Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Monday, October 1, 2012
Eulogy for a deadline
We are gathered here today to witness the passing of yet another deadline.
September 30th was a dearly-loved deadline and one which added much-needed urgency to thesis writing. Right until its timely end it continued to motivate and drive writing. Its sacrifice has and will continue to make the thesis a better, more thorough document, and ultimately increases its chances of being successful. In remembering this submission date, at this time we also remember March 30th and June 30th, deadlines who have passed but are not forgotten.
Please join me in a minute's silence in honour of this and all deadlines which have passed for the greater purpose of the PhD.
September 30th was a dearly-loved deadline and one which added much-needed urgency to thesis writing. Right until its timely end it continued to motivate and drive writing. Its sacrifice has and will continue to make the thesis a better, more thorough document, and ultimately increases its chances of being successful. In remembering this submission date, at this time we also remember March 30th and June 30th, deadlines who have passed but are not forgotten.
Please join me in a minute's silence in honour of this and all deadlines which have passed for the greater purpose of the PhD.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
12 days of thesis
12 days ago @drjavafox tweeted that she was 12 days away from submitting her thesis. With that kind of prompt what could @heatherfro and I do but add this bit of silliness to the repertoire:
On the first day of thesis my advisor gave to me: an annotated bibliography
On the second day of thesis my advisor gave to me: two examiners and an annotated bibliography
On the third day of thesis my advisor gave to me: three notebooks, two examiners and an annotated bibliography
On the fourth day of thesis my advisor gave to me: four dropbox folders, three notebooks, two examiners and an annotated bibliography
On the fifth day of thesis my advisor gave to me: FIVE REVISIONS! four dropbox folders, three notebooks, two examiners and an annotated bibliography
On the sixth day of thesis my advisor gave to me: six meltdowns, FIVE REVISIONS! four dropbox folders, three notebooks, two examiners and an annotated bibliography
On the seventh day of thesis my advisor gave to me: seven all-nighters, six meltdowns, FIVE REVISIONS! four dropbox folders, three notebooks, two examiners and an annotated bibliography
On the eighth day of thesis my advisor gave to me: eight computer breakdowns, seven all-nighters, six meltdowns, FIVE REVISIONS! four dropbox folders, three notebooks, two examiners and an annotated bibliography
On the ninth day of thesis my advisor gave to me: nine formatting issues, eight computer
breakdowns, seven all-nighters, six meltdowns, FIVE REVISIONS! four dropbox folders, three notebooks, two examiners and an annotated bibliography
On the tenth day of thesis my advisor gave to me: ten appendices, nine formatting issues, eight computer breakdowns, seven all-nighters, six meltdowns, FIVE REVISIONS! four dropbox folders, three notebooks, two examiners and an annotated bibliography
On the eleventh day of thesis my advisor gave to me: eleven forgotten references, ten appendices, nine formatting issues, eight computer breakdowns, seven all-nighters, six meltdowns, FIVE REVISIONS! four dropbox folders, three notebooks, two examiners and an annotated bibliography
On the twelfth day of thesis my advisor gave to me: twelve hard bound copies, eleven forgotten
references, ten appendices, nine formatting issues, eight computer breakdowns, seven all-nighters, six meltdowns, FIVE REVISIONS! four dropbox folders, three notebooks, two examiners and an annotated bibliography
On the first day of thesis my advisor gave to me: an annotated bibliography
On the second day of thesis my advisor gave to me: two examiners and an annotated bibliography
On the third day of thesis my advisor gave to me: three notebooks, two examiners and an annotated bibliography
On the fourth day of thesis my advisor gave to me: four dropbox folders, three notebooks, two examiners and an annotated bibliography
On the fifth day of thesis my advisor gave to me: FIVE REVISIONS! four dropbox folders, three notebooks, two examiners and an annotated bibliography
On the sixth day of thesis my advisor gave to me: six meltdowns, FIVE REVISIONS! four dropbox folders, three notebooks, two examiners and an annotated bibliography
On the seventh day of thesis my advisor gave to me: seven all-nighters, six meltdowns, FIVE REVISIONS! four dropbox folders, three notebooks, two examiners and an annotated bibliography
On the eighth day of thesis my advisor gave to me: eight computer breakdowns, seven all-nighters, six meltdowns, FIVE REVISIONS! four dropbox folders, three notebooks, two examiners and an annotated bibliography
