Top Left Quadrant: Summer Session. Week 9

Friday 3 July 2020

Summer Session. Week 9

I was impressed last week that most of us were doing pretty well on our session goals. As always, there are minor modifications, but we're generally more or less where we want to be. Daisy talked last week about the "short looks into the future" approach to our current life. It's definitely the best - whenever I think about the possibility of still being in lockdown or modified lockdown a year from now I despair. But I found so many gifts in your contributions, from Heu Mihi's garden to JaneB's BollOx. So what gift do you want to share with the rest of us this week?

Goals from last week
Daisy
1) Complete rescheduled talk and practice it with virtual people since it will be virtual delivery
2) Prepare new invited talk
3) Finish data processing
4) STRETCH!!!
5) Fun thing for child: at least two outdoor visits with friends
6) Fun thing for me: take-out of favourite local food

Dame Eleanor Hull
Get tax docs sorted and taken to accountant.
Work 2 hours a day, three times (reading, teaching, service: whatever appeals).
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
Read two articles on one of the presentation topics.
Edit 1 hour x 5.
Proofread 1 hour x 5.
Follow up with co-editor.
Contact Office of Research for extension of grant-funded travel.
Figure out what to work on in the two week writing course.

Heu Mihi

1. Work on Nunnery paper for 30 minutes x 4 days; come up with a sensible outline + 1 paragraph of argument
2. Revise Fairy Tales for 30 minutes x 1 day
3. Read part 1 of 3rd chapter of diss
4. Read first half of Mary book

Humming42

1submit two essay peer reviews
2 write 500 words for Tiny Project/online class
3 prep summer online classes to start Tuesday
4 spend 4 hours on Square
5 submit latest book review

JaneB (Held over)

1) self care - going to bed before midnight (already failed twice...)
2) more setting up work for the theory workshop - finalise the web site and get the adverts out
2a) finish draft text from LikesMaths
3) make progress on big outline for the giant first year thing (sigh. Thinking about this causes the Mood Mammoth to get grumpy for university-politics reasons)
3a) do action points from last CollaborativeThing meeting
3b) spend a tiny chunk of time on Hated Paperwork, as I don't really have time - see external examining, I have about 110 long projects/reports/essays (3000-6000 words) to read for another uni and have to be done by next Monday
4) reply to an email from FormerPDF which will take an hour or so as I have to hunt down details from years ago... well, tell her I'm aware of its existence anyway
5) tick off another 5 things from the list of small but necessary jobs
6) have a two day weekend!

Oceangirl101

1. Finish one section (last section?!) of Ch 7
2. Medical appts
3. Finalize tax stuff, paperwork for Aunt to go into state system
4. Vit supplements daily, cooking healthy
5. start on DGS work (will officially take over July 15)
6. Fun x 2

Susan

1. Finish ms review
2. An hour 4 days on Famous Author. Fill in three paragraphs/sections.
3. An hour 3 days on syllabus
4. Prep office for new desk -- 1/2 hour on paper piles, and when new furniture arrives, start moving stuff.
5. Keep walking
6. At least one call with a friend
7. Keep healthy sleep pattern

41 comments:

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell5 July 2020 at 15:30
Topic: I don't have any gift that measures up to the BollOx, which I love, or the garden, of which I am massively jealous. However, I can offer a small gift: that moment when one enters into a conversation with one's project and earlier researchers in a joyous moment where the sum is greater than its parts, where the thoughts and words flow with ease and excitement.

Last week’s goals [held over]:
Read two articles on one of the presentation topics. I ended up reading one article on each of the two viable topics, but I'll take it.
Edit 1 hour x 5. More some days than others, but yes, averaged out over the two weeks.
Proofread 1 hour x 5. Only 4 out of 5, averaged out.
Follow up with co-editor. Nope.
Contact Office of Research for extension of grant-funded travel. Yes, but need to follow up.
Figure out what to work on in the two week writing course. Yes.

Analysis: The writing workshop was one week long, not two, so it was a lot to pack in one week, but also very helpful. I spent most of the time working on editing my current project. There was one suggestion that I found particularly helpful, which is to jog the writing brain by writing down everything one knows about the project without worrying about references or consulting sources. Also, we had writing sessions where everyone was muted on Zoom, and most turned off their video. After an hour, we would come back to report our progress. I was surprised how much it helped to know there were other people writing at the same time.

After looking into the three previous presentations, one is the least promising, so I'm concentrating on the other two.

On the "fell off the wagon" side of things, I have a massive amount of difficulty making myself contact my co-editor. I was contemplating this difficulty in terms of our discussion about colleagues. This person is affable and friendly, but impossible to pin down to any decisions. The Philosopher told me, just go ahead and make the decisions, and move ahead by myself. I'm very close to doing that.

