Hello everyone!
So nice to read about all the things everyone does to make the world a little better every day. Keep at it, keep doing little and big things. As a character in beloved, recently re-read book pointed out “if you cannot shine like a star, then shine like a candlestick”….
Quite a few of us are on break this week, so I hope you get a little bit of a breather, time to rest, time to regroup, and time to do something enjoyable!
So, in that spirit… Can you pick out something for a place of pride in your cabin that is entirely frivolous (or deeply important, sometimes those are the same thing!) and will be there only because you love it? Bonus points if it has no practical use and no utility for work and takes up space that can be better used elsewhere and exists ONLY to make you happy! Extra bonus points if the rest of the world thinks it is ugly and useless and your nearest and dearest would like it to disappear!
Quote I cannot remember the source of: “it is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness”… Keep shining your light!!!
Last week’s goals
Daisy
Paper edits
maybe???
Be extra kind to students when editing/rewriting things
Conference meetings and abstract wrangling, make program
Something fun with kid
Dame Eleanor Hull
Keep core work hours.
Health: cardio daily, stretch x6, track bedtime.
Research: 30 min x6 (2 projects), dead languages x3 each.
Teaching: write more assignments, keep building VILE sites, grade 1 short
assignment and two sets of papers.
Life stuff: collect tax stuff (now urgent), do something fun.
Elizabeth Anne Mitchell
Finish putting the ADD pages (mostly the goals section)
into my planner.
Search ten articles I have in paper to replace with electronic copies.
Take notes on a couple of the articles for the potential article.
heu mihi
1) Read at least 2 articles
2) Draft issue intro for journal (with co-editor)
3) Revisit full project plan and prepare for break
4) 1 Gen Ed review
5) Read essay for grad class that's happening after break
Humming42
1 Attend March conference, present paper, talk to editor
2 It’s spring break, so catch up on grading and writing new assignments
3 submit upcoming and late book review
4 write and submit extended abstract, time permitting. It's a thing about
Ukraine, so it might fit in with doing a good thing
JaneB
1) call GP about anxiety etc. because this is not going to
defeat me
2) do teaching prep for week 7
3) make time to read or do D&D prep 4 days
4) Send an email to the "Why" author group
5) do a little more advertising about the May Training Course
6) Respond to reviewers comments on Group paper
7) move intentionally 10 minutes a day
Karen (held over)
Make master plan of all due dates for teaching and honours
supervisions
2. VILE boards done each day, and week 3 and 4 fully ready to go.
3. Feedback done for postgrad article, finish chapter two in the ongoing saga
4. 500 words on KL
5. Weather permitting, paint window frame
Susan
1. Finish this chapter (doable) before trip to Library
2. Keep reading ms.
3. Do fun thing
4. Go to all the meetings
5. Keep up with exercise & good eating
6. Set up Mom's new computer (hangs over me . . .anxiety.)
“Shine” was my word for the year during one of these recent pandemic years. I still hold it dear and am happy to see it here.
ReplyDeleteMy place-of-pride object would be the very weird statue/figure of a woman that I bought as my dissertation muse. The academic department had an end-of-year dinner at a funky little restaurant that also had an art gallery. There I found my muse, who is like an outsider art crafted figure of an exuberant woman, made out of wire and paper. I moved her out of my office and into a display cabinet in the living room a few years ago, just to fill out the cabinet space, and I think I’ll take her back to the office.
My break is just ending and I had high expectations for doing all the things. I did very few things and was grumpy and irritable and sad, but today is a productive day so maybe I did rest after all. I mean, look: here I am posting at TLQ on Sunday!
Last week:
1 Attend March conference, present paper, talk to editor: no/yes/no: presented virtually
2 It’s spring break, so catch up on grading and writing new assignments: no
3 submit upcoming and late book review: one done
4 write and submit extended abstract, time permitting: still on the agenda
This week:
1 write and submit extended abstract
2 submit upcoming and late book review (the one that was upcoming last week is late this week)
3 promote upcoming virtual conference with tremendous enthusiasm (not that I can ever muster that)
4 write and present morning talk that I regret agreeing to do
5 review R&R for journal way outside of my primary field
Some breaks are just like that. I hope that you do manage to start the new week a little refreshed, anyway!
DeleteGlad that "Shine" is making you smile this week!
Deletelove the dissertation muse statue idea, she clearly has history!
