Gillian Polack's Blog, page 190
April 28, 2012
gillpolack @ 2012-04-29T16:26:00
I have 4,500 words and eleven notes. I'm not allowed dinner until I have 3500 words and no notes. Then I shall have a first attempt at Chapter Six and I shall be permitted to do truly exciting things, like enter figures for my tax return. I'm also allowed to stop having asthma attacks. They're not big ones, but they've persisted all weekend and are very annoying.
Still, I have lots of paper stacked ready to store and my bibliography is down to fourteen pages and in ten days I should be caught up on all the things I got behind on when life went pearshaped.
Tomorrow may be more exciting, but I'm not going to promise anything. What I want to do tomorrow is catch up on review reading. What I need to do tomorrow is cross more of the urgent things off lists. Such is life...
Still, I have lots of paper stacked ready to store and my bibliography is down to fourteen pages and in ten days I should be caught up on all the things I got behind on when life went pearshaped.
Tomorrow may be more exciting, but I'm not going to promise anything. What I want to do tomorrow is catch up on review reading. What I need to do tomorrow is cross more of the urgent things off lists. Such is life...
gillpolack @ 2012-04-29T12:15:00
I'm so due a break! I've done all the things I needed to do this morning. All I have to do today is polish of Chapter Six and make big inroads on my tax. For the tax is still not done. Two weeks I've been waiting for the missing papers (they were supposed to be in the post to me) and now I am done waiting. I shall finish my tax without them and ring up and ask for a new set tomorrow. All this is after lunch, however. Until lunchtime I shall do a little bibliographical slog. it's the bit I hate, so I'm doing it between bits I enjoy. And if I can get these four piles of bibliographical notes entered correctly in the right files and in the right form then, lo, those four piles of paper can go away. I shall be one step closer to a life that is almost under control and I shall rejoice and I shall dance a silly dance.
gillpolack @ 2012-04-29T10:20:00
My Sunday morning has started with a bang, and I haven't had my coffee yet. I think I may delay coffee for a little, however, and do some more work. This is because I'm on a roll. I've done my end of the final edits for tomorrow's BiblioBuffet piece and I've asked another interview question for another. If I can read 300 pages towards a third, I shall have done a consistent set of work (all for BB!) and I shall have earned a big pot of coffee.
I didn't finish Chapter Six of my dissertation last night, but I worked my way through my many piles of paper. I now only have a baker's dozen difficult-to-deal-with-but-too-important-to-lose notes and a printout. I've given up on the 3,000 word ideal chapter and am now going for a 3,500 one. This is unusual for me. I currently have 4,500 words, though. I've managed to prune things down a lot, to have entered 60 sheets of notes and to only add 500 words, but that means that I have reduced my options in the final edit for I've been working on the impossible excrescences as I've gone.
No library visit for me today. I shall do it tomorrow. No visitors for me today, either. Today is heads-down work. I want to have crossed three things off my big must-do list by the time I sleep tonight. In an ideal world, I want to cross four things off.
I have a lot of new teaching coming up, and none of this is going to get done during the first two weeks. It's that simple.
In fact, I won't get concentrated dissertation time between Tuesday and late June. It's that simple. It's another of those busy times of year. This year, of course, I've managed to complicate things with all that dental work and maybe some more medical stuff*. The frantic mood will fade as Canberra reaches the second week of June. It always does. The end of the financial year affects the public sector so very much that things become quieter for the rest of us, very suddenly. And I get two weeks without teaching in July. This means that my current aim is to do everything I can before the big rush, so that I don't collapse at the seams during the rush and so that I can have a gorgeous time doing solid work when I get some quiet time.
*Only one medical appointment this week, however.
I didn't finish Chapter Six of my dissertation last night, but I worked my way through my many piles of paper. I now only have a baker's dozen difficult-to-deal-with-but-too-important-to-lose notes and a printout. I've given up on the 3,000 word ideal chapter and am now going for a 3,500 one. This is unusual for me. I currently have 4,500 words, though. I've managed to prune things down a lot, to have entered 60 sheets of notes and to only add 500 words, but that means that I have reduced my options in the final edit for I've been working on the impossible excrescences as I've gone.
No library visit for me today. I shall do it tomorrow. No visitors for me today, either. Today is heads-down work. I want to have crossed three things off my big must-do list by the time I sleep tonight. In an ideal world, I want to cross four things off.
I have a lot of new teaching coming up, and none of this is going to get done during the first two weeks. It's that simple.
