problem for a while!

    This week’s goals:
    1) Finish off major committee draft documents and circulate
    2) Finish off Society draft documents and circulate
    3) Bonus points for data processing, but not holding my breath…
    4) Fun thing for both: try out new kayaks I bought late Fall last year

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm with Dame Eleanor on not beating yourself up. Doomscrolling is mind deadening, as you say. It is far more important to have fun.

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    2. Oh, the doomscrolling. There's so much doom.
      But the coffee with a friend sounds great!

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  3. You need to go to the beach on my behalf! I'm landlocked, though I'm thinking maybe I should get myself to a river bank this week, as a substitute for a proper salty beach, since you make a good point about water. You've done a lot lately; you're allowed to crash for a bit.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! Funny how hearing that from someone else makes so much more sense than hearing it from my own hear... Brains are complicated and odd!
      Rivers have their own charms, watching water move over pebbles and through reeds is excellent meditation.

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  4. I feel a bit out of step, because I'm trying to gear up for less relaxing, more work, at this point. I have a promotion packet to review, and while my online course on teaching online is useful, it's making me re-think a lot of my usual practices. Plus I'm trying to look after my own research by at least doing some reading and note-taking. As usual, I'm just copying a lot of words, but I'm making myself write a short paragraph at the end of each session focusing on the question "What does this mean for my book?" I'm working through someone else's very long work of historiography; it's not a book I can "gut," and I do need to engage with it. When I'm done I'm going to take notes on my notes!

    How I did:
    Work 3-4 hours a day, five times, with some on each of research, teaching, service. YES: 16 hours altogether, in stints of varying lengths, and yes, covered all three areas.
    Regular exercise, stretching, safe eating, fun things. YES, maybe a little thin on fun though there was a good gardening session in there, plus an exhilarating if not exactly fun walk in a thunderstorm (unintended!).
    ~2 hours a day unpacking and/or life admin. YES, again on average/in spirit.
    Keep track of what I'm doing so I don't wonder where the day went. YES.

    It's going well, so let's just stick to these goals! For the coming week:
    Work 3-4 hours a day, five times, with some on each of research, teaching, service.
    Regular exercise, stretching, safe eating, fun things.
    ~2 hours a day unpacking and/or life admin.
    Keep track of what I'm doing so I don't wonder where the day went.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I like your idea of focusing at the end of a reading on what it contributes to your work.
      Walking in a thunderstorm certainly gets the heart beating, if it is not exactly fun. And continuing goals that work, as yours did, makes a lot of sense.

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    2. That's the advice I give students doing their first research projects too - it's definitely helped reduce accidental plagiarism, where a student confuses what they copied with what they rephrased and what they thought themselves...

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    3. That is great reading advice - I'm going to write it on a post-it and put it on my computer for a reminder. I always neglect that step and always regret it!
      You are on a great streak of goals and organizing, incremental progress gets us so much further than we expect sometimes!

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    4. Ditto the great reading advice! And I think manageable goals are good to keep.
      And yes, the whole switch to online does require rethinking some practices. I'm on cognitive overload.

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  6. Relaxation is a challenge. I can more readily talk about leisure time, although I think “leisure” is a nostalgia-inducing word, in a kind of sarcastic way. I am still enjoying writing creative things and even sent a poem to a friend from my long-ago MFA program for a web project he’s working on. As is the case with most summers, much time is devoted to reading fiction. I’m sad to say that I was disappointed in two books I waited so long to read: The Starless Sea and Daisy Jones & the Six. I feel compelled to mention this because I noted here that I was excited about The Starless Sea, but found it lacking. I agree with the viewer who said the book cried out for a good editor. On to updates.

    Last week:
    1 submit two past due essay peer reviews: yes
    2 keep up with grading summer online classes: somewhat
    4 spend 4 hours on Square: now TRQ
    5 submit next book review: yes
    6 organize and deliver online freshman seminar: date changed to this week

    This week:
    1 finish Square outline and lit review
    2 keep up with grading summer online classes
    3 submit next book review
    4 organize and deliver online freshman seminar
    5 consider editing a creative piece for submission

    I feel like summer is slipping away. I’ve probably noted here in previous years that I often welcome the structure of a long semester. But this year is different, so settling into a full courseload online will be a different challenge.

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    Replies
    1. The feeling of summer slipping away is not a pleasant one... Realistically we still have some time, but the end is in sight. That's something I miss from field work, I'm usually away for July and half of August so I normally don't get that end of summer feeling until I come back. Being home has definitely accelerated it and I'm trying hard to focus on what is left rather than what is already over!
      Keep enjoying the creative things, they give energy and joy!

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  7. Popping in briefly - did my weekly organising a bit earlier this weekend just gone and the post wasn't up yet, then the workshop started...

    Relaxation - I'm not good at it unless "bread-drunk" (carb-sodden, which slows my brain down - and that has consequences we do not enjoy, just like wine-drunk), so I am the annoying person who is half-asleep but also STILL TALKING with limited connection between the bits. My new 'relaxation' activity will be developing a short D&D campaign for my neice and I to enjoy this August - she developed a new character, then created costumes and makeup and spent her birthday money on accessories for said character, and in the course of consulting with me on name and characteristics (because her mother got bored of her and her friends were "making silly suggestions" apparently), she talked me into thinking that a short D&D game this summer would be fun. And buying the full dungeonmaster guide AND some special hexagonal drawing paper for making maps. She is persuasive, but it does also sound fun, and as we are finally getting an outline of what online teaching will look like and August is shaping up to be HUGE AMOUNTS OF WORK ON DULL THINGS ALL MONTH WHILST PANICING, creating a shared adventure in a city haunted by the ghosts of its past self including the primeval wildwood (current likely setting) sounds like a good distraction. I'm better at distractions than relaxation!

