Greetings from Germany! My conference was good (if rather intimidating), and I have tomorrow in Zurich before flying back to the States.
I really enjoyed reading about everyone's dance music choices last week. Continuing in a similar vein, this week's (very simple) prompt: Share something from the Internet that brings you joy.
I'll start us off with something in the classic theme of Cats on the Internet: the Luga Luga cat. One of them, anyway. If you've never encountered The Kiffness before, do yourself a favor and watch a few more of his videos, maybe especially the strangely moving Luga Luga international symphonic mashup. Or my son's favorite, Big Billy.
(I suspect that I'm rather late to the party with the Kiffness and that everyone knows about him already, but that's par for the course for me. Oh well! Enjoy seeing them again, if that's the case, or simply ignore the links and get us all up to speed with your favorites, instead.)
I conclude with a few gratuitous kitten pictures, followed by this past week's goals. The cats, it transpires, are both boys. Re-introducing--now with names--Clovis and James!
Clovis over James in my lap
Last week's goals:
Daisy:
URGENT Accounting for conference and research purchases
URGENT Requisition forms for equipment
URGENT Ship off samples for processing (hard part, finding the relevant POs)
Concert practice
Continue with local joint paper
TRY AGAIN Exercise every day
Keep doing physio (blah…)
Dame Eleanor Hull:
- grade a set of undergrad papers
- prep dead languages
- read submission for writing group
- read at least 500 lines of Irrelevant Romance
- some other scholarly reading
- work on F&C chapter outline (expanding from article)
- rest, walk, yoga in good measure
- organize tax documents
heu mihi:
1. Read colleague's chapter
2. Answer and write some emails (grad student, neighbor/colleague, brother)
3. Make some amount of progress--any amount at all--on ch. 1
4. Run x 1, sit x 1, language x 1
JaneB:
1) self-care: more fruit and veg, prioritising stretching breaks, sleeping when I can rather than when I should if necessary
1a) environment: do the small chores
2) R - do something else concrete towards the teaching-related R project. do comments on the text from ECR, make progress on the consultancy thing.
3) T - Get seventh week materials onto all the ViLEs, organise the second year forms as soon as they come in.
4) read a bit; play D&D; do a little bit of crochet; make cards and wrap & post gifts for Mother's birthday and mothering sunday.
Julie:
1. Marking.
2. Research - plan next steps now article done.
3. Meetings with PhD students
4. Check in with undergraduate dissertation students.
5. Catch up with another friend.
6. Read book for book club on Friday.
Karen (carried over):
KL article - pull apart and outline structure for the two articles
Teaching prep - have everything up to week 3 fully polished apart from the bits being done by the digital learning team
End of year exhibition - send out info to sound/session people
3 x yoga
Plant winter seeds
Susan:
1. Read more of book to review
2. Re-read book by speaker
3. Keep up with the minimum admin stuff
4. Enjoy conference
5. Get back to walking/ exercising
The internet is made for cats (& also baby goat and wombat videos, which seem to be the main way my sister & I communicate affection and support for each other these days - works for us!). I love certain twitter cats - Larry at number 10 (the rescue-cat mouser who lives in the UK Prime Minister's official residence and is on his 5th PM - whoever runs his twitter account does a great job). And other working cats like Oscar at Holmfirth Police Station, or Felix and Bolt at Huddersfield Station (and of course Jorts). But also webcomics, and blogs, and youtube stuff. And most importantly, people like me in one way or another where I've been alone...
ReplyDeleteAlso kitten pile on lap is too precious!
Larry is great! I have a colleague who owns five cats and several goats, including baby goats, so her Facebook posts alone are worth being on the internet for.
DeleteWow, those videos were disturbing! I recognized the initial yowl as what we always call "the Hairball Yell," so having it repeat triggered a combination of sympathetic nausea and an urge to rush to find the cleaning-up supplies. I think I'd rather stick to Clovis and James, who are totally adorable. The Scot's real name was James, so I consider that an excellent choice for a cat name, and I hope yours is every bit as sweet and wonderful as ours, and longer-lived.