The break clearly needed to be more "break" and less doing of all things... Glad there was some restorative value in it even though it was not particularly enjoyable.
I had a difficult week - I called in sick Wednesday and spent it being idle, and on Friday cancelled going on campus and worked my hours, but in pieces and mostly in the evening. I'm not like obviously ILL but my body and mind are just off and out of kilter - seasonal allergies, nosebleeds (I inherited thin walled nasal capillaries and therefore spontaneous nosebleeds from my Dad - as an engineering apprentice he once ruined a drawing he'd spent a week on, I've never done anything THAT bad! This week I had a badly placed zit which meant I kept poking at my nose, and I think coupled with sneezing due to allergies, that led to the nosebleeds, so I'm not too worried it means anything more concerning health-wise), being really fatigued, anxiety-insomnia, a patch of eczema adjacent to my eye which is not very compatible with comfortable contact lens wearing (I have no glasses option due to the nature of my stupid eye problem), weepiness, hip pain (in my "good" hip, of COURSE, because that's how the world works - it's to do with sitting a little awkwardly/too much and compensating for the "bad" one, I suspect - I am more prone to getting sciatica on the "good hip" side of my lower back). And my anxiety is through the roof and everything is increasingly seen through a "grey fog on a muddy sandbank" lens (that bland, nothing is obvious, creeping dread of rising water you can't see kind of mix of chronic anxiety and depression). Since we switched to having only 2 weeks for Easter break, we've aimed to teach 6 weeks, one week of field trips, then five weeks (with Easter break in there wherever it falls - we USED to do the trip in the first week of the break, but...) and this year ended up teaching 7 before the fieldtrip breather, and between that extra week (one to go next week) and being timetabled to teach 5 days a week despite only being paid and contracted for four, I haven't quite made it to the end of the teaching period. Despite mostly being online.
ReplyDeleteWhinge whinge whinge, it could be so much WORSE. But sometimes I just... am stress canary, and the canary part of the analogy means I fall over first. And need to rest or I'll get properly sick or snap at someone else...
Naturally, I have a larger proportion of on campus this coming week, a LOT of student need is coming out (they're stressed about field trips, those who are going, have the first deadlines for coursework, and are also tired - plus quite a few have been out sick with either Covid or a nasty throat infection/cold thing that tests negative on the lateral flow tests but knocks out students for a few days at least), and we're being reorganised again! There was consultation earlier in the year, we said, no, wait, this is a terrible idea. But for external reasons with SOME validity the Dean has decided to impose a reorganisation on us (to be fair to him, he has taken into account the feedback on the earlier proposal, and the plan is the best possible outcome for my section - using my Beach Studies analogy, my current department covers programmes in Beach Science, Beach Studies and Shellology, and we will be merging with the part of our friends/annoying neighbours Stationary Studies which teaches beach related stuff (my analogy doesn't work great here any more, oh heck lets call it Pebble Science) whilst the rest of their department get put somewhere else. Which means we only get one of the really problematic people in that department (& that person is no worse than our current issue-folks, they have some plusses), AND that we only get the programmes which recruit undergrads well, not the ones that struggle... overall a good outcome for us and a worse one for Stationary Studies. But we have to be reorganised (& go through all the appointment-of-new-people-to-all-service-roles disruption) by the middle of the summer, which is just More Stress. MORE STRESS. Just what I needed. Grumble grumble grumble.
I don't have Covid yet though? So, you know. And I remembered to send flowers for my Mum's birthday (I ordered her a book, without really registering that it wouldn't be published in time, but I noticed this BEFORE the date and was able to get flowers ordered). So, you know.
DeleteSo, the prompt! Hmm. I tend to have a Lot Of Things, but my first thought is that there will be a "nature table" in my cabin - a specific shelf or small place where I can put Cool Things I find outside and bring home, whether that's neat rocks or driftwood from a trip or a jar of flowers or a branch of pine needles to scent the corner or a feather. I remember the nature table from my first years of school vividly, and so I hope it would be a prompt to access that innocent curiosity, a reminder of the natural world when I get too inside my head or need to be indoors, and just a source of inspiration for... stuff. Colour and shape, for writing, drawing, making, daydreaming...
Now I'm thinking I should try and make a nature table somewhere in my living space - or at least add it to the list of wants.
