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Sunday, 8 February 2026

2026 Session 1, Week 5

 


It continues to be grey and dismal here, only brief glimpses of winter sun. But the crocuses are starting to come through. In case anyone else needs a bit of colour, here is a photo of a hyacinth I bought myself a couple of weeks ago, photographed at its peak which is sadly now gone. But while it lasted, the scent was like a hug every time I walked upstairs.

This week's prompt is from Hattie Crisell again: what can language do? Her writers mostly discuss fiction e.g. making dialogue work, humour, but I think for all of us there is joy involved in getting the words right and knowing they are right. Crisell herself describes how one of the lessons she learned from her academic father was that clear writing is good manners. My (also academic) father told me exactly the same: if you want people to read what you write, it's a courtesy to make that easy. But there are many ways of making a message clear to the reader. What kinds of language do you use? Are you in a discipline where diagrams, graphs, tables, maps, maybe images do as much work as words? Do you use metaphors and analogies, or do you keep it direct?

Alternatively, what sort of language sets your teeth on edge? John Rentoul, a British journalist featured in In Writing has a long list of usages by journalists he thinks are lazy or ugly: 'upcoming' instead of 'forthcoming', 'ongoing' instead of 'continuing'. What student (or other people's) mistakes or clumsy phrases most annoy you?

Last week's goals:

Dame Eleanor
--1/2 hour writing/research on each of 3 days
--prep for 2 meetings
--prep for guest class
--prep for future class activity that has to be started way in advance
--track down missing ILL book or institute library search
--gym at least 3x, yoga at least 4x
--pick up cat meds
--remember to look at calendar/lists every day

Susan
1. Fill in gaps in syllabus
2. Letter for grad student that is due
3. Pile of minor admin stuff
4. Keep up with teaching stuff
5. Send out emails re conference; book spaces
6. Finish Room of Doom
7. Do three more journals
8. Start sorting books -- 1 bookcase
9. Keep up with exercise/ PT stuff
10. Do SOMETHING fun.

JaneB

SELF-CARE: all process goals, for three term time months:
a) intentional movement 20x3 or 15x4
b) some kind of making (art or craft) x2 including a birthday card for my Dad
c) something gently social x2 - yay, a new D&D game starting this week! Hopefully!
d) read at least one chapter (of fiction) every day this week other than re-reading bits of Queen Demon
IMPROVING MY ENVIRONMENT: goals carried over!
a) 75% of weekly list of chores
b) make a sketch for the new idea for the shelving in living space
c) reschedule decluttering person session.
TEACHING AND ADMIN:
a) deliver week 2 of teaching, email all the students who haven't replied to requests to make appointments
b) prepare class materials for fourth week of teaching, with updating
RESEARCH
a) work on teaching related grant application
b) analyse results and start another set of models running
c) read and comment on full draft of paper from not-my-grad-student

Daisy

Finish student presentations and help them practice
Finish committee review meetings and all related paperwork
Gather up little bits of mind from puddles into which it has melted
Do something healthy
Enjoy conference!!

Heu mihi

1. Finish program
2. At least one more LOR
3. Clean house for Dad's visit
4. Prepare newsletter
5. Send program highlights to chair
6. Italian & exercise

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22 comments:

  1. JaneB8 February 2026 at 20:44

    Hello! What a lovely hyacinth, I could smell it just from looking.

    Words. Hmmm. I do enjoy language, and as someone writing mostly for a STEM audience I mostly think of academic writing as a process of stripping away my personality and word-pleasures to leave the clearest communication. It became a lot easier to do once I started working with more international colleagues and really understood the challenges of trying to do all your work in a language not your own, I was able to reframe it as not censoring myself but making my work open to more people. My PhD supervisor also gave me an excellent framing for the kind of referee's comments that critique your language or where the referee doesn't understand your language (i.e. appears either critical or stupid), to see it as an opportunity to make my writing even more clear.

