Post-doc loc: hint #2

rest stop, originally uploaded by physics*chick.

Time for another hint in the guess the campus game...

Guess where I'm going for a post-doc?

Once again, *No cheating by going to Flickr to see the other pictures.*

Piled Higher and Deeper... they weren't kidding

My desk as it stands today:

Piles upon piles... stacks upon stacks... books and notes and files everywhere. I guess that's where PhD comics got the "Piled higher and Deeper" moniker from.

But wait... what is that sitting at the edge of my desk...



... could that be seven thesis copies bound and labelled in acco press binders? forms all signed and ready for submission?? Why yes, that's exactly what those are, and submit it is exactly what I did first thing this morning.

Whoah.

Post-doc loc: hint #1

evergreen, originally uploaded by physics*chick.

Since I'm still waiting for my supervisor's thesis comments, let's play a game!

Guess where I'm going for a post-doc?

*No cheating by going to Flickr to see the other pictures.*

OMG, they're back...

Fluevog has brought back my favourite boots... the boots that had me ready to break my budget last year until I discovered I couldn't get my size.

What do I do??? :O

ps: if I find out you all went and bought up the 7.5's I'll be a very unhappy girl! dats a bad internetz!

pps: Fluevog is also having a great SALE! Check it out, fun for the whole family!! I mean, I'm not not wearing new Fluevog sandals!

Like a lemur....

manga me, originally uploaded by physics*chick.

Here I am in manga form, because everybody was doing it.

Peer pressure...

excuse me while i melt into a pool of blubbering grad student

So, I gave a "final" draft of my thesis to my supervisor on Friday. I'm sure he will have a few suggestions, but I don't expect major revisions as he's seen the bulk of it already and we discussed the sections he hasn't on several occasions. The last few days I've been puttering around, tidying up a few little things here and there, buying the stupid acco press binders I have to submit my thesis in, finding all the forms and figuring out the oddities of submitting a partially manuscript-based thesis. That last bit was stressful, though for once they were actually nice to me at grad studies, and there isn't really a problem except I can't find my copyright agreements anywhere. Note to self: make a folder for that.

So everything is fine. I'm almost done! But I feel all shaky and like I'm going to burst into tears. I think I've been under a bit too much stress. Maybe the giant thunderstorm outside is not helping. Maybe waking up at 4am and mentally outlining a review article I could write is not helping.

I have to say, I've done this thesis writing thing all wrong. Since April, I've attended 5 conferences/workshops, organized an "informal" summer school lunch series, given 5 talks and 2 posters, travelled to 6 cities, cut 2 pseudo-vacations short, submitted 1 paper and helped with corrections/preparation for two more, submitted two more abstracts for conference presentations, had my SIL visiting, had my hubby go to Japan for a month (while SIL was visiting), helped my best friend get married... oh, and wrote a thesis. I had, at most, two week stretches to write, and most of those got broken up with other little things. The majority of my thesis was written in bits and pieces of a day or two here and there. Some of it on planes, trains and busses. I can't say I really enjoyed the process.

Contrast this with how I wrote my MSc thesis, which I actually really enjoyed doing (ok, I missed the lab, but still I enjoyed it): one 7 week stretch, removed from my department by 5000km. No distractions, no conferences, no travelling. One move, and then time at a desk. I got really focused and into it, I learned things about my data I hadn't seen before, I thought of new interpretations, and things started to come together in a more consistent way. I had time to pick at the writing, the presentation, the ordering of the story and make it all flow.

I'm happy enough with the thesis I have in front of me now, I think it flows ok (given the circumstance under which I wrote it, I'm a little surprised), there are generalizations from the data that I'm just thrilled about, and I think it presents a nice consistent story. I hope it won't be painful to read. But I didn't have the time (or energy) to put a real polish on it this time. I'm sure it's good enough, but it's my usual "best". I'm proud of the science, but the document is just ok. There are things I thought of doing, that I just passed over in the end. It's bugging me. Maybe this is why I keep waking up at 4am thinking about these things. On the other hand, there is a voice in my head pleading "for the love of god, please just hand it in" because I can't bear the thought of dealing with it any longer. I need a real vacation. ;)

So, for those of you embarking on writing a thesis, I have this advice to offer: don't book yourself into dozens of obligations while you are writing. Set aside a real block of time to focus. Tell your colleagues they will have to get along without you (run away if you can!). Then, maybe, just maybe, you will enjoy it and learn something new from yourself.

I learned that I have limits. *sigh*

I'm still here...

bursting with blooms, originally uploaded by physics*chick.

... still writing, finished with conferences for the time being, papers are out of the way for now, dreaming of a bit of vacation when my thesis is submitted.

I have lots of things to post, but all writing energy is going elsewhere.

Meanwhile, look at the pretty flowers...

(taken in May with my film SLR Olympus OM-1 with my new-to-me 135mm f2.8 lens... dreamy bokeh)

Alberta

Alberta::summer 2008, originally uploaded by physics*chick.

Two weeks ago, my best friend got married in the Rockies. Beautiful mountains, beautiful wedding.

I love this country, there are some incredible places and we had a great time out west. I just wish it weren't so big so I could have my friends and family closer.

der iz kitteh in mah computah?

more cat pictures

real post someday... mahbe aftur dissertashun dun. that reminds me... maybe i should backup...

right now about lolcats is about as much as i have energy for. *sigh*

i guess i'd do ok if whisked back to the 1930's...

I don't know how this came out so positive, but apparently I'd be an average housewife of the 1930's. Honestly, one look around this apartment would cause you to beg to differ, but when are internet quizzes accurate anyway.

Derived from an actual document (which you can view here) that gives some interesting insight into how things have changed over the years, it has now been put into the form of an internet quiz.

43 As a 1930s wife, I am Average Take the test!

Seen over at Dr. Brazen Hussy's who didn't fare so well (but has a roomba so likely doesn't have a dust bunny colony threatening her existance).

(Addendum, apparently hubby is "very superior"... I didn't believe him so I rated him too and it came out even higher... lucky me! Interesting that we noted the wife is expected to fulfill a societal role and maintain the status quo, but the husband gets extra points for going outside his expected role... perhaps the biggest difference between the 1930's and now?)