Getting Back in Gear

Hope all is well with everyone. I'm not sure if it's reassuring or just plain hilarious that we all seemed to stall around the same time. I'm back in New York and trying to get a head start on my reading. As a junior member of the club (still working on my orals and all), my list of impending shame items are as follows:

• Register for the conference at which I'm supposed to present in March (by Monday).
  
• Write the conference paper (by 2/15)!
• Reserve a room by 3/1!
• Apply for two fellowships: One for the conference (by 2/1) and one for the Center for Politics and Culture (by 2/15).
• Finish the INCL I took this semester by 3/1.
• Finish compiling two of my three orals lists by 6/1.

I'm sure there's more, but I'll have to wait on it! Right now, I've got two books and about 500 pages of secondary texts to read by next week! Ack! Shriek! Well, not so bad!!!!

Yes, invite your friend Amstr! I was thinking about inviting a former Cal Poly comrade who is working on the last stages of his dissertation right now. Whad'ya think? ;)

Update in Brief

Very Brief: Finished a book this week, read two articles, wrote 500 words, and started back teaching full time. Soon, I'll give a more detailed update, ask some questions, and post a to do list. On another note, I just watched the Lost premiere, brutha!

Adding more blood, sweat, and tears to the mix? (someone else's)

Hi fellow scholars,

I've another friend who's doing her dissertation work from a distance--Oregon to Cornell. She's an awesome medievalist and is starting her first chapter. (And has a kindergartener to boot.)

Mind if I send her an invite?

So is EVERYONE stalled?

I sure am.  Sheesh.

I'm running out of excuses for not working.  I got my fancy new laptop, I've got demos of organization and bibliography programs, I've got more than enough books to read.  But, I like to think, I still have unpacking to do, I don't have my computer totally set up yet, and I still need to get the kids settled into a routine after all the traveling and moving.

So in the spirit of avoiding public embarrassment as motivation, here are my Shame contributions: 1) email advisor by 12:01am Tuesday (I skipped my December check in), and 2) start working Monday night, no excuses or movie watching.

My goals for next week: 

-choose a bibliography program and enter book information from the fall

-type up notes from one book

-start reading Sidney's Old Arcadia

What are you guys up to?