Week 13: pause a minute

Hello everyone, hope you all had good productive weeks with a little enjoyment scattered throughout the mix.  How scary to think that it will be August on Monday... many of our north American members were beginning to talk about preparations for the new semester, and even here in the my UK 'university calendar' year begins next week even though we have more time until the students come back.  But let's not think about that... we still have some weeks of summer, and of this TLQ group iteration, so lets make the most of them.

And on that subject, let's think about making sure there's something in our TLQ goals that feeds the spirit this week - no-one else can do that for us, and sometimes the smallest thing can be like a drop of water in the desert, refreshing out of all proportion to its actual size.  I know it's summer, and this is an Autumn poem, but for some reason its been in my mind this week.  Something to do with the six word stories, I think, many of which had a haiku-like sense of time and place about them.

Having looked up
From the day’s chores, pause a minute,
Let the mind take its photograph
Of the bright scene, something to wear
Against the heart in the long cold

This week's topic: What was last week's mind's photograph?  And/or what can you add to this week's TLQ to create an opportunity for one this coming week?

Last week's goals:

allan wilson

1. Exercise every day (habit building is the goal here!)

2. Revisions paper 1

3. Draft revisions paper 2

4.Submit overdue, boring but very necessary report

Contingent Cassandra

1. Finish grading as soon as possible (TRQ in service of expanding TLQ time/focus).

2. Keep planning/coordinating grant project work as necessary

3. A bit of planning for the few weeks "off" (though this will probably mostly happen next week)

Daisy [IN THE FIELD] <-envy coloured

Dame Eleanor Hull

1. Finish the MMP-1 revision (main text).

2. Read for MMP-2 revisions.

3. Correct proofs for recently-accepted article.

4. Outline conference paper.

5. Work on syllabi and/or setting up Blackboard for classes.

6. Have another go at the bellflower, and put plastic down over the parking space to kill weeds there.

7. Plan the remaining three weeks . . . don't panic . . .

Earnest English

1. SFP/writing: Keep on going with plans. Read. Write. Enjoy. Step it up on the 8y front and don't forget to move notes from notebook to computer.

2. Gardening: Water seeds in basement. Get stuff for blueberry planting and begin to dig the holes. Check out elderberry planting too, get stuff, and begin.

3. Work: Letter of rec. Some tasks and emails on Important Service.

4. LittleProject: send a packet this week to CoolJournal? To local organization who might care?

5. Yoga/tai chi/meditate. why is this still on my list? Yes, meditation is great. Yes, I really need some movement. But I need to really figure this out and not just feel bad about not doing it each week. Figure this out a bit.

6. Family fun and tasks.

7. Read.

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell

Prepare for mid-week meeting with the Dean.

Read the Slow Professor chapter I missed last week, and catch up with the discussion.

Write every day on Pierpont.

Set up bookcase in home office.

Good Enough Woman

1) Make appointments.

2) Finish revision of chapter 3 and make major progress on chapter 4.

3) Read 50 pages of primary text.

4) Do 2 work nights (which means staying out at a coffee shop and skipping family dinner, or staying up later after family dinner).

heu mihi

1. Read and take notes on one (new) book that I'm teaching this fall.

2. Read VMO, which I should have read like in graduate school.

3. Meditate as is possible and strengthening.

4. Ch. 3: Rewrite/restructure/revise the whole damn thing in one week. Do it!!

5. Paint bathroom trim (finishing up a house project).

6. Schedule gutter replacement estimate.

humming42

1 Finish Mars

2 Make significant progress on Mercury

3 Revise an RBP chapter

4 Submit unconfirmed thing

5 Write Venus abstract

6 Write Capricorn abstract

JaneB

1) complete the lists!

2) complete and submit Special Issue Paper (design and create 2.5 figures, write the intro and abstract, and edit the heck out of the thing. PDF is in charge of references, at least!)

3) spend half an hour a day excavating and organising my desk/office at work

4) go to the gym twice or so

5) complete travel calendar etc. for rest of summer, put notices on door about absences etc.

6) meet with Incoming about LikesMaths problem and some teaching matters (ugh)

Karen

- one form of exercise that isn't typing

-try long hand one page of writing on work days to start building a writing habit

-drink water

KJHaxton [none set]

Matilda (carried over)

1) Work on the review article I had put off for a long time.

2) Continue to work on Chapter 2.

3) 5 minute exercise more than three times a day.