In fact, I won't get concentrated dissertation time between Tuesday and late June. It's that simple. It's another of those busy times of year. This year, of course, I've managed to complicate things with all that dental work and maybe some more medical stuff*. The frantic mood will fade as Canberra reaches the second week of June. It always does. The end of the financial year affects the public sector so very much that things become quieter for the rest of us, very suddenly. And I get two weeks without teaching in July. This means that my current aim is to do everything I can before the big rush, so that I don't collapse at the seams during the rush and so that I can have a gorgeous time doing solid work when I get some quiet time.
*Only one medical appointment this week, however.
gillpolack @ 2012-04-28T20:52:00
I was in work avoidance mode. Now I'm in "I'm going to get a bit more done, or else" mode. My next section is on whether we need scholarly apparatus. Or why we need it. Or what on earth novelists are doing when they use scholarly apparatus in fiction. Especially footnotes. I mean, what fiction writer would be daft enough to write a novel with more than ninety footnotes? Except they aren't scholarly apparatus. They just mimic it. And apparently they were murder to typeset and... no more footnotes in novels. I promise. Although I am seriously writing about the relationship of scholarly apparatus to fiction. Not in general, however, and I suspect I shall carefully avoid mentioning footnotes. Just in case someone wants to make a point about what I did with them once. Even though I'm time travelling quite happily without footnotes. Really. It's "Look, no hands" and I'm careering downhill with no brakes.
In other words, I find it rather ironic that I'm writing these particular words. Someone else ought to write them. Someone who has never mocked the apparatus of scholars in their fiction. Someone nicer than me.
In other words, I find it rather ironic that I'm writing these particular words. Someone else ought to write them. Someone who has never mocked the apparatus of scholars in their fiction. Someone nicer than me.
gillpolack @ 2012-04-28T19:19:00
I might have solved my clothes problem. I do, however, need some advice.
What I noticed when we were shopping is that sixties short dress styles are now considered quite smart. Some of these dresses are worn with leggings or pants and some are worn as dresses.
I had entirely forgotten (until I raided the depths of my wardrobe) but I have a black lace dress from my grandmother. It was actually the long dress she wore to my uncle's barmtizvah, but she had it reshaped into a dress in the 1960s. It's purely, purely sixties, because it's a lace dress from the sixties. So - do I wear it with smart black pants (I have a pair) or as a minidress? It will need something under it, because I lack the courage to wear see-through lace sans something under. (I'm assuming that leggings will look very wrong with lace and so am not even considering that option.)
If this doesn't work, I have other options, maybe. But to have something that actually fits current fashion has a kind of absurdity about it that appeals to me.
What I noticed when we were shopping is that sixties short dress styles are now considered quite smart. Some of these dresses are worn with leggings or pants and some are worn as dresses.
I had entirely forgotten (until I raided the depths of my wardrobe) but I have a black lace dress from my grandmother. It was actually the long dress she wore to my uncle's barmtizvah, but she had it reshaped into a dress in the 1960s. It's purely, purely sixties, because it's a lace dress from the sixties. So - do I wear it with smart black pants (I have a pair) or as a minidress? It will need something under it, because I lack the courage to wear see-through lace sans something under. (I'm assuming that leggings will look very wrong with lace and so am not even considering that option.)
If this doesn't work, I have other options, maybe. But to have something that actually fits current fashion has a kind of absurdity about it that appeals to me.
April 27, 2012
gillpolack @ 2012-04-28T13:56:00
This morning I achieved Great Things. I've written the opening to chapter six and work out how to fit the 4,000 words I'd already written with the ten stacks of notes remaining. All that remains is for me to finish the writing, so that the entire chapter is 3,000 words. I can go to 4,000 if I must, but 3,000 words would be ideal.
Donna and I went shopping for clothes for the Aurealis Awards. She has a lovely outfit. I am tossing up going naked; in t-shirt and leggings; or maybe finding something old that works. I put on lost weight with all the crises and new clothes are not a wise option. They would be a wiser option if I were a size 14, but, as I explained to Donna, I haven't been a size 14 since I was twelve. I'm overweight and I have big bones (both - I know - it's pure greed to want big bones and fat together) and I just don't have the money to buy something new and glitzy, especially as the minute I lose the recent weight again (which I must, for health reasons) it will be consigned to the dungeons of unwearability. The clothes I was saving for just such a problem-time were, in fact in the bags of stolen clothes. This doesn't mean I have no options. It just means that the options will come from the depths of my clothes cupboard and I won't be as dressy as others. Since I very seldom *am* as dressy as others* this is not unexpected. And spending time with friends is never time wasted.
The real news, of course, is that the DVD I shall use as background to my writing today is The Bob and Son of Blob. If blobs don't go the distance, I have Invaders from Mars.
*price of shape and health issues - eczema leaves scars, it seems, even when it's been mostly clear for years.
