april is the cruelest month
APRIL is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
--T.S. Eliot, "The Waste Land."
It's (Inter)National Poetry Month, and the poem quoted above is really both the obvious and the only choice to start things off.
It's been quiet over here since about mid-March. Not coincidentally, that's when I stopped accessing email and social networking/media sites of any kind from my work computer. It's just as well, since I need every thimbleful of productivity I can find.
There's been a lot going on in the last couple of weeks. To steal a favorite quote from The Princess Bride, "Let me 'splain... No, there is too much. Let me sum up."
So, yeah. That's most of what's been going on over here. It's all good, just a whirlwind. However, unlike previous whirlwinds, this time I am making a conscious effort to plan my days such that I get enough rest, remember to eat, and block out actual chunks of time to get things done AND to relax and be social. We'll see how this goes, but I'm optimistic.
Step one: become a morning person. (We'll see how that goes, too.)
Anyway, hi! I hope you are all doing well, too.
This entry was originally posted at http://silveraspen.dreamwidth.org/291906.html and mirrored to LJ. Please comment where you wish! (There are
comments currently posted at Dreamwidth.)
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
--T.S. Eliot, "The Waste Land."
It's (Inter)National Poetry Month, and the poem quoted above is really both the obvious and the only choice to start things off.
It's been quiet over here since about mid-March. Not coincidentally, that's when I stopped accessing email and social networking/media sites of any kind from my work computer. It's just as well, since I need every thimbleful of productivity I can find.
There's been a lot going on in the last couple of weeks. To steal a favorite quote from The Princess Bride, "Let me 'splain... No, there is too much. Let me sum up."
- Dissertation data collection continues apace. As of this writing, I have well over the number of surveys needed to achieve statistical validity at the 90% confidence level with a 5% margin of error, and am 30 away from validity at the 95% confidence level. I also have response rates that are in line with national public opinion research, and thus have received approval from my chair to begin analysis and to schedule my final defense date.
- Speaking of that final defense date, I sent out schedule requests to my committee. Based on responses so far, it looks as though the defense will be June 6th. It's going to be a busy 2 months between now and then.
- Busy for several reasons, in fact, as we've now received word that the other major grant proposal submitted last year by my department has been funded. Go team! But whoa, now we have to DO everything we said we could. Did I mention it's going to be busy?
- Plus there are those other two funded projects that are starting up in April...
- Plus a potential 2 new proposals that are due in the 3rd week of April (at least I'm not writing or coordinating them, just staying linked in)...and the manuscript in revision also due that week... etc., etc., etc.
So, yeah. That's most of what's been going on over here. It's all good, just a whirlwind. However, unlike previous whirlwinds, this time I am making a conscious effort to plan my days such that I get enough rest, remember to eat, and block out actual chunks of time to get things done AND to relax and be social. We'll see how this goes, but I'm optimistic.
Step one: become a morning person. (We'll see how that goes, too.)
Anyway, hi! I hope you are all doing well, too.
This entry was originally posted at http://silveraspen.dreamwidth.org/291906.html and mirrored to LJ. Please comment where you wish! (There are
comments currently posted at Dreamwidth.)