Stuff, stuff and some more stuff.
So, I realized I haven't posted in like four weeks and since I'll be off the grid for another two weeks from tomorrow, I decided to give you a little update.
Academically, I managed to complete the rough draft of my thesis last week, after the six weeks I gave myself. Unfortunately, I came out with a clusterfuck twenty-two pages too long and in dire need of loads of editing. Good for me then that I gave myself six weeks (five, by now) of editing, huh? I also met with my advisor today because I had a really bad feeling about the thesis. He'd offered to read my introduction, so I edited it first because I just couldn't bring myself to let him read the non-edited version (because I'm academically vain like that) and sent it. In the meeting today he said he liked it and apparently, the structure made sense so yay for that? I'll need to send an e-mail to my second referee about the page count (some advisors have this quirk of only reading as far as the acceptable page count goes, and I'm honestly not sure how many pages I can cut until I get the final version...) and the question of pictures (sociologists like my advisor (and me) like them in the main text, historians like my second referees like them in the appendix and no, I'm not making this up). So, yeah, putting this on the to do for tonight.
I also started running regularly three times a week right at the start of my writing phase (so, seven weeks ago), which is a big surprise, mostly to myself. I hate running with a passion, and I really mean that I hate it. I'm not being hyperbolic here, I just really fucking hate running, more than any other physical activity. I hate pounding the asphalt with my feet, I hate the huffing and puffing, I hate the sweating, I hate everything about running. Unfortunately, concerning sports, running is the easiest to access because all you need to do is put on shoes and clothes and step out your front door. So I bought the shoes, bought clothes and asked a friend for some advice for novice runners. She suggested the NHS's Couch 2 5K program and so far, I'm miraculously sticking to it, meaning that last Friday I ran for twenty-five minutes straight without a break for the first time ever. I'm actually kinda proud of myself. I still hate running with a passion, though, and it'll never stop being that way.
Concerning future employment, I had an interesting meeting last week but because I'm paranoid as fuck, I'll write about that in a separate, f-locked post. In two weeks. (but people who've been on my flist for longer might probably know what this is about. Do wait with the comments for the f-locked entry, please?). Suffice to say: I made a final decision to apply somewhere but haven't gotten around to actually applying. Will rectify that when I'm back from the forced off-line vacation, though.
I also finally started reading Hillary Clinton's Hard Choices, another book that gives me very strong "I know what I want to do with my life but I have no idea how to get there" feelings (like Kim Barker's Taliban Shuffle), and Americans, let me tell you one thing: if you want a President who actually knows something about foreign policy (and you absolutely should want a President who actually knows something about foreign policy), do not abstain, split your vote or vote for Trump. Vote Hillary. That woman knows what she's talking about, is a dedicated feminist and public servant and genuinely believes in not just making America but the entire world a better place. I do not always agree with the means she used to get to that goal when she was Secretary of State, but I recognize absolute dedication to public service and the genuine wish to change something for the better when I see it, and I respect that (because that's kinda exactly the kind of public servant I'd like to be). Yes, I'm a Hillary fangirl, and I am not the least bit ashamed of it.
So, that's it, mostly because my life is boring like that and it'll become even more boring in the next two weeks because we're forced to move out for two weeks and I couldn't find a place to stay in Berlin, which means that I'll spend the next two weeks in really small Central Germany hamlets while my parents hopefully tour the countryside and let me work in peace on my clusterfuck thesis. I think I'll pack the first two SGA seasons, just in case. (okay, I also have Hillary to keep me company, and two Libba Bray books, maybe that'll help, too. I just hope that I'll be able to escape the damn dog days heat because I really fucking hate heat. Maybe even more than running. And that's saying a lot.)
Academically, I managed to complete the rough draft of my thesis last week, after the six weeks I gave myself. Unfortunately, I came out with a clusterfuck twenty-two pages too long and in dire need of loads of editing. Good for me then that I gave myself six weeks (five, by now) of editing, huh? I also met with my advisor today because I had a really bad feeling about the thesis. He'd offered to read my introduction, so I edited it first because I just couldn't bring myself to let him read the non-edited version (because I'm academically vain like that) and sent it. In the meeting today he said he liked it and apparently, the structure made sense so yay for that? I'll need to send an e-mail to my second referee about the page count (some advisors have this quirk of only reading as far as the acceptable page count goes, and I'm honestly not sure how many pages I can cut until I get the final version...) and the question of pictures (sociologists like my advisor (and me) like them in the main text, historians like my second referees like them in the appendix and no, I'm not making this up). So, yeah, putting this on the to do for tonight.
I also started running regularly three times a week right at the start of my writing phase (so, seven weeks ago), which is a big surprise, mostly to myself. I hate running with a passion, and I really mean that I hate it. I'm not being hyperbolic here, I just really fucking hate running, more than any other physical activity. I hate pounding the asphalt with my feet, I hate the huffing and puffing, I hate the sweating, I hate everything about running. Unfortunately, concerning sports, running is the easiest to access because all you need to do is put on shoes and clothes and step out your front door. So I bought the shoes, bought clothes and asked a friend for some advice for novice runners. She suggested the NHS's Couch 2 5K program and so far, I'm miraculously sticking to it, meaning that last Friday I ran for twenty-five minutes straight without a break for the first time ever. I'm actually kinda proud of myself. I still hate running with a passion, though, and it'll never stop being that way.
Concerning future employment, I had an interesting meeting last week but because I'm paranoid as fuck, I'll write about that in a separate, f-locked post. In two weeks. (but people who've been on my flist for longer might probably know what this is about. Do wait with the comments for the f-locked entry, please?). Suffice to say: I made a final decision to apply somewhere but haven't gotten around to actually applying. Will rectify that when I'm back from the forced off-line vacation, though.
I also finally started reading Hillary Clinton's Hard Choices, another book that gives me very strong "I know what I want to do with my life but I have no idea how to get there" feelings (like Kim Barker's Taliban Shuffle), and Americans, let me tell you one thing: if you want a President who actually knows something about foreign policy (and you absolutely should want a President who actually knows something about foreign policy), do not abstain, split your vote or vote for Trump. Vote Hillary. That woman knows what she's talking about, is a dedicated feminist and public servant and genuinely believes in not just making America but the entire world a better place. I do not always agree with the means she used to get to that goal when she was Secretary of State, but I recognize absolute dedication to public service and the genuine wish to change something for the better when I see it, and I respect that (because that's kinda exactly the kind of public servant I'd like to be). Yes, I'm a Hillary fangirl, and I am not the least bit ashamed of it.
So, that's it, mostly because my life is boring like that and it'll become even more boring in the next two weeks because we're forced to move out for two weeks and I couldn't find a place to stay in Berlin, which means that I'll spend the next two weeks in really small Central Germany hamlets while my parents hopefully tour the countryside and let me work in peace on my clusterfuck thesis. I think I'll pack the first two SGA seasons, just in case. (okay, I also have Hillary to keep me company, and two Libba Bray books, maybe that'll help, too. I just hope that I'll be able to escape the damn dog days heat because I really fucking hate heat. Maybe even more than running. And that's saying a lot.)