arrival of fall

Temps have dropped quite a bit so now everyone has to wear at least a sweater or a light jacket outside--just 2 days ago, we were all still in shorts and t-shirts or tank tops. And with the cool weather, I suspect we're going to see the first round of cold viruses as well. Mercy! Mercy!

I am also learning to expect Wednesdays to be physically difficult for me. I am either nauseated, have irritable bowels, or like today, I'd feel so tired I can hardly get anything done. I also learned last week from an undergrad that they call Wednesdays "Hump Days," i.e. after you get over this hump, the rest of the week will be fine.

Work is moving on slowly. Just met with my adviser about Draft 2, and she likes what I've done with it although I will probably need to revise it extensively one more time before going through it the last time for minor edits. Those unfamiliar with the writing process in academia might think this process is too long, but this is pretty much run of the mill and in fact, I'm glad to be getting off so lightly. The end is in sight for me. As we tell our students, there is no such thing as good writing, there is only good re-writing.

That said, I'm really glad because my adviser does feel like I've really hit on the questions that I'm passionate about, and she can see me turning the dissertation into a book project. Of course, at this point, I just want to write the dissertation.

But time is running out. I have one more week to do the readings I want to do (5-6 more books on forgiveness, justice, and the gift) and then I have to churn out the first draft of my writing sample. Within this next week, I also have to produce my teaching portfolio. I really, really should've done that over the summer. Aaagggh.

Isn't there a Cantonese saying that goes, "Yauh sihgaan seih, mouh sihgaan pehng . . . "?
(I have time to die, but I don't have time to get sick.)

Sigh. I suspect I am getting sick, but I will have to try to keep on working anyway.