This is my 3rd bulleted post of the week, but it’s Friday, so what else would I do?
- I only pull all-nighters when absolutely necessary or when enough time has passed for me to forget that staying up all night is a terrible idea. I was up all night Tuesday working on my thesis, which might have been okay, but I had a full day Wednesday, including my normal 3-midnight shift at the library. At work I was basically a useless blob. I tried to catch up on blogs, but I could only stare at the screen with burning eyes. I’m just not someone who can get away with skimping on sleep.
- I’m still really excited about getting accepted into the PhD program here. Sometimes I think about it and just smile. I found out from one of my professors that I had a lot of faculty support. They all agreed that I do good work, which is such a blah compliment, but it means a lot to me.
- Um . . . I’m having a blast with the writing blog, and thanks a kajillion to all of you who have been participating. I want to send extra love to those of you who comment on what other people have written and keep the conversation going. I’m feeling a little overwhelmed with everything, because I want to follow up with all the commenters and contributors, but it’s proven to be too much for me this week. We need a welcome wagon!
- Sometimes I read other people’s blogs or I read comments about the kinds of blogs that other people like to read, and I find myself wanting to change to be like other bloggers. Soon I come to my senses, because I’m having a blast doing exactly what I’m doing. The thought of me writing a relationship blog is hilarious. I’d also be bad at pretending to be an expert at something. I can’t tell stories either or write poetry. And, I don’t take good pictures.
- I have been eating terribly and not exercising at all, and I’m getting tired of it.
- I’ve finally made some significant progress on my thesis. But, as my advisor puts it, I need to be writing like a machine, scanning texts quickly, summarizing each thinker’s approach, and recording my responses. I’m actually having a good time working on my thesis. I’m going to have to keep that in mind and stop procrastinating!
- I have the awesome kind of job where you can tell your boss that you have no idea if you’ll be working there come Fall, because you’re applying to PhD programs. I was surprised this week to find out that other people at the library want me to hang around. They keep giving me reasons to stay in California. It’s amazing how much you can impress people by being the kind of employee who shows up and does what she’s supposed to do. I really don’t feel like I go above and beyond.
- Last night, I was introduced to library tag. A student group organized it, and the library said yes. You’ve never heard such noise in a library. I thought the building was going to come down. I thought someone was going to die. But, everyone survived. Some grumps complained like we do this every night and there aren’t 394857 other places in the library where they could sit in silence.
I’m going to have myself a good weekend. You should too!
{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }
Library tag?! As in a bunch of kids running around in a library? Why on earth would they do that if they could go outside or something? And I’m not one to skimp on sleep either. I don’t think I’ve pulled an all nighter in my whole life. I think I’d have to sleep for a week to make up for it if I did.
Library tag actually sounds fun!
Library tag sounds like so much fun! It must give a lot of peace of mind to know you’ve been accepted for the PhD program, and every at work is happy with you. It’s definitely a good way to start the weekend. :)
every should be everyone… ehm.. yeah. And I can’t even claim it’s early any more as it’s 2.30pm here!
Woo! The writing blog was awesome this past week. So excited about where it’s going.
Good for you cracking on that thesis…..and actually, enjoying it? Nice. I would have no idea how to even start writing a thesis.
I think your blog is incredibly intriguing. It’s much different than many others I come by and I love it.
May I ask what you’ve been pursuing your MA in? You said you work in a library so I wondered if you were doing Library Science.
I absolutely love the idea of library tag and absolutely would have played. One day in high school we had a game of tag in my English class. It was a lot of fun.
Library tag sounds like a lot of fun. Many apologies for not having made a presence yet over the writing blog, I am hoping to get over there and read this weekend — its been a crazy weekend. I love your blog as you write it — dont change a thing!
I like your bulleted posts! My bulleted comments:
- I think faculty saying you do good work is a great compliment! Especially since it’s from more than one faculty member!
- Exercise is the first thing to go when I get busy…I haven’t exercised since January and I too am getting tired of it.
- Even if I have fun working on my thesis or big project, my brain tells me that it is HARD WORK therefore I should procrastinate, even though I actually enjoy the process once I get to it. It’s annoying.
I actually enjoy bullet posts on occasion! They’re fun and easy to read and right to the point (no pun intended).
Good for you for making progress on your thesis. I’m glad you’re actually able to enjoy it. I’m working on my master’s thesis right now and I’m actually enjoying it as well. It’s a lot of work but a wonderful experience.
I’m glad the feeling of wanting to be like other bloggers passes quickly, because I really like the tone and style of your writing.
Have a good weekend!
I’ve rarely pulled an all-nighter, mostly because I just can’t survive without at least 6-8 hours of sleep. I thrive when I’ve had my full 8 hours.