On the ninth day of thesis my advisor gave to me: nine formatting issues, eight computer
breakdowns, seven all-nighters, six meltdowns, FIVE REVISIONS! four dropbox folders, three notebooks, two examiners and an annotated bibliography
On the tenth day of thesis my advisor gave to me: ten appendices, nine formatting issues, eight computer breakdowns, seven all-nighters, six meltdowns, FIVE REVISIONS! four dropbox folders, three notebooks, two examiners and an annotated bibliography
On the eleventh day of thesis my advisor gave to me: eleven forgotten references, ten appendices, nine formatting issues, eight computer breakdowns, seven all-nighters, six meltdowns, FIVE REVISIONS! four dropbox folders, three notebooks, two examiners and an annotated bibliography
On the twelfth day of thesis my advisor gave to me: twelve hard bound copies, eleven forgotten
references, ten appendices, nine formatting issues, eight computer breakdowns, seven all-nighters, six meltdowns, FIVE REVISIONS! four dropbox folders, three notebooks, two examiners and an annotated bibliography
Monday, June 4, 2012
The Word Fairy and the Word Goblin
I've made some important conceptual development on my thesis so I'm rewarding myself by writing a light-hearted blog post. The fact that I need to start with that explanation is indicative of the lingering sense of guilt and defensiveness I feel.
THE WORD FAIRY
The Word Fairy is a mythical creature who drops bright and shiny and erudite-looking words (such as 'erudite') into your head as you're writing. These are often little-used words, whose meaning you're not exactly sure of. It's always best to check the Word Fairy's suggestions in a dictionary as sometimes they will be completely wrong, but you'll still want to use them because they seem such a good word. Often it takes many readings for the shininess of the word to wear off and as you're reading it you'll get a self-congratulatory buzz for using such a big, important-looking word and thus being a big, important-sounding person.
THE WORD GOBLIN*
The Word Goblin is the nemesis of the Word Fairy. Rather than deliver sparkling gems of words, it takes them somewhere between the tip of your tongue and your typing fingers, leaving only the ghostly impression that there is a word for that. Sometimes, sadly, there isn't and the Word Goblin is the much maligned victim of a lexical gap.
*Original idea by Debbie Prior
THE WORD FAIRY
The Word Fairy is a mythical creature who drops bright and shiny and erudite-looking words (such as 'erudite') into your head as you're writing. These are often little-used words, whose meaning you're not exactly sure of. It's always best to check the Word Fairy's suggestions in a dictionary as sometimes they will be completely wrong, but you'll still want to use them because they seem such a good word. Often it takes many readings for the shininess of the word to wear off and as you're reading it you'll get a self-congratulatory buzz for using such a big, important-looking word and thus being a big, important-sounding person.
THE WORD GOBLIN*
The Word Goblin is the nemesis of the Word Fairy. Rather than deliver sparkling gems of words, it takes them somewhere between the tip of your tongue and your typing fingers, leaving only the ghostly impression that there is a word for that. Sometimes, sadly, there isn't and the Word Goblin is the much maligned victim of a lexical gap.
*Original idea by Debbie Prior
Friday, May 25, 2012
Keep keeping calm
After the popularity of DON'T ASK about MY THESIS I thought I'd post the other posters I've made, that are on my office wall.
Keep calm and keep writing - The most important message:
Shut up and write - when keep calm and keep writing doesn't work anymore:
If you have "Don't ask about my thesis" on the wall, you may want this one next to it:
All these posters were made by me with Keep Calm app by Barter Book.
Keep calm and keep writing - The most important message:
Shut up and write - when keep calm and keep writing doesn't work anymore:
If you have "Don't ask about my thesis" on the wall, you may want this one next to it:
Here are "Keep calm and keep writing" and "Don't ask about my thesis" together here as one picture. I have this as my desktop wallpaper at the moment.
All these posters were made by me with Keep Calm app by Barter Book.
Friday, April 20, 2012
DON'T ASK about MY THESIS
My gift to beleaguered and besieged thesis-writers everywhere:
Made by me with Keep Calm app by Barter Books which tells the story of the original "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster as well as giving you the AWESOME ability to make your own posters!
@stair on twitter suggested there should be business cards of this to hand out to people. WE NEED THIS!
@stair on twitter suggested there should be business cards of this to hand out to people. WE NEED THIS!
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