I did hear from the Office of Research that it is probably okay to extend my grant travel through December. I'd prefer to know with surety, so I'll write back this week.

Next week’s goals:
Really follow up with co-editor.
Contact Office of Research for extension of grant-funded travel.
Read two articles on one of the presentation topics.
New writing 1 hour x 5.
Proofread 1 hour x 5.
Troll through earlier files for inclusion in current pieces.

I hope everyone is staying well and having fun with their projects. Float like mist, everyone.
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Daisy5 July 2020 at 20:54
For a gift I would like to send everyone a peaceful morning on a deck, with a nice cup of tea, with bird sounds and a gentle breeze. If that doesn’t appeal, I’m sending a remote control for your Magical Monster Fence so you can zap whole mess (including mammoths, hippogriffs, and even your annoying research fairies if you feel so inclined) and cover it in a Somebody Else’s Problem Field for a few days so you can take time to rest and enjoy a little break before summer is over.
I would also make a special request… Can JaneB’s BollOx and the Stress Canary from her blog meet up with Dame Eleanor’s sequinned, attitude-filled Research Fairy? I have a feeling there may be havoc and hilarity!

So… I have an interview this week… A potentially life-changing interview… At a big university, with a huge department and huge research reputation, and basically everything I’ve ever wanted for work. It was supposed to be in March, I was the last of three candidates and the only one who did not get to go in person. They rescheduled last week, and travel still only for essential stuff so rather than risk trying to wait for something in the Fall their university has shifted all interviews online. So… I have an interview. Only my references and now you lot know about it. I’m well prepared, my talk is great, and that’s all I can do… Wish me luck!!!

Last week’s goals:
1) Complete rescheduled talk and practice it with virtual people since it will be virtual delivery YES
2) Prepare new invited talk YES
3) Finish data processing NOPE
4) STRETCH!!! NOPE!!!!
5) Fun thing for child: at least two outdoor visits with friends YES
6)Fun thing for me: take-out of favourite local food YES

This week’s goals:
1) Crush the interview!!!!!!
2) Take a few days OFF
3) Finish data processing
4) Start stretches and rehab again
5) Fun thing for child: local road trip with dad while I’m interviewing so they are out of the house
6) Fun thing for me: not going on said road trip and being alone in the house for the first time since March
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Elizabeth Anne Mitchell6 July 2020 at 00:07
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heu mihi6 July 2020 at 12:28
Since last week, I've learned what will be happening at my university this fall: Students are allowed back on campus, but every course that can be taught remotely will be. This means that I'm teaching both classes online. Also, our union negotiated a very sweet deal for us: While we won't get paid for redesigning our classes for an online format, we *will* get one course release for each redesigned class, to be taken within the next three years (after this coming semester). This makes me feel MUCH more motivated to put work into redesigning them. And I'm very glad that the decision to teach remotely has been made for me, so that I don't have to feel guilty about asking to teach online (no one in my household has a condition that puts us in a higher-risk category, but I still don't want us to get sick!).

I'm also just finding it much easier to cope with the upcoming semester now that I know what's happening. So my gift for all of you, if it were mine to give, would be clarity and calm about the next term.

Last week:
1. Work on Nunnery paper for 30 minutes x 4 days; come up with a sensible outline + 1 paragraph of argument - Done; I can pretty much manage half an hour of work a day.
2. Revise Fairy Tales for 30 minutes x 1 day - Done--actually I just worked on the visual aides, which was fun.
3. Read part 1 of 3rd chapter of diss - Not done
4. Read first half of Mary book - Done

This week:
1. Read at least the first part of the 3rd chapter of the diss (ideally the whole, very long chapter)
2. Finish Mary book
3. Write 30 minutes a day x 5
4. Arrange cat care for trip; make various medical appointment-related calls (nothing dire, just regular maintenance that needs to be rescheduled)
5. Reread Fairy Tales and revise as needed
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Dame Eleanor Hull6 July 2020 at 18:17
I want to invite all of you to my new house for a writing retreat. (It's certainly too hot for JaneB, IRL, but let's deploy some magical outdoor climate control device to make it comfortable for all.) You can sit on the deck, under the pergola, or out on the lawn, with laptop or your favorite notebook and pen, and refresh yourselves by staring up into the trees and watching squirrels, chipmunks, and birds darting around, or just watching the clouds roll by. There's a toad who lives in the front garden, so you can watch for him if you are so inclined (I am tempted to put out a tiny sportscar for him: Poop-poop!). I'll provide a huge cooler full of drinks as well as an electric teakettle and many types of tea and biscuits. The neighborhood has rolling hills and large yards, many nicely planted, so it's a lovely place to go for a walk if you need a break for physical movement. It makes both mammoths and hippogriffs remarkably tame and inclined to roll over and doze peaceably rather than going on rampages.
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oceangirl1017 July 2020 at 13:07
I send everyone the gift of being lost in your writing. That wonderful moment when inspiration hits and you suddenly realize how to correct a weakness and tie things all together. Or that wonderful moment where you have an insight that feels, well, new and important. May we all be visited soon with both large and small gifts of wonder and insight.

