I’m thinking about a lot of TLQ participants, some of whom are visible in the list of contributors to the right, wondering how you’re doing: Humming42, Karen, Elizabeth Anne Mitchell, and Susan have all been around fairly recently, and we have some idea about you. EAM, I hope you’re staying strong and have lots of real-life support. I’d love to hear from others, including Good Enough Woman and Contingent Cassandra, as well as people who have participated in the past but not become hosts. May you all float like mist, flow like water, and endure like ice.
This week’s shape-prompt: paisley. Wikipedia defines it as a “teardrop-shaped motif with a curved upper end,” and also suggests that it was inspired by almonds or pine cones. It can be psychedelic or subdued.
What does it make you think of?
Let us know in the comments! Also let us know how you did with last week's goals, below, and what you're going to try for in the coming week.
Daisy
Revisions
for accepted paper
Start revisions for old paper
Write some sections for out-of-my-field discussion paper
Exercise!!
Dame Eleanor Hull
-
keep smoothing the essay
- Notes on MET book and C&C read weeks ago
- Grade more grad drafts
- work on at least one spring class
- Do some House/Life/Car thing
- do yoga at least 4 times, weights x2, walk x5
heu mihi
1.
Finally process journal submission; figure out who's responsible for the next
one
2. Edited collection: Edit notes and bibliography for two remaining chapters;
offer to do more if co-editor is overwhelmed; email folks who need to translate
their Middle English
3. Get a HAIRCUT (which I had planned to do three weeks ago, but Covid)
4. Email clear-out (this is like five things, so really not too bad)
5. EXERCISE! Run x 3, yoga for real x 1, stretch daily to deal with the stiff
neck I got hauling a backpack and looking up at church ceilings/Roman ruins
6. Look at a manuscript
7. Schedule trip to German monastery
JaneB
-
don't do more than 9 hours a day max. Aim for one WEEK day with NO WORK.
- prepare teaching for next week
- work on the other paper (which has been neglected since I got ill in April)
- list out some easy steps on the Toy Project and go to the 3 hour meeting
- do minimum house chores that keep getting lost.
- do something creative - D&D, words on a page, SOMETHING.
Julie
1.
Revise a couple of lectures.
2. Teaching prep for two different lots of seminars.
3. Do some more prep for next term's teaching (see above on trying to stave off
inevitable panic)
4. Do research/writing for a couple of hours IF POSSIBLE.
5. Peer review a colleague's grant application.
6. Admin tasks (impose strict time limit)
7. House stuff
8. Exercise - at least get out for a walk.
I like the vine-y, leafy, swirly look of paisley; its patterns are great fun to color. I have several scarves or shawls with a paisley pattern, and a tie, but no other paisley clothing or soft furnishings, which seems odd given my extensive wardrobe---you'd think I'd have picked up a paisley garment at some point.
ReplyDeleteHow I did:
- keep smoothing the essay. NO, but I now have 1700 words of bibliography and notes about some historical matters I'm trying to track down sources for.
- Notes on MET book and C&C read weeks ago. NO, but other notes as above (actually a few are from MET).
- Grade more grad drafts. YES.
- work on at least one spring class. NO, but I requested both course shells from Blackboard, so that's a tiny start.
- Do some House/Life/Car thing. NO. I thought about a couple of re-organizing projects but didn't act on either of them.
- do yoga at least 4 times, weights x2, walk x5. YES to all, in fact yoga x 6, weights x3 and a walk every day.
New goals:
- finish the damned essay
- Notes on MET book and C&C read weeks ago
- Grade more grad drafts and one set of undergrad papers
- work on at least one spring class
- Walk with friend, eye exam
- do yoga at least 4 times, weights x2, walk x5
That's a great week for exercise! And lots of good words for the essay. Tracking down sources and all the other pre-writing work always pays off at some point!
DeleteThe paisley is fun. It brings back vague childhood memories. I think my mother had a blouse or a shawl with this kind of pattern, maybe something else. I should ask her. I definitely have a vague memory of staring at this kind of pattern, trying to figure it out. I'd never heard the almond/pine cone comparison before, but it makes sense. In terms of TLQ, I suppose it relates to some of the comments last week that calendars and maps can be restrictive. TLQ is about trying to impose order on our lives, for the sake of our wellbeing, but sometimes that's at the expense of glorious chaos. Although maybe there's an order to the paisley too, just one that encompasses a wealth of detail...
ReplyDeleteLast week's goals:
This was a heavy teaching week, and cursed with meetings that sucked up a LOT of energy, so a lot of what I did felt a bit tokenistic and very low-powered. But some weeks that's all I have.