ReplyDeleteI like reading blogs from people in different places---Sydney, Hanoi, London, Los Angeles---finding out what is ordinary for them though it is exotic for me. It makes me wonder what ordinary bits of my life might seem fascinating to someone who lives Elsewhere.
How I did:
- grade a set of undergrad papers: NO
- prep dead languages: YES
- read submission for writing group: YES
- read at least 500 lines of Irrelevant Romance: YES (I expect to finish it before the end of this session; the small weekly goal is doing a good job of keeping me at it)
- some other scholarly reading: YES
- work on F&C chapter outline (expanding from article): NOT EXACTLY, worked on spreadsheet that will serve this chapter and the whole book
- rest, walk, yoga in good measure: YES, though short on sleep due to a couple nights' terrible insomnia
- organize tax documents: YES (now we'll see what I'm missing!)
New goals (spring break this week, am resisting the urge to List All The Things!):
- grade undergrad papers
- set up discussion boards and at least one other assignment for post-break
- further book-spreadsheet work
- some House Thing (bookshelves? bathroom cupboard?)
- read at least 500 lines of Irrelevant Romance
- other scholarly reading
- Day Out With Friends
- call financial person
That seems like enough. It is only one week! Basically I want to do some research, catch up/get ahead a bit on teaching, do at least one memorable fun thing, and one improving-my-habitat thing. I also have a doctor appointment, but actually showing up should be the easy part, so I'm not listing it as a goal.
That's a lot of yes. And I like the way you summarise this week's goals.
DeleteHope the week is going well so far! Glad the small weekly goal approach is working well, we sometimes underestimate the power of incremental progress especially in some areas...
DeleteClovis and James. What more could the internet possibly offer? And blogs, and finding like-minded strangers who offer comfort. I avoid Twitter these days, because it was just a huge time-suck and I nearly always felt worse after spending any time there. I do spend (waste) time on Facebook, but I feel more part of a community there - keeping up with some friends who are very hard to see IRL, plus various groups centred round cooking or walking or other interests. I have one friend who regularly shares poems and that brings me joy.
ReplyDeleteHow I did:
ReplyDelete1. Marking YES, started
2. Research - plan next steps now article done. Worked out dates for one archive trip
3. Meetings with PhD students - YES
4. Check in with undergraduate dissertation students - YES, all three seem ok.
5. Catch up with another friend. YES
6. Read book for book club on Friday. - YES, just. Didn't enjoy it, but we had a good discussion.
It has been a hectic few days. I have been hosting two Dutch exchange students - my kids' school has an exchange with a Dutch school. My daughter gets to go back in a couple of weeks. I foolishly agreed to host a second girl to help out with UK families who are short on space. So three teenage girls in the house and a lot of ferrying them around to various activities. It's only Thursday to Monday (they go tomorrow), but I feel like I need a second weekend to decompress. However...
This week:
1. Finish first batch of marking (ha!)
2. Collate and send feedback to postdoc applicant
3. Watch c.20 video presentations of posters ahead of a meeting to judge poster session for a conference in two weeks (that I'm not attending).
4.Answer last frantic emails from students about assignments due this week.
5. Email archives for one research trip.
6. Phone a friend for a catch-up.
7. Get house back to normal after teenage invasion.
We have three strike days Wednesday to Friday, so no idea how and when this will all happen. My kids are off school Wednesday and Thursday for teacher strikes, otherwise I might at least count strike days as decompression days...
Lots of yesses, and lots going on! Hope the rest of the exchange student time was good, that is a lot of extra people for one house, but I'm sure pretty fun for everyone. And a great experience for the kids for sure!
DeleteI made it home just before the big northeast snow storm, and then the kid had a snow day on Tuesday; it was nice to have just a quiet day to relax with the family and the kitties. Now I'm ready--I think--to do some stuff.
ReplyDeleteLast week:
1. Read colleague's chapter - DONE; I just need to send her my comments now
2. Answer and write some emails (grad student, neighbor/colleague, brother) - DONE; of course now there are follow-ups!
3. Make some amount of progress--any amount at all--on ch. 1 - SOME amount was made. I ended up opening a new file and completely shuffling all of the paragraphs that I'd written last year into what I hope is a more coherent order.