    Fiction, journalling and student handouts tend to be more in "my voice" and I get to play more with words. Language is so powerful. And of course the story-telling part of D&D also benefits from language, from coming up with consistent names for cretures and characters and places to describing settings and scenes in ways that bring everyone into the story.

    LAST WEEK:
    Slowly got a bit better. Stupid hormones (when will this last stage of perimenopause of erratic, longer. lighter cycles with teenage style hormones end? The lack of predictability is making me even more prone to forget hormones as the reason for "nothing is worth while and I hate it all" weeks...). The prospects are not good for my subject area, my institution or the profession more widely, but I've done a better job of keeping the gloom about that in a box. It remains the damp sort of cold here, which gets into your bones, but days are starting to get a bit longer.

    SELF-CARE: all process goals, for three term time months:
    a) intentional movement 20x3 or 15x4 three days, all longer than 20 minutes although one day was several short stretch/moving meditation things - it still counts
    b) some kind of making (art or craft) x2 including a birthday card for my Dad crocheted during a "Faculty Update Meeting" (the uni's management team talk at everyone on a call, compulsory cameras off for attendees - making time makes it less awful), and made a card today
    c) something gently social x2 - yay, a new D&D game starting this week! Hopefully!yes, two games of D&D
    d) read at least one chapter (of fiction) every day this week other than re-reading bits of Queen Demon yes (except today but I have time!). To answer a question from last week - I rarely stop at one chapter! And not reading into the wee hours remains a problem - I mostly read when I'm eating in the evening at the moment, rather than when I'm getting ready to go to sleep, I use podcasts as brain fodder for that part of the day as it's easier for me to get sleepy if I can take out my contact lenses and shut my eyes)
    IMPROVING MY ENVIRONMENT: goals carried over!
    a) 75% of weekly list of chores no - not none, but not enough
    b) make a sketch for the new idea for the shelving in living space no
    c) reschedule decluttering person session. we're exchanging availability to try & find something
    TEACHING AND ADMIN:
    a) deliver week 2 of teaching, email all the students who haven't replied to requests to make appointments yes, yes - and found some of them
    b) prepare class materials for fourth week of teaching, with updating yes

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    Replies
    1. JaneB8 February 2026 at 20:52

      RESEARCH
      a) work on teaching related grant application yes - we at least have a title!
      b) analyse results and start another set of models running yes, and the results showed that we made one silly mistake in all the models - a missing zero - AND that we had to throw one of the models out of the set because we'd assumed we had information we didn't actually have. So we fixed those and set the same models running again. Hopefully it will be third time lucky, these will work, and we can finally move on! The first model set always take the most time...
      c) read and comment on full draft of paper from not-my-grad-student yes, and it's now ready for her to prepare and submit to the journal! Yay!

      THE COMING WEEK:
      SELF-CARE: all process goals, for three term time months:
      a) intentional movement 20x3 or 15x4
      b) some kind of making (art or craft) x2
      c) something gently social x2
      d) read at least one chapter (of fiction) every day this week other than re-reading bits of Queen Demon (I can now mostly "read" the key scenes to myself without needing the book... so the initial flush of obsession should wear off this week :D)
      IMPROVING MY ENVIRONMENT: goals carried over!
      a) 75% of weekly list of chores
      b) make a sketch for the new idea for the shelving in living space
      c) reschedule decluttering person session.
      TEACHING AND ADMIN:
      a) deliver week 3 of teaching, chase up the last few students I need to meet with (or raise Welfare Concerns)
      b) prepare class materials for fifth week of teaching, with updating
      RESEARCH. This all feels very repetitive but I AM making small bits of progress each week, not just listing-and-ignoring!
      a) work on the larger outline grant application - we're at the "make the sections all fit the word count" and "tweak the wording in tiny ways endlessly" and "NOW the finance person tells us we need these three extra bits of information" stage. tedious!
      b) analyse results and start another set of models running
      c) read and comment on second draft of paper from Unexpected Collaborator

      Delete
    2. Susan9 February 2026 at 02:43

      That sounds like not a bad week, especially managing to keeping the gloom about the state of the profession in a box. And I hope third time is indeed lucky with the research!