1. Revise a couple of lectures. - YES, maybe took more time than it should.
2. Teaching prep for two different lots of seminars. - YES, though the amount the students did varied. Which reminded me yet again that we can do all the prep we like, but ultimately whether teaching works or not depends on them, not us.
3. Do some more prep for next term's teaching (see above on trying to stave off inevitable panic) - SOME, panic still lurking in the wings.
4. Do research/writing for a couple of hours IF POSSIBLE. - YES - not sure it was a couple of hours, but I did a bit. I was very tired, so by the time I had some space in the week, I didn't have the energy to push.
5. Peer review a colleague's grant application. - YES, and learned quite a bit in the process.
6. Admin tasks (impose strict time limit) - YES, getting a bit better at this. It's hard to know in advance which will be the most time-consuming.
7. House stuff - YES, although big project to move into the study failed dismally when I realised I couldn't get my current desk through the door. But did some decluttering and got the radiators fixed, just as the weather here turned mild again.
8. Exercise - at least get out for a walk. - YES, did make an effort to get out for walks, but only managed to run at the weekend.
This week's goals:
Very little teaching this week, so hoping for higher quality investment in other things.
1. Spend as much of non-teaching day (Thursday) on research as possible.
2. Go to writing group on Friday and try again for four hours! Hopefully no children will fall ill in the meantime.
3. Continue with teaching prep for next term.
4. Read a PhD student's work in advance of a meeting.
5. Do only essential admin.
6. House/life stuff - book eye test, start planning Christmas (needs a whole TLQ post in itself).
7. Exercise - no chance of getting to Dame Eleanor's level, but run twice, walk other days.
8. Get to bed early! - I am so tired, but am chronically incapable of getting to bed on time. I think there's a Japanese term - revenge bedtime procrastination, or something like that. It's when the evening disappears with chores and you feel cheated that you didn't get time to relax, so you decide to watch Netflix/read fiction/scroll social media, even though your rational brain tells you you'll regret it. That's me. Anyone else?
Your "done" list includes things that your future self is going to be very grateful for, like the radiators and the info about grant applications. Figuring out how much time things will take is *always* a work in progress. Bummer about the desk not fitting!
DeleteOn getting to bed, oh yes I definitely recognize that one. It's especially bad when I have a night class so I'm working or driving right up to my usual bedtime, and when I get home I really want to have my usual evening. I try to do two things (which may or may not work even for me, let alone anyone else): have a bedtime routine that includes reading a paper book in bed for as long as I like, and tell myself how much I'm looking forward to being in bed.
I do the revenge bedtime thing so often! I think the phrase is originally Chinese - bàofùxìng áoyè - but yup, I both want MY time and want to postpone the arrival of the next day, and going to bed as soon as I'm done with all the needful feels counter to both wishes. Plus my biorhythms tend strongly to OWL when I'm depressed or stressed, so I often feel like I've only in the last couple of hours begun to feel human and interested in the world/capable of thinking clearly, so I don't want to "waste" it.
DeleteOh we hear you on the revenge bedtime procrastination! Very hard to break the habit I found... I tried something different this week - since I've temporarily had to give up on early morning exercise (new cats, and house in chaos with construction so literally no space) I tried this week to set my alarm for exercise time and deliberately stayed in bed to read a bit in exchange for going to bed at a decent hour. And it was not bad at all! Might keep doing that for a bit, at least until I can use my mornings for exercise again.
DeletePaisley - I like the pattern, with all its ferny, flaming, feathery, foamy floaty flourishes, but I don't usually like the colour-schemes or patterns in paisley fabrics. They feel a bit old-fashioned; my grandma loved a "nice bit of Liberty print" tending towards the drabber, practical blues and browns and maroons, and I think that's where it comes from. I like the idea of finding a colouring sheet and colouring some in the "right" colour schemes of ocean and forest and phoenix! Maybe I should add that to my list...
ReplyDeleteI'd also love to know where and how former TLQ-ers are - very often in my thoughts.
GOALS FOR LAST WEEK:
- don't do more than 9 hours a day max. Aim for one WEEK day with NO WORK. yes to the former, but not so much through conscious choice as my get up and go got up and went in a major way, and I am having a vision problem - nothing major, just eczema on the underneath of my eyelid which is not compatible with contact lens wearing, BUT I can't see well enough to drive without my lenses & wearing only one makes computer work very tiring (no glasses option available)) No to the latter.
- prepare teaching for next week yes... just...
- work on the other paper (which has been neglected since I got ill in April) nope. It got displaced by a) a last minute grant joining request which I ran around trying to sort, then ended up being uninvited, sigh b) simulating some data for a different paper as the co-author is ready for it and c) aforementioned misplaced get up and go
- list out some easy steps on the Toy Project and go to the 3 hour meeting went to the meeting, which ended up being shorter, as most people couldn't attend, and also attended by multiple cats which is always a bonus in a virtual meeting! No steps listed, but I did locate the notes from last year that I need.