Susan

1. Begin to tidy up bibliography. Fix at least two problems I've identified with yellow highlights.

2. Have fun.

Waffles

1. Work on grant.

2. Freak out about grant (might as well make some achievable goals!).

Week 12: Six word stories

This seems like a good moment to check in with ourselves with a six word story. This practice began with Ernest Hemingway, who wrote this one: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” This week’s practice is to write a six word story to describe where you are with things right now. Feel welcome to be as verbose as you wish as a follow up, but I’ve found it to be a good exercise to spend time realizing the incredible power of words.

May your week be rich, sweet, and calm.

Here are last week’s goals:

allan wilson

1. Exercise for at least half an hour a day

2. Make conscious food choices

3. In the spirit of summer, make some time to think about long term goals, without rushing

Contingent Cassandra

1. Do individual contribution to grant project.

2. Take a load of stuff to storage.

3. Work on contacting friends and family/planning post summer term travel

4. Try to work some exercise into otherwise very busy week.

Daisy

1) Prepare field stuff (TRQ)

2) Set students up for absence

3) All revisions for minor revision paper

4) Ignore Hideous paper some more (let's be realistic...)

5) Accounting

Dame Eleanor Hull

1. Find something useful I can do while in front of the TV (mending? sorting through a box of something?).

2. Make lists and plans for (a) House Stuff and (b) work, thinking carefully about remaining summer (about 5 weeks) and the transition to fall teaching.

3. Keep forging ahead on the MMP-1.

4. Do some reading for the MMP-2 revisions.

5. Have another go at the bellflower, and put plastic down over the parking space to kill weeds there.

Earnest English

1. SFP/writing: Keep on going with plans. Read. Write. Enjoy.

2. Gardening: Get salad seeds started in basement. Order elderberries and blueberries?

3. Work: Event this week so I have to prepare my talk and associated stuff, including little email. Letter of rec. Return student email.

4. Take a big breath and look at FreakyEmail. This counts as my LittleProject task for the week.

5. Yoga/tai chi/meditate. ????

6. Family fun and tasks.

7. Read.

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell

Catch up with Slow Professor

Think about the projects and write a few sentences every day.

Continue unpacking one box a night when home

Investigate the neighborhood pool and the Y

Good Enough Woman

1) Finish major editing of chapter 3 by Friday.

2) Read secondary sources as necessary for chapter 3, then start reading for chapter 4 next weekend.

3) Read 50 pages of primary source.

4) Focus on work except for Tuesday (anniversary) and one major outing with kids (maybe to the pool? or a hike?). Work late at least 2-3 nights.

5) Make appointments: dentist for daughter, dermatologist for me.

heu mihi

1. Read/take notes on next new teaching book.

2. Meditate x 5.

3. Read one research book and at least two articles.

4. Reread rest of ch. 5/6 draft and figure out next steps.

5. Yoga x 2.

6. Run?? If it's not too hot.

humming42

1 Read remaining parts for Mars

2 Start drafting Mars revision

3 Outline Mercury essay

4 Pick an RBP chapter and revise it

5 Finish and submit unconfirmed thing

karen

-actually do some form of exercise that isn't typing :)

-get marginally ahead on content generation so next week is easier

-contact collaborators

KJHaxton

1. several days off

2. finish final version of thing 1

3. make more progress on acronym report

4. avoid all work related drama.

Waffles

1. Once I get edits from co-mentor on grant, turn it around quickly to give to mentor for review

2. get back to my pubs to try to get one submitted soon

Week 11: Summer daydreams

NOTE: The Slow Professor discussion seems a little slow to get going over at Earnest English's place here:  it's a great book so far, I'd love to hear what you all think, and EE said earlier it was fine to just join in when you can, so please do!

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The days are actually getting shorter now, the 4th of July celebrations are past, even in the UK the children are out of school - it's DEFINITELY summer in the Northern Hemisphere.  OK, so some of us are teaching, others attending meetings, and we're all adults so don't get to stop and chill for n weeks every summer (unless we're Scandinavian - yet another reason I'd love to emigrate...).  These musings gave me two ideas for topics this week - pick one or answer both, it's summer!

Topic 1: what were the best bits of 'summer' for you as a student/young person, and can you find ways to add a little of that summer freedom and enjoyment into your routine now?