Donna and I went shopping for clothes for the Aurealis Awards. She has a lovely outfit. I am tossing up going naked; in t-shirt and leggings; or maybe finding something old that works. I put on lost weight with all the crises and new clothes are not a wise option. They would be a wiser option if I were a size 14, but, as I explained to Donna, I haven't been a size 14 since I was twelve. I'm overweight and I have big bones (both - I know - it's pure greed to want big bones and fat together) and I just don't have the money to buy something new and glitzy, especially as the minute I lose the recent weight again (which I must, for health reasons) it will be consigned to the dungeons of unwearability. The clothes I was saving for just such a problem-time were, in fact in the bags of stolen clothes. This doesn't mean I have no options. It just means that the options will come from the depths of my clothes cupboard and I won't be as dressy as others. Since I very seldom *am* as dressy as others* this is not unexpected. And spending time with friends is never time wasted.
The real news, of course, is that the DVD I shall use as background to my writing today is The Bob and Son of Blob. If blobs don't go the distance, I have Invaders from Mars.
*price of shape and health issues - eczema leaves scars, it seems, even when it's been mostly clear for years.
gillpolack @ 2012-04-27T21:40:00
I'm so pleased with myself. I've sorted all my notes for Chapter Six into 12 stacks, each with a heading. I had the stacks earlier, so this isn't quite as impressive as it sounds. Nor is it why I'm so pleased with myself. I'm pleased with myself because I found a note that says: "The relationship between a drive for interoperability and the need for a funding platform" and then "Handmade 19th century" - yes, I was talking about handmade materials as permitting interoperability. It has nothing to do with any of my research and was a last gift from the Great Note Rearrangement. So I gift it to all of you, with love.
gillpolack @ 2012-04-27T17:12:00
I have brought together all my notes for Chapter Six of the dissertation. My next step is to sort them.
The problem is that there are so very many notes. I know how many words I have and I know how many ideas I'm allowed and, you know, if I wanted to write another three chapters, I'd have about the right number of notes.
This weekend could be a little challenging in spots as I try to sort out the mess that is having over-researched. It's probably not as much of a mess as I think right now. It's probably just that the stack of notes is so very much higher than it ought to be. I'm hoping that there's a lot of repetition and that my once-clear ideas will return and sort those notes for me.
The sorting is the crucial bit. I did a lot of my thinking while note-taking, so if I can get them sorted properly, then the first draft will go quickly. Still. How on earth did I develop so very much paper?
The problem is that there are so very many notes. I know how many words I have and I know how many ideas I'm allowed and, you know, if I wanted to write another three chapters, I'd have about the right number of notes.
This weekend could be a little challenging in spots as I try to sort out the mess that is having over-researched. It's probably not as much of a mess as I think right now. It's probably just that the stack of notes is so very much higher than it ought to be. I'm hoping that there's a lot of repetition and that my once-clear ideas will return and sort those notes for me.
The sorting is the crucial bit. I did a lot of my thinking while note-taking, so if I can get them sorted properly, then the first draft will go quickly. Still. How on earth did I develop so very much paper?
April 26, 2012
gillpolack @ 2012-04-27T12:11:00
I'm in the Middle Ages (again) and I had a sudden desire to change this phrase:
ars dictaminis, the art of writing letters, dating from the eleventh century
to this phrase:
ars dictaminis, the art of writing letters dating from the eleventh century
which would turn me from an historian to a fiction writer, through the simple removal of a comma.
ars dictaminis, the art of writing letters, dating from the eleventh century
to this phrase:
ars dictaminis, the art of writing letters dating from the eleventh century
which would turn me from an historian to a fiction writer, through the simple removal of a comma.
gillpolack @ 2012-04-27T11:42:00
Today was supposed to be a library day, but it's turned into a recovery day, instead. I've listed all the essential work that must be done by Monday else I won't catch up with myself, and I've done 15 minutes housework (just a little more of the sorting out that seems to be happening. I did five minutes too much for the allergic reaction was a little too big, which is what pushed today into a recovery day. I keep forgetting the limits of my body. You'd think that was one thing that would develop over time!
I didn't talk yesterday about what happens after these community consultations. I've handled that end of it, too, way back in when I was on the Management Skills Secretariat, so if anyone is interested in the next step, just say.
Now it's coffee time, and time to tackle the first thing on my list. Once my big list is done, I'm all caught up and ready for the next round of teaching.
My Latin class has enough takers and I only need one more person for my world-building class to happen. This coming term might be busy!!
I didn't talk yesterday about what happens after these community consultations. I've handled that end of it, too, way back in when I was on the Management Skills Secretariat, so if anyone is interested in the next step, just say.
Now it's coffee time, and time to tackle the first thing on my list. Once my big list is done, I'm all caught up and ready for the next round of teaching.
My Latin class has enough takers and I only need one more person for my world-building class to happen. This coming term might be busy!!