      Delete
    3. Julie9 February 2026 at 11:20

      I like the idea of writing being open to as many people as possible. You did a lot this week!

      Delete
    4. Daisy12 February 2026 at 11:34

      Busy week with lots of good research things especially! Good luck with finicky last bits of grant...
      It is definitely a skill and an art to make writing accessible to a range of people, and a great goal!

      Delete
  2. Susan9 February 2026 at 03:20

    I care a LOT about writing -- with my first book, my editor commented on how readable it was. I told her that I'd done all my revisions, and then tried to cut 10%. I never get all the way, but it gets my out of my worst verbal ticks. But with Famous Author, writing for a real 'general reader' pushed me. I had to learn a new way of writing and it was both fun and challenging.

    For students, if I had a dollar for every time they told me they had read a novel (not a work of history, or a memoir) I'd be rich. Apparently all books are novels. Arggh.

    It was a pretty good week, and I did A LOT.
    1. Fill in gaps in syllabus NO, but I know where to start
    2. Letter for grad student that is due YES
    3. Pile of minor admin stuff SOME
    4. Keep up with teaching stuff YES
    5. Send out emails re conference; book spaces MINOR CRISIS
    6. Finish Room of Doom DEPENDS ON HOW YOU DEFINE FINISH
    7. Do three more journals NO
    8. Start sorting books -- 1 bookcase NO
    9. Keep up with exercise/ PT stuff YES
    10. Do SOMETHING fun. YES

    And also: cleared my desk, got rid of one box in my office; did a stupid training that I probably could have skipped but I stopped the nagging emails.

    So I think a good week, but mostly because the room of doom, while still having some things in it that I need to deal with, has lost all the stuff on the floor that made it impassible, and I have now set it up as my exercise room. In the process, I found all my report cards from elementary school ("Susan needs to be more organized" "Susan has a real talent for history") and various other treasures. I got rid of some things, kept others, but it was a lot.

    Also, I looked at a place in future home while I was there last weekend, and spent a lot of time thinking about whether I should make an offer. (Answer: no). But that did add stress, and did affect sleep. And I also started the process for getting pre-approved for a mortgage, which will lighten the load later.

    Meanwhile, I found out that our Humanities Center has planned a conference the same weekend we were planning my conference, and I am still trying to figure out what to do. (So many conflicts. And everyone thinks they are more important than me.)

    In the meantime, I ended physical therapy with more pain than I started with -- I think we know why, but trying to figure out how to deal with fundamental issue that I don't think physical therapy is prepared for.

    Going forward, I'm focusing my house work on what can be seen. Lots of stuff can be hidden, or moved to the storage unit, or. . . The good news is that I only need to be on campus two days this week, so should be able to do stuff.

    Goals for the week ahead:
    1. Figure out conference stuff - hand it off to colleague
    2. FInish reading book for review
    3. Update syllabus
    4. Multiple little admin things
    5. Keep plugging away at clutter: office, room of doom
    6. Keep up with exercise, figuring out what I can and can't do.
    7. Have some fun

    It's noticeably lighter in the evenings, and even the mornings are improving. Soon my lilac will be blooming.


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    Replies
    1. Dame Eleanor Hull9 February 2026 at 03:29

      I get the "novel" thing too. I have started explicitly discussing genres in as many classes as I can--biography, memoir, drama, etc--and hope it will eventually do some good, but people do seem to have the notion that book=novel. So annoying.

      I'm sorry about the PT results. Last summer, my second session crippled me, and it took several weeks to get back to where I was when I came in. After months of doing the mild exercises I was assigned (without going back), I started doing more squats and suddenly my back pain disappeared. Maybe the months of exercises got me to where I could tackle the squats? Anyway, I've had some very good and some fairly bad experiences of PT, and I'm sorry that your pain is worse.