LAST WEEK'S GOALS
1) call GP about anxiety etc. because this is not going to defeat me didn't, but I DID call in sick one day and change my plans another, so, you know. Taking care of myself (or proof it's getting more urgent, but I'm trying to be positive)
2) do teaching prep for week 7 YES. Done by Saturday morning too despite the less time thing
3) make time to read or do D&D prep 4 days maybe three?
4) Send an email to the "Why" author group NO
5) do a little more advertising about the May Training Course NO
6) Respond to reviewers comments on Group paper YES
7) move intentionally 10 minutes a day YES - by including stretching in this as well as things that get my heart rate up, but it's still intentional moving, and just as important for my hip etc., so I'm counting it!
NEXT WEEK'S GOALS
1) call GP about anxiety etc. because this is not going to defeat me (and because Friday I finally have NOTHING IN MY TIMETABLE plus next week is fieldtrip week and I'm not much involved so I am able to take a call if needed at any point)
2) do teaching prep for week 9 (yay getting ahead - I have a LOT to do as my contribution to field teaching is actually in week 10 and after Easter and we just haven't even looked at it yet, so...)
3) make time to read or do D&D prep 4 days
4) Send an email to the "Why" author group
5) do a little more advertising about the May Training Course
6) move intentionally 10 minutes a day (I'd put this up to 15, but if I have feeling ill days I know I can do ten from this week, so lets stick to focusing on things I know I can succeed with even in a bad week).
I'm sorry that there's so much...yuck! I do like your approach re. moving to stick with what you know you can do successfully. There's no urgent reason to increase that. Why make things harder than they need to be?
DeleteHere's hoping for a better week, and that allergies, stress, etc. subside at least somewhat....
Yay for the intentional movement and all the other things you got done. I second heu mihi's thought on not messing with something that works!
DeleteLove the nature table! There's good seasonal potential there too for beauty as the seasons change... definitely worth having one in real life!
Oh, I know! The stuffed porcupine that I sewed by hand out of old clothes back in 2006, when I was finishing my dissertation. I made the body out of an old gray teeshirt and pair of brown linen pants, and the quills out of various colorful socks; it's stuffed with cotton balls. I think I worked on it for four hours a day for like two weeks. It's funny and weird and cute and I love it. (I am very far from a truly competent seamstress, so all the seams are delightfully crooked, etc.)
ReplyDeleteLast week:
1) Read at least 2 articles
I think so? I think I read two.
2) Draft issue intro for journal (with co-editor)
Sent a very messy paragraph or two to my co-editor and I'm waiting for her to fix it.
3) Revisit full project plan and prepare for break
Yes--I didn't spend much time on this, but I did come up with what I think is a good idea for the first section (two chapters), which I now think I could actually start writing this summer, so that was exciting. Sort of.
4) 1 Gen Ed review
Partly. I still need to make up my mind about this one.
5) Read essay for grad class that's happening after break
Yes, by the skin of my teeth!
This week:
1) Power through Aquinas research. This is not going to be very important, so the fact that I've never even actually read Aquinas shouldn't matter much (I'll try to read what I have to this week, and then come back to it as needed as I'm writing).
2) All course maintenance, etc. Prep grad class. Read for subsequent grad class.
3) Get on top of both journals.
4) Run a few times.
It's my spring break this week, and I already feel like it's slipping away. We have our visa appointment in Nearby City on Friday, and then my parents are coming to visit Sat-Sun, so there are only a few more days for the laborious portion of the week!
Oooh I love the porcupine already! She sounds absolutely delightful - embodying the joy of creating and imperfection all in one!
DeleteGood to have the full project plan start to come together, having a plan as roadmap is so important with long-term projects and large stretches of time.
Enjoy your break!
My cabin will have a shelf for pretty rocks! Mainly for the few little jam jars filled with pretty pebbles from places that mean a lot to me but are not particularly decorative or interesting to anyone else.
ReplyDeleteThat week went just like I thought it might… Most of it went to conference organizing, but that’s ok, the worst is behind now and I get to hand over some tasks to others. And the stuff I’m handing over is excellent so I’m happy. I have a big interview coming up, with research and teaching talk to give next week so that will be my main focus for the coming week. I’m extremely stressed out about that so trying very hard to focus on the preparation and not the outcome…
Last week’s goals
Paper edits maybe??? NOPE
Be extra kind to students when editing/rewriting things YES, and extra meetings for encouragement
Conference meetings and abstract wrangling, make program DONE!!!!