Please don’t change anything about your blog! I absolutely love to read it. Every time I read a post of yours I am like “that’s totally me!”
I can’t even begin to tell you the last time I exercised. It has been a while and I really want to start again. I always feel so much better after I exercise, but that’s the general feeling I suppose.
Good bosses are hard to come by. I’m really appreciative of mine, as he’s a boss who understands that you can’t control when you are sick. He works with my student schedule every semester and is always helpful.
Library tag sounds interesting! I would totally play tag. I love a good game of tag. Our library would never allow such a thing though, so I’ll probably never get the chance to play…
Ahhh, Friday how I love you!
I like that the bullet points for “eating terribly” and “significant thesis progress” are right next to each other. Unfortunately, and as I learned the hard way, those two are often related.
I often feel that way when I look at other blogs too. I think that I should change mine around but then I realize that just wouldn’t be me so I don’t :-)
I can not skimp on sleep. I tend to be violent, unpredictible, and not a very good person to live with. Unfortunately I have had to pull all nighters before with different projects or my grad horn class I was taking.
I think your blog is perfect just the way it is. I love your style, what you write about (bullets and all), and your voice. You are unique in your own way and that rocks!
I am so guilty of the no exercise thing. I have been uber busy and when I get a second to myself (or day) I lay around and procrastinate like there is no tomorrow. I know I need to just get my fluffy butt off the couch, but it is just hard….
I like writing research/thesis papers. You learn lots – about yourself and the topic you love. Go you!!!
Library tag?! Well, that should get more kids into the library. Good luck!
i’ve read articles on how to become a “professional” or “well-known” blogger, but the first rule is to cater to your audience. to become an expert at one or two things and only write about those things. never stray, etc. it’s not fun at all. and who’s paying you to be bored and feel like you have a schedule? the ad companies exploding on your page? ugh.
i like that i can write about my life and the little things going on it in and people still comment, still relate. we’re all human, we all have SOMEthing in common. it’s nice when i can read a post from someone else and, when i get to the end, go “oh my god! i know exactly what you mean!” and then go off on a tangent about the thing that happened to me. it’s fun!
btw, fantastic job on the writing site, especially with all you’ve got on your plate. i haven’t had time to check it out, but i’m definitely interested. i like to write every now and then, mostly abstract, descriptive poetry, but it works.
also, library tag? that sounds like a freakin blast!
I love posting in bullets! I get way more comments that way and it’s much easier to do!
Also, I am super proud of the writing blog. People are really liking it! So much potential! Week one was great.
One more thing. Don’t change your blog. It is awesome the way it is!
I don’t think I could change my blog, either. Sometimes I wish it had a more recognizable theme. But then I realize all the stuff I’d have to leave out… It would feel like an incomplete thought.
Ha, library tag. It’s like a camp activity for the uber nerdy. AKA sign me up.
Youre the best organizer ever with the Writing site. You’re awesome :)
-I want to play library tag! The most fun we had at school was a pillow fight flash mob, which was definitely entertaining.
-Bullets are amazing, as is your writing style here. I’ll chime in with those who appreciate your style.
-As for sleep, I am horrid at maintaining any regular schedule. I was the lunatic who wrote and defended a 96 page honors thesis in 2 weeks–don’t worry, the research and notations were done way before that. No sleep was to be had though! Now, Eric goes loony without it, so we have good times reconciling our different schedules.
-Any praise from professors is awesome praise, so woo-hoo for that!
I feel so old because I think library tag sounds like a terrible idea. What about the poor people trying to study?!?!?! It’s a library!!! I think there would be a revolt if anyone tried that in our library. Law students are vicious.
ditto on eating terrible and not exercising. need to get on that.
on your blog just be yourself. i would laugh if i tried doing a dating blog too. what a disaster. i’m single but not looking..
I feel the same way about my blog and other people’s blogs. It seems like everyone else has their thoughts perfectly written, and mine are all jumbled.
Nice job on getting into the PhD program!! Woooohooo!
I can’t skimp on sleep either. I can’t even pull all-nighters. When I was in school, I just used to wake up early to finish a paper. I feel that my mind is fresher at 6am, as opposed to 3am. haha. My mind isn’t even fresh right now, and I keep making spelling mistakes as I type…aggravating!
Haha, library tag sounds awesome.
Glad you’re enjoying writing your thesis. You kind of have to if you want to get it done! I kind of enjoyed writing my thesis too, when I understood what was going on. (Made the mistake of reading a journal article targeted at oncologists once and nearly everything went over my head. haha I almost freaked out because in one article went from knowing a lot to feeling like I knew nothing.)