      The longer, lighter days are definitely a help!

      Delete
    2. Julie9 February 2026 at 11:19

      I love your writing!

      Sympathies on the conference: that sounds a nightmare. But good progress on a lot of fronts, especially Room of Doom.

      I haven't had students refer to books as 'novels', interestingly, though I think one of the terrible effects of reading online is that they lose all sense of texts as having authors or context i.e. articles being part of journals, chapters in books. In seminars, so often they will say things like 'in the first reading', and when I ask which reading they mean, they can't name the author.

      Delete
    3. Daisy12 February 2026 at 11:38

      I love the foreshadowing report card comment about history! It is a big deal writing for a more general audience, and takes a lot of case and skill!
      Congrats on tackling the doom room and making progress.
      Good luck with physio issue, hope some other professional can solve the problem.

      Delete
  3. Dame Eleanor Hull9 February 2026 at 03:23

    I've been praised for the clarity of my writing, which I take as an enormous compliment. Like John McPhee, I think certain words should appear no more than once in an essay, and am mildly chagrined that in what otherwise is the piece of work I'm proudest of, the word 'surge' (used in a metaphorical sense) appears twice in two pages. I wish I'd caught that.

    Oh was that a draining week. Two very long on-campus days, a busy day driving around doing various errands, the funeral--at which the family rift was visibly, horribly obvious, which to me and probably to my husband was the saddest thing about it--and then three days in which I've done little besides sit around re-reading Sharon Shinn's Elemental Blessings series, which are bland and comforting.

    How I did:
    --1/2 hour writing/research on each of 3 days: ONE
    --prep for 2 meetings: YES
    --prep for guest class: YES
    --prep for future class activity that has to be started way in advance: NO
    --track down missing ILL book or institute library search: NO
    --gym at least 3x, yoga at least 4x: x2, x2 (good workouts, at least, though my trainer is out sick)
    --pick up cat meds: YES
    --remember to look at calendar/lists every day: YES

    New goals:
    --1/2 hour writing/research on each of 3 days
    --prep for 2 meetings
    --prep for guest class
    --prep for future class activity that has to be started way in advance
    --prep for language groups
    --first round of grading
    --track down missing ILL book or institute library search
    --gym at least 3x, yoga at least 4x
    --remember to look at calendar/lists every day

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    Replies
    1. Julie9 February 2026 at 11:13

      I like that rule about certain words appearing only once. Wonder how often I've been guilty of repetition in that way.

      Sorry your MIL's funeral was so tough. Family rifts are hard. It's a huge comfort to me that my in-laws do hold us close, and particularly last week. Seeing my kids comforted by and comforting their cousins is something I will hold on to for a long time.

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    2. Susan10 February 2026 at 19:03

      So very sorry about the family rift. It makes EVERYTHING harder. And clarity in writing is a gift!

      Delete
    3. Daisy12 February 2026 at 21:59

      That is a tough week to navigate. Hope this has been less fraught! You still got a lot of stuff done!

      Delete
  4. Julie9 February 2026 at 11:10

    Coming from the social sciences end of history, I think I've been influenced by the idea that prose should be quite direct and sparse. I don't tend to use metaphor much. I usually do use numbers, but they never stand alone, there has to be text to unpack their meaning. I think this current project would benefit from maps, eventually. I do use the first person, so in that sense, I think it is my voice. I have been praised for clarity., which like Dame Eleanor, I take as a huge compliment. I love putting words together, and am always saddened by people who don't seem to care about how they write.

    My linguistic gripes are too numerous to list. My kids roll their eyes at each other when I correct 'less' to 'fewer' or point out the misplaced or missing apostrophes in their text messages. (Apparently WhatsApp should be a grammar-free zone.) I really dislike 'utilise' for 'use' and the current tendency to switch nouns and verbs e.g. 'action' as a verb. The most recent clunky phrase in the repertoire of student bad writing that has me foaming at the mouth is 'based off of'.