    LAST WEEK
    1) getting to bed before midnight at least 3 nights and spending a few minutes at least in the yard most day - nope but I DID get enough sleep, just lots of long naps!
    2) finish the webpage set up and participant emailing for the workshop next week yup. Currently running it, so busy. It's going OK so far
    3) spend some time having fun with my teaching bullet journal setting up lists and so on for the next few weeks yes (for a certain value of fun. I did get my Tombow brush markers out to decorate the lists...
    4) do at least two Summer Things off my fun ideas list! not really
    5) spend indulgently on avocados and beef tomatoes! yes. YUM
    6) make a batch of lemonade! nope

    This weeks' goals are
    JaneB
    1) getting to bed before midnight at least 3 nights
    1b) less mindless internet-noodling...
    2) complete the workshop and be satisfied its working!
    3) do all the set up stuff for my new appointments diary for the academic year to come
    4) do at least two Summer Things off my fun ideas list!
    5) spend indulgently on avocados and beef tomatoes!
    6) rearrange my "work area" to give me a "filming space" which has a blank wall behind it not CLUTTER...

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    1. HUGE AMOUNTS OF WORK ON DULL THINGS WHILE PANICKING is a perfect description of what I'm looking forward to.

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  8. Oh I love the D&D campaign idea! That is an excellent distraction and will have the added bonus of fun time with niece. Sometimes distraction is more effective relaxation than trying to relax on purpose!
    Hope the summer fun things can happen this week, they are important!!

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  9. Sigh, I was so relaxed that I forgot to post. I love taking naps - it's my inevitable response to a good Sunday lunch. Beyond that, reading for fun... Not as much as I would like, but...

    1. Finish project office reorganization: list two bookcases to get rid of them, put the casters on when they arrive, and then finish going through the piles that got dumped in the living room. YES!!!
    2. Get Course 1 outlined, so I've done as much thinking as possible before next week's workshops YES
    3. Read the rest of book ms. ALMOST DONE
    4. Spend three hours one day on Famous Author NO
    5. Read for fun YES
    6. Have one visit with a non-work friend YES (my college roommates)
    7. Keep walking YES
    8. Try to keep healthy sleep schedule, especially since the cats are determined to wake me up at 5 AM. MOSTLY

    The week has been derailed a bit by my mother's multiple medical issues, which led to multiple appointments last week, and a bunch of phone calls. I will have to take her to at least one medical event almost every day through next Thursday. Most of these are relatively short (less than an hour) but it interrupts the day -- and on Saturday and Sunday means a very early start. So, realizing that my goals did not incorporate this, I think I've done pretty well.
    Otherwise, the last two mornings we've had the faculty workshops we should have had in May, which promptly demonstrated all the pedagogical mistakes they tell us not to make: in one hour we get an information dump, and while they tell us to be student centered, there was no effort to see where we were or engage us. Today, when I asked about filling in gaps, they said, "Well, we'll be having workshops over the next 8 weeks" and I said, "Classes start in 4 weeks". So like JaneB, panicking and realizing how much drudgery is involved in putting things up online. I was so cross I went for a walk...
    Last night I not only cooked a dinner that will hold me for 4 nights (problem with most recipes is that they serve 4, so I often eat the same thing multiple nights) but also baked a few loaves of banana bread, one of which is going to the colleague whose father is dying... Tonight more baking.

    Goals for the week ahead (which is almost over):
    1. Finish manuscript review
    2. Two hours on Famous author
    3. Finish adapting welcome module so I believe what it says
    4. Spend more time with potential add-on in canvas to see if it will work (If anyone here has used Perusall, comments are welcome.)
    5. Take time off on weekend
    6. Plan short trip to the beach - get a hotel where my room looks out on the water so I can eat takeout and read novels and take walks. At least a change of pace...
    7. Keep walking
    8. Decent sleep habits (last night was bad, so)
    9. Read for fun

    Float like mist...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gotta love the faculty training sessions that only manage to demonstrate the "don't do this" parts of learning... Our training program did a great job of demonstrating exactly how badly some attempts at synchronous online video-conference group work can go wrong and alienate even the most motivated participants... I guess we do learn from negative examples and can spare the students some of that... Sigh...
      Hope that beach trip happened!

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  10. Hi Everyone,
    The week got away from me so I'm sorry to be late to the party. Relaxation often means a good book under an umbrella by the ocean. Walks on the beach. Walks in the tropical forest where I do fieldwork. Being on a boat and just idly looking out at the ocean for hours on end. Sounds really good right about now. I had my surgery on Tuesday. The first few days after were a bit rough but I am noticing daily improvement. I am trying my hardest to be a good patient as the Dr. said there was lots of scar tissue from when I had this same surgery 25 years ago, so I am following all the rules and resting lots.
    Last week:
    1. Write up second to last section of Ch 7 and number crunch Yes
    2. Read another diss chapter for student Yes
    3. Get final figures ready for article submission NO
    4. Exercise x 2 and rest up knee/hamstring injury Yes
    This week:
    1. Prep house for surgery (won't be able to bend down so move things in easy to reach areas), stock fridge etc.
    2. Have surgery
    3. Rest and follow Dr. orders
    4. Read and watch Netflix while resting
    5. Stay off of work email

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    Replies
    1. Glad you are home and recovering! Sending lots of good wishes for lots of improvement and good rest!

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