After a meeting with the Graduate Studies Coordinator last week, I was really feeling the pressure to make sure I graduate on time. This is particularly stressful because my research has not produced anything other than learning experiences and character building. During the meeting, I realized that I needed to have my research completed and to have produced several manuscripts by December 2012. I knew that was my timeline all along, but I had not stepped back to think about what all that implied.
In trying to find a way to mentally process this pressure without having a productivity-debilitating anxiety attack, I realized that that date is approximately one hundred weeks away. One hundred is kind of a big, vague number though, so I thought about Andrew's school's schedule. His students take one subject every ten weeks, called a phase. In that time, the students learn about and achieve a proficiency in one culinary subject. So, I decided to divide my 100 weeks in to ten 10-week phases. The way I figure it, I can run one experiment, set up for another experiment, and begin writing up the first one in each 10 week phase. If I can pull that off (or something even close to it), I will be a very successful Ph.D. candidate and will be on track for an on-time graduation that will reflect a high level of productivity.
So that's the plan. One hundred weeks to success. This is Week One, Phase One and already I have felt more in control and been productive. I plan to blog about the project along the way, to keep some pressure on myself for a little public accountability. Wish me luck!
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Saturday, January 8, 2011
My latest project
I have embarked on a new project I call 2011 daily photo(s). I will take a photo a day and post it on Facebook (which is easier for me to upload pictures onto than here). Now I'm a week into it, and it has been a lot of fun. I hope I can keep up it up for the whole year.
The album is available at the following URL, even if you're not on Facebook:
The album is available at the following URL, even if you're not on Facebook:
2011 Daily Photo(s)
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
A New Year
The holidays are over, and a new year is here. I'm sure my optimism will return with the increasing daylight hours. It makes sense to me that the longest night of the year occurs a few days before Christmas. Given that Christmas starts in October and requires a month of psychic recovery, this horrible ordeal consumes almost 1/3 of my year. I wish I could move to a Muslim country from October to February (except for the years that Ramadan falls during that interval). I've been so stressed I missed December's period, a physical manifestation of my emotional distress (don't panic - two tests have shown I'm not pregnant; sorry if that was too much information).
It was great to have Madison here in Memphis for a week - felt like old times. She seemed to have fun, in spite of contracting strep and being quite sick for 3 days and then Andrew and I getting it and being pretty sick for 2 days after that. All that sickness really impaired all the fun plans we had made, but she seemed quite content mostly sitting around the house. She did get to do some fun things with her friends: movies, bowling, and ice skating. The crazy thunderstorms on New Year's Eve required us to cancel our plan for doing the South Main Arts District trolley hop, so we wound up going to our favorite, Three Angels Diner. Vicki joined us, and both she and Madison said they really liked it too. Afterwards, Maddie and Vicki went to a party while Andrew and I went to play Trivial Pursuit with our pals, Ben and Nichole, until 11:40pm when we had to leave to pick up Maddie from her party, over promptly at 12:05am. Now she's back in Indiana, and we hope to go up in February for her birthday (which is actually January 31, but close enough).
I had been planning a trip to see my family, going through Greensboro to visit Aunt Debbie and Uncle Sean, then up to Virginia Beach to see Dad and my brothers, then up to DC to Jamie and my nephews, and then home by way of Kentucky to see Carter, Noah, Grandma, and Aunt Bonnie. I didn't see any of my family for Thanksgiving or Christmas, so I had really been looking forward to this. But after a rapid succession of expenses, including the Christmas drain, my car dying, a new battery for Andrew's car, and a broken washing machine, our budget just couldn't accommodate a road trip too. It's only been a year and a half since I've seen Dad, Jesse, and Jadon, but it's been like four years since I've seen Jamie and his gang, and I guess it will be longer still. It was good have something to look forward to while I was trying to endure the holidays, so I guess that actually was the important function . Maybe I can work something out for the summer.
It was great to have Madison here in Memphis for a week - felt like old times. She seemed to have fun, in spite of contracting strep and being quite sick for 3 days and then Andrew and I getting it and being pretty sick for 2 days after that. All that sickness really impaired all the fun plans we had made, but she seemed quite content mostly sitting around the house. She did get to do some fun things with her friends: movies, bowling, and ice skating. The crazy thunderstorms on New Year's Eve required us to cancel our plan for doing the South Main Arts District trolley hop, so we wound up going to our favorite, Three Angels Diner. Vicki joined us, and both she and Madison said they really liked it too. Afterwards, Maddie and Vicki went to a party while Andrew and I went to play Trivial Pursuit with our pals, Ben and Nichole, until 11:40pm when we had to leave to pick up Maddie from her party, over promptly at 12:05am. Now she's back in Indiana, and we hope to go up in February for her birthday (which is actually January 31, but close enough).
I had been planning a trip to see my family, going through Greensboro to visit Aunt Debbie and Uncle Sean, then up to Virginia Beach to see Dad and my brothers, then up to DC to Jamie and my nephews, and then home by way of Kentucky to see Carter, Noah, Grandma, and Aunt Bonnie. I didn't see any of my family for Thanksgiving or Christmas, so I had really been looking forward to this. But after a rapid succession of expenses, including the Christmas drain, my car dying, a new battery for Andrew's car, and a broken washing machine, our budget just couldn't accommodate a road trip too. It's only been a year and a half since I've seen Dad, Jesse, and Jadon, but it's been like four years since I've seen Jamie and his gang, and I guess it will be longer still. It was good have something to look forward to while I was trying to endure the holidays, so I guess that actually was the important function . Maybe I can work something out for the summer.
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