    Forgot to post my own goals for last week!
    1. Research/writing - whatever feels manageable on Thursday/Friday. - YES (surprisingly productive)
    2. Book conference in April. - YES
    3. House/life admin: decluttering if time, look into getting standing desk. - NO
    4. Self-care: read, exercise, journal, Netflix. - YES
    Also: long drive to cross-country and back through fog on Saturday, lots of Latin with reluctant teenager, bit more research for summer travel.

    It was a predictably hard week and I still feel tired, but did a surprising amount of writing Thursday and Friday. Somehow my brain threw up some insights into structure. I'll take them. And the drive on Saturday was at least to a pretty place with bookshops and cafes, rather than the standard muddy field.

    This week:
    1. Research/writing - one day on each project, fourth day wait and see which needs the attention.
    2. Meetings and department seminar.
    3. House/life admin: travel planning, financial stuff, return library book, decluttering.
    4. Self-care/fun: exercise, reading, Netflix, journal, cook a new recipe.

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    Replies
    1. Dame Eleanor Hull12 February 2026 at 16:41

      Yay Latin! And two good days of writing!

      Delete
    2. Daisy12 February 2026 at 22:02

      Maps and figures that support the text is essential in my field, I always love when a social science or humanities paper includes maps, it makes things very real for readers I think, especially if they are a bit out of the field and need something to hang their reading on...
      Hope this week has been a bit more relaxed so far!

      Delete
  5. Daisy10 February 2026 at 18:58

    Clarity, clarity, clarity… One goal, and most of what I do tries to strive for that one. An elegantly written paper is a joy, and a wonderful bonus, but clarity is the one non-negotiable aspect of that. Easier said than done of course, but the advantage of working in a field where co-authors are almost a given is that one gets multiple chances to get better!

    Writing peeves… Might have a few, or many… “Since time immemorial” makes me crazy, partly because it is a vague weird phrase and partly because it is inevitably followed by some sort of fluff that is either patently incorrect, or just unnecessary. Lack of Oxford commas… just say no! “Irregardless” is not a word… Ever… “This study aims to….” Really? Does it use a cross-bow or a rifle? “In this abstract we will….” Yeah we know, you are writing an abstract, do not waste any of your precious 250 words…

    What a week… And month really… Committee is done (95% great), conference is done (science part good, interpersonal drama part bad), it does feel like things lighten up now. So this week I will have actual research goals! But also we start tech week for the show I’m playing so nights are filled with Sondheim, definitely a good thing!

    Last week’s goals
    Finish student presentations and help them practice DONE
    Finish committee review meetings and all related paperwork DONE
    Gather up little bits of mind from puddles into which it has melted IN PROGRESS
    Do something healthy NOPE
    Enjoy conference!! DONE

    This week’s goals
    All trip accounting for lab work and conference
    Read and edit student chapters

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Susan10 February 2026 at 19:07

      OMG "From time immemorial": it's ALWAYS wrong in predictable ways. Always used by people who don't work in historically focused fields (history, archeology).

      And very sorry for the interpersonal drama at the conference.

      Delete
    2. Dame Eleanor Hull12 February 2026 at 16:42

      I told Sir John I loved the Oxford comma so much I would marry it, except that I was already married, and he said for the Oxford comma he could countenance a three-way!

      Delete
    3. Daisy12 February 2026 at 22:02

      Sir John is clearly a brilliant fellow with excellent taste!

      Delete
  6. heu mihi13 February 2026 at 14:08

    Um.

    I totally thought that I replied to this on Monday. And here it is Friday.

    Not going to bother with weekly goals, since here we are....

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    Replies
    1. Dame Eleanor Hull13 February 2026 at 18:59

      It's the perfect opportunity to list all the things you have actually done, for the pleasure of a big pile of YES when you report in!

      Delete

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