For me, this definitely includes eating an ice cream bar whilst sitting on the back step in the sun at least every now and then!  One of the things I really enjoyed, but don't do as much of now, was daydreaming - lying around under a tree or on a lounger, swinging on the swings, sitting on a windowsill, cool drink to hand, a book on my lap or beside me (I used to take books to bed as well as stuffed toys when I was a little kid.  I have Issues about not having the possibility to read), and just letting my mind float off.  Making up adventures, imagining futures, designing a dream house, talking to animals, seeing things in the clouds... living inside my head and relishing it.  Which led to my second topic, as we've had some fun threads on this in the past:

Topic 2: as your 'daydreaming assignment', what's your perfect writing space?  Where is it, what's the view, what's on the writing surface, how does it look, smell, feel, are there particular drinks and snacks?  A daily massage service?  Obedient cats or a foot-warming puppy?

And onto the useful checkin stuff (after all we ARE responsible adults MOST of the time, right?):

Last week's goals:

allan wilson

1. Do CR revisions , that are now becoming urgent

2. Get back into a good exercise routine- exercise for at least half an hour every day.

Contingent Cassandra

begin work on individual contribution to grant project.

do some family & friend reconnecting/trip planning.

Take a load to storage.

Daisy

1) Back to Hideous Paper - revise methods and results

2) Revisions for Minor Revision paper

3) RUN!!!

4) 2 Abstracts and 2 travel applications

5) Little grant application

6) Big grant Notice of Intent

Dame Eleanor Hull

1. Stick to exercise, cooking, work times, etc. routines.

2. Make progress with MMP-1 revisions.

3. Work on fall syllabuses and planning.

4. Make lists and plans for (a) House Stuff and (b) work, thinking carefully about remaining summer (about 5 weeks) and the transition to fall teaching.

Earnest English

1. SFP/writing: 3-30min sessions this week. Read. Print out stuff for 8y.

2. Gardening: Get salad seeds started in basement. Order elderberries and blueberries?

3. Work: I have to be on campus on Thursday. My big goal for the week is not to be tense every moment until then. Also, schedule 2 things. Write a letter of rec. Return student email. Send email. Get new parking sticker. Work on Talk.

4. Do one LittleProject task.

5. Yoga/tai chi/meditate. Figure this out more particularly.

6. Family fun and tasks like VT.

7. Read, because I will anyway.

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell

Keep up with Slow Professor

Write or plan everyday on Pierpont article

Continue unpacking one box a night

Call for doctors’ appointments

Good Enough Woman

1) Make a work schedule for remaining chapter revisions.

2) Re-read chapter 3, evaluate need for organizational changes

3) find places for notes I made during trip.

4) read 50 pages primary source

5) read 2-3 articles/chapters.

6) More veggies for family.

7) Do one or two fun things with family, but work rest of time.

heu mihi

1. Finish infernal revisions!

2. Finish draft of ch. 2/3 for writing group, other than thorny paleographic problem.

3. Reread another 3 single-spaced pages of ch. 5/6 and work on straightening them out.

4. Read one thing.

5. Meditate twice.

humming42 (carried over)

1 Get everything in order for fieldwork: hotel, car rental, packing

2 Confirm contacts in fieldwork locale

3 Finish grading all assignments except final

4 Figure out what to work on while traveling

5 Add new material to RBP Chapter 2

JaneB

1) complete the lists

2) read and comment on grant application from colleague

3) spend an hour or so excavating and organising my desks at work and home

4) go to the gym twice or so

5) keep on top of emails

6) do pre-course homework and prepare for software course

7) finish second semester report for old admin role

Karen (carried over)

1. Breath. Move like water.

2. Hold the space for people that need it. Include myself in the people that get that extension of kindness and patience.

3. Read one thing that isn't to do with an imminent deadline.

4. 5 minutes of freewriting x 4

KJHaxton

1. deal with meeting aftermath

2. finish draft of thing 1 and send to people who know more

3. email to ask questions about acronym report

4. edit current draft of acronym report

Matilda

1) Work on the review article I had put off for a long time.

2) Continue to work on Chapter 2.

3) 5 minute exercise more than three times a day.

Susan (carried over)

1. Make last two revisions in text

2. Finish permissions work

3. Begin bibliography/footnotes project. Get through Introduction. (That's the worst because everything is new to the bibliogrpahy.)

4. READ, have fun. On Thursday I start a week with my three stepsons and 2 spouses and 2 grandchildren in a house I've rented. This includes a party for some 30 family members in a place I don't live on Saturday. I like everyone involved, but they are three brothers, and there are dynamics, so I want to try to keep calm and be low key.

Waffles

1. Get next version of F32 turned around by Wednesday morning.

2. Work on relat paper

3. Get letter done

4. Try to get back to religion paper