Stalled

I have stalled to such an extreme degree that I have just stopped. I think I might have to pick up again after the new year (since we're leaving town in a few days and won't be back until then). I hope to read a few related things between now and then to keep the ideas alive and, perhaps, developing.

OMG

I just realized I lost a month.

This IS Hard.

I wish I had some words of wisdom to drop into the pool, but I'm stuck. In fact, I'm crashing. My brain is suddenly empty; I've never read a thing in my life; I have no idea what I am doing here. Seriously. I have to write a paper, and I am drawing a blank. I keep trying to go back to the days when I'd think of a topic and begin exploring it. I have no idea how I did that. In fact, looking over essays I wrote just a couple of months ago, I'm perplexed. I don't recognize any of the ideas. I'm beginning to panic. I think this is a block, and I'm not sure I've ever experienced a real-life, god-forsaken block. I'm in trouble. I will think about what I would say to you, GEW, and hopefully I'll come up with something over the next day or two. Ack!

This is Hard.

So. I need to submit some pages to my advisor in January. I want to get it done at least a week before I start teaching again. I'd REALLY like to have a draft done by the end of next week, so that I can just tinker over the holidays, adding stuff, fixing footnotes and filling in references.

But here's the rub. Suddenly, I feel as if I know nothing. Or, at least, that I have read nothing.

Suggestions about how to slog forward?

Underwater

We traveled for Thanksgiving. Then we all got sick. Then on the day we were heading home we got notice that the owner of our rental wants it back by Jan. 3. So now I'm still sick and still unpacking from the trip and househunting. The good news is that after a couple days of panic, the househunting is going well, and I should be able to get at least a little work done before the next holidays. Until moving interrupts it.

Welcome, Kevin! Good to see you last week, GEW. And hope you had a great break SafiaK.