4. Run x 1, sit x 1, language x 1 - DONE; I also had language x a lot due to travel.
This week:
1. Content edit journal article (half of it is fine; I can finish next week)
2. Rough in B of C and B of N sections of ch. 1; list some of the questions that need answering
3. Bottle beer
4. Sit x 4, language x 5, yoga x 1, run x 1
Yay for quiet post-conference day and for no snow delays coming back! Kitty pictures are the best!
DeleteGlad the conference was good, you also got a lot of done things on the list even with travels.
Checking in very late, it has been a crazy week. I somehow forgot that it was school break for kids so we had a visiting buddy, and that involved hours of driving back and forth for pick-up and drop-off. Last night’s drop-off coincided with a nasty storm and the 2.5 hour drive turned into something closer to 4.5. It was horrendous, but we made it home slowly and safely. I’m really glad I have physio scheduled already for later today!
ReplyDeleteI managed most of the accounting last week, finally gave up on the requisition forms and asked the finance people for help. Someone went through the form with me, and we did everything exactly like I have been doing it for literally weeks now. And of course the moment she was there it worked. I might have cried a little from frustration and a little bit of relief! Also did a report that was weirdly due on the 10th instead of the normal 15th, which is good because this week I only need to do one… Going for very minimal goals this week…
Things on the internet that make me happy – effinbirds, swear_trek, and WeRateDogs on twitter – I don’t have an account but pop in for a quick laugh every so often. And everyone’s cat pictures. Any pet pictures really! Clovis and James are insanely adorable!!! Those little white socks... Squeeee!!!
Last week’s goals
URGENT Accounting for conference and research purchases DONE
URGENT Requisition forms for equipment DONE
URGENT Ship off samples for processing (hard part, finding the relevant POs) STUDENT FLAKED OUT, NOT HAPPY
Concert practice ONGOING
Continue with local joint paper NOPE
TRY AGAIN Exercise every day NOPE
Keep doing physio (blah…) ONGOING
This week’s goals
Finish accounting
Finish project grant report
Catch up on marking
Do data processing for co-authored paper
that sounds like a marathon trek! And of COURSE the finance system behaved once someone else was there to help, stupid things. They sometimes seem to be designed that way...
DeleteAlso checking in late. It's not been visibly busier than normal but the mental weather has been stormy and sleep at proper times has been elusive. And normal levels of busy are still far above "all work doable within contracted hours" kind of busy, so. I'm tired! And even paying minimal attention to UK politics/public life has been draining and embarrassing. Yes, I would like cheese with that whine, but with the rising cost of living and attempt to be sensible of my dietary intolerances so avoid cows-milk dairy, it will be a miserly small piece! :-)
ReplyDeleteLAST WEEK GOALS:
1) self-care: more fruit and veg, prioritising stretching breaks, sleeping when I can rather than when I should if necessary ish
1a) environment: do the small choresish
2) R - do something else concrete towards the teaching-related R project. do comments on the text from ECR, make progress on the consultancy thing. no, yes, yes
3) T - Get seventh week materials onto all the ViLEs, organise the second year forms as soon as they come in. yes, yes
4) read a bit; play D&D; do a little bit of crochet; make cards and wrap & post gifts for Mother's birthday and mothering sunday. yes, no, no, yes
THIS WEEK:
the goal is basically survival - do enough work on work days to not have a total disaster awaiting Future Me, use the strike days to do small things to improve my environment and restore a bit of self-energy, and that's probably it.
As Julie said there are strike days planned this week and next which, for us, actually mostly overlap with reading week/the quiet patch before reading week since the second trimester reading week is actually the week when many groups are on fieldtrips, therefore many STAFF are on fieldtrips, therefore other modules prudently don't schedule stuff later in the week (since although field trips are supposed to be during reading week, it tends to end up that they travel the end of the previous week etc.), therefore...
Deleteand I'm grateful for the chance to just... stop.
Hope the week has had a bit of quiet space by now, and that you are able to have a chance to stop and breathe for a bit! You have a lot of yesses on last week's goals, momentum is definitely a helpful thing to keep doing little things that add up over time...
Delete