Something fun with kid YES
This week’s goals
Paper edits (if I keep putting it here maybe they will get done?)
Prepare and practice research talk and teaching lecture for next week
Grant accounting and reports
New grant planning session
Edit student chapters
Lunch with friends
My object is the beginning of a quilt top, which my mother stitched by hand when she was about 8 or 9. It is only 18 inches square, and made up of spool shapes (think thread spools). It is one of the very few things I have from my mother, so it would have a place of honor on a table in the “front room,” as my mother would have called it. Because she made this piece during the Depression, it has several garish orange pieces that offend most viewers’ sense of how colors should work together. No one in my family likes it, but I think the piece shows how people make the best of what they have in hard times.
ReplyDeleteLast week’s goals:
Finish putting the ADD pages (mostly the goals section) into my planner. Yes, I feel more organized already!
Search ten articles I have in paper to replace with electronic copies. Yes. One thing to thank COVID for is that my library switched to as many electronic sources as it could afford, so several articles I photocopied from the paper journals are easily replaced with electronic copies.
Take notes on a couple of the articles for the potential article. Nope. Although it is spring break, my meetings didn’t take a break. Sigh. I did renew my enthusiasm for the article by finding electronic versions of some interesting articles, which was a good step.
Next week’s goals:
Put into place the “Task List” and “Project” pages of the planner.
Take notes on a couple of the articles for the potential article.
Search ten articles I have in paper to replace with electronic copies.
More of the same as last week, but I hope to continue making some progress. Float like mist, everyone!
That is a wonderful object for a place of pride! What a lovely connection with your mother's past, and a great message to be reminded of too!
DeleteYay for renewed enthusiasm for articles! Hope your meetings take a bit of a breather so you can too...
Well, so, you may have guessed from my absence this week that I was OBE. The event in question was cat-related. Reina escaped from the house, hid under the deck in the lowest, darkest, completely inaccessible corner and did not move for two nights and a day, until we had to go in after her. Those stories about cats surviving in confined places for weeks don't include the potential long-term problems, like kidney failure; if cats aren't drinking, at least, they can go into organ failure fairly quickly (ask your vet). So the whole "wait till she's hungry" thing wasn't working. And Reina was a feral rescue at 6 weeks, so she's not well socialized BUT also knows nothing about outdoor life, and was just completely terrified.
ReplyDeleteSince we didn't realize at first that she was just going to ground and not moving, the first night we sat up all night, taking turns to go inside to warm up, to ward off coyotes (one killed a neighbor's cat last year, so this isn't just paranoia), and talk to her. The next day I bought a trap and some material to fence off all the possible exits from under the deck, so at least we got some sleep.
The second morning, we took up boards on the deck to throw some light on the situation, and I crawled on my belly like a reptile under the higher part of the deck (18" clearance at the high point), with fishy food, and called instructions to my husband to stamp on the wood over Reina's head so as to get her to bolt toward me and the food. This worked, and I grabbed her and belly-crawled my way backwards out from under the deck while clutching the cat, who was mostly relieved to be rescued until we were out, when she panicked at all that open space (again), but my husband was able to restrain her.
She is fine, and we are resuming normal life, but that was a hard couple of days for all of us. Basement Cat was resentful at being shut in the bedroom for long stretches alone; he now thinks SNAGU (situation normal, all girled up) might be better than Change (he fears change).
So I'll report on the week before the one that is about to end, but not set goals until the next post, because it seems like there's not much point now! I'm basically doing triage and trying to do the most urgent stuff by working through the weekend.
How I did:
Keep core work hours. MOSTLY.
Health: cardio daily, stretch x6, track bedtime. YES, x5, YES.
Research: 30 min x6 (2 projects), dead languages x3 each. ONE project, minimal language prep for group.
Teaching: write more assignments, keep building VILE sites, grade 1 short assignment and two sets of papers. SOME, YES, ONE.
Life stuff: collect tax stuff (now urgent), do something fun. YES!!! Tax stuff is with new accountant a month before April 15, yay us! Fun reading and watching Paris-Nice happened.
I’m so sorry you had such a tough time with the poor kitty!
DeleteThat's a very stressful week for everyone! Good that kitty is back inside where it is safe!
DeleteThank you both!
Delete