- do minimum house chores that keep getting lost.I did more than none. I also pushed myself and have booked the nice decluttering person for later this month - I need help getting spaces back to manageable right now, there's no shame in admitting that/
- do something creative - D&D, words on a page, SOMETHING.made a birthday card for a friend, which is more than nothing.
But I miss wordsmithery.
GOALS FOR THIS WEEK:
- don't do more than 9 hours a day max. Aim for one WEEK day with NO WORK.
- prepare teaching for next week.
- work on the neglected paper (sending emails will be enough)
- list out some easy steps on the Toy Project
- do minimum house chores that keep getting lost.
- do something creative - D&D, words on a page, SOMETHING.
Here you go: https://coloringhome.com/free-printable-paisley-coloring-pages-for-adults
DeleteThat other paper/grant/nope! sequence sounds very frustrating.
I'm glad to hear that you booked the decluttering person. Sometimes taking a step like that unblocks a whole lot of other Stuff In The Way---and even if it doesn't, at least there will be some progress on the physical stuff.
Good for decluttering help! I would like to book a similar person but one who offers a flamethrower as additional service so I can just make some things disappear permanently!
DeleteThe best bit about the decluttering person is that she takes everything away that needs to go - rubbish, charity shop items, recycling, all magically GONE.
DeleteI’ve always had an irrational dislike for paisley patterns of all kinds. I have no idea why, I want to like them, I see the beauty they can have, and I still cannot stand them… Weird… I think the lack of symmetry bothers me…
ReplyDeleteWell that was a week, incredibly busy with who knows what, and not much got done. House construction work is ongoing and still disruptive. I very much ran out of steam by Thursday and then decided to take a quick weekend trip to my former town. Got the feeling my kid really needed some time with old friends, so we took off on Friday for a whirlwind visit and some non-sleeping sleepovers and came back exhausted on Sunday. It was worth it, kid had a blast, and had a non-school day today to sleep off any lingering tiredness (I wish I could do that!). So there is a bunch of catching up going on this week and I really need to do some organizing for the next few weeks of teaching to make sure the end of term is not a hot mess. And all the paper revisions are coming due, so no hiding from those anymore!
This week’s goals:
Revisions for accepted paper LITTLE BIT…
Start revisions for old paper NOPE…
Write some sections for out-of-my-field discussion paper NOPE…
Exercise!! NOPE, UNLESS WALKING OVER TO HALLOWEEN CANDY BOXES COUNTS?
This week’s goals:
FINISH revisions for accepted paper
Keep going on revisions for old paper
Write some sections anything at all for out-of-my-field discussion paper
Grading!!!
Website and award stuff for association
We all have our quirks! I like plaid skirts but not plaid shirts. Go figure. (Good thing I didn't order those paisley TLQ t-shirts for everyone!)
DeleteYour trip sounds like lots of fun and a great thing to do for your kid. It's important to take care of the people we live with as well as ourselves. Good luck with this week's catch-up efforts!
Hello everyone! I would very much like to get back into the habit of checking in by Monday evening. Someday.
ReplyDeletePaisley is a shape that I can love or intensely dislike; it depends so much upon the colors. Too bright is jarring and distracting (and, like Daisy, I find the asymmetry annoying--the brightness seems to call attention to it). Subdued can be lovely and organic, like leaves in the forest.
How I did:
1. Finally process journal submission; figure out who's responsible for the next one - DONE, although I still haven't found reviewers, alas
2. Edited collection: Edit notes and bibliography for two remaining chapters; offer to do more if co-editor is overwhelmed; email folks who need to translate their Middle English - DONE
3. Get a HAIRCUT (which I had planned to do three weeks ago, but Covid) - DONE
4. Email clear-out (this is like five things, so really not too bad) - SORT OF, maybe like half done
5. EXERCISE! Run x 3, yoga for real x 1, stretch daily - Running YES, yoga NO, stretching MOSTLY
6. Look at a manuscript - Sort of.
7. Schedule trip to German monastery - Yes.
I'm waiting for the train to take me from the monastery town right now. I'm so tired of travel. That is all.
This week:
1. Figure out plans for next (and last) archive visit, sigh
2. Work on research 2 hours x 4
3. Work on getting reviewers for journal article
4. Email catch-up (two things! Do it!)
5. Rest
That is all.
That's a lot of DONE! Congratulations! I hope the monastery trip will be peaceful and restorative. Do you get to stay put for awhile after it, or do you have to continue to run around to see different manuscripts?
Delete