Last week:
1. Finish one section (last section?!) of Ch 7 No, still number crunching
2. Medical appts Yes
3. Finalize tax stuff, paperwork for Aunt to go into state system Yes
4. Vit supplements daily, cooking healthy Yes
5. start on DGS work (will officially take over July 15) Yes, actually took over on July 1
6. Fun x 2 Yes

This Week:
1. Medical appts to get ready for surgery
2. Number crunch and write second to last bit of Ch 7
3. Read diss chapters for three students (seems never-ending)
4. Swim x 3, weights x 2
5. Cook and eat well
6. Fun x 2
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Susan8 July 2020 at 02:05
My gift to you is sitting on a sofa with 6 year old twins reading a book to them and seeing them get interested in something new. It's not as peaceful as Dame Eleanor's writing retreat, but there's a special magic.

GOALS FROM LAST WEEK
1. Finish ms review YES
2. An hour 4 days on Famous Author. Fill in three paragraphs/sections. YES? But more like 2-3 hours on 2 days
3. An hour 3 days on syllabus NO, but some (see below)
4. Prep office for new desk -- 1/2 hour on paper piles, and when new furniture arrives, start moving stuff. Started, but everything delayed
5. Keep walking YES
6. At least one call with a friend YES (two)
7. Keep healthy sleep pattern MOSTLY

I'm really not an hour here, an hour there type. Once I get going, I get going. I've more or less moved past the hangup that stopped me a few weeks ago (wrote to a friend who had the right PDFs) and so I felt like I moved forward. Then Thursday night/Fri AM I woke up at 1:30 worrying about my class. I got up and started on the syllabus, but got no more sleep. So Friday was *not* a great day... Anyway, I've made progress on operation reorganized office, and ... am now surrounded by said 6 year twins & my brother in a different house and it's amazing to have traveled!

Goals for the weeks ahead are limited:
1. Start reading next ms to review
2. Read more on online teaching and figure out tech for videos
3. Get at least two more weeks of class outlined
4. Keep walking
5. Read for fun
6 Keep a good sleep schedule
7. Enjoy family time...

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JaneB8 July 2020 at 21:33
Not having a great week, my university is doing some trademark top standard Mixed Messaging and we are less clear than we were about what is happening, and with pubs and restaurants reopening and all that, there's now pressure to do some teaching on campus, and it's all just starting to feel so difficult and I feel so undervalued by the university that my motivation is dripping away. What I'd managed to hang on to.

This week I'm working on:
1) getting to bed before midnight and spending a few minutes at least in the yard every day
2) finish all the slides and practical activities for the sub field workshop
2a) Do 5 items on my list which have rolled over for at least two weeks...
3) maybe do an hour on the horrible paperwork. Maybe not.
3a) make a list of the teaching prep I know about right now.
4) do at least one Summer THing off my fun ideas list!

Gift - hmmm. Unexpected laughter, a funny tweet amidst a stream of political and economic fear and gloom, an unexpectedly supportive comment from a normally stroppy colleague, retelling old fieldwork stories with friends who were there (we were supposed to be meeting about a serious academic matter, honest...).
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Dame Eleanor Hull9 July 2020 at 17:23
How is it Thursday, and Week 9 both of the session and of my summer break? Yowza. Well, let's see how I did:

Get tax docs sorted and taken to accountant. YES (as of Monday).
Work 2 hours a day, three times (reading, teaching, service: whatever appeals). YES, mostly teaching-related; downloaded some articles that I still need to read.
Regular exercise, stretching, safe eating, fun things. MOSTLY: some problems with food, combining things or maybe eating too often something that's only okay at wide intervals.
~2 hours a day unpacking and/or life admin. YES (on average).
Keep track of what I'm doing so I don't wonder where the day went. YES: finer-grained notes might be nice, but the best is the enemy of the good!

Okay, doing fine there. I think the goals for this current week are going to be similar:

Work 3 hours a day, four times, with some on each of reading, 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.
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Friday 3 July 2020

Summer Session. Week 9

41 comments: