Jun 26, 2009 02:00
I'm stuck in the early doldrums of writing my dissertation; it's what's known as the "exploratory phase". Basically, I spend my time either at the library or at home searching through articles seeing if anything fits with what I am eventually going to try to do. (I won't bore you with the details of my future research.) There are days when I actually get stuff done separated by what seems like weeks where I do not. I meet with two of my committee members about once every two weeks. I have a love/hate relationship with these meetings. I love my two committee members and the advice they give (especially because they rarely agree with one another), but I hate preparing for the meeting. I work hard but it never seems like much when I get ready to present it to them. Anyhow, today was a good day. They both like my initial model and felt I had done good research. However, this means my next step is to start outlining/writing chapter 2 of my dissertation. (For you non-academites, chapter 2 is your literature review, where you cite all the works that have come before you.) It was nice to meet with them and not leave feeling they probably thought I should've done more work by now.
Other than that, not much is new here. I've been trying to take long walks and/or bike rides each day, just to get out of the house and to try and be a bit healthier. I'm still cell phone-less, although I don't mind it too much. (I honestly hate talking on the phone.) The only one who really seems to mind is BMM. My new car is running great, although I haven't named him/her yet. I tried on a few names, but none of them seemed to fit. (If you have any suggestions, let me know.)
Future plans: I am taking tomorrow off. I plan on get some groceries, doing some laundry, and just enjoying a day of not reading papers. This weekend Megan (the girl who stayed with us for a month a little over a year ago) is back in town. She told me she'd like to see me (and my roommates, I'm sure), but I think Victoria has the weekend planned out for her (she's even going to try and crash a wedding or something), so I may not get to see her. Next week I'll be busy with getting ready for the upcoming conference our research group is hosting here in town. The weekend after that I think my cohorts and I are going to go to the SD Fair. Then, I'll be back in Santa Barbara from the 12th through the 24th (+/- a day or two) to work with my former advisor. Plus, I get to stay in a nice suite again. (If you'll be in the SB area then, let me know and we'll hang out!)
That's enough for the boring update. :^)