Saturday, August 29, 2009
great way to end a sluggish week
"I like the book project. Very impressive and original."
Unfortunately, that didn't come from a potential publisher but it's nice to have that affirmation even if it admittedly comes from one's committee member who is not really in one's field . . . . it is nice after a week of not-terrible-but-at-the-same-time-not-so-great news and poor or slow productivity. My 18th C Brit Lit adviser is super-experienced but she has always been super-supportive as well so while I think that she can be honest, I also think that she would be harsher on me if I had worked on her area of research simply because she knows a ton more about what goes on in her area than in mine.
Well, all this is to say that I'm not convinced that my project is either impressive or original but I'm glad someone else thinks it is!
I'm leaving work early today to start cooking for a group of friends and unfortunately, two people just told me that they're coming too, and that brings my party up to FOURTEEN. Gosh, I hope I have enough food for 14 people. Oops, 15, including myself. I planned this dinner for about 8-9 and then kept inviting one or two extra people and now I have to go get extra food, I think. I definitely won't have enough pineapple cookies. Of course everyone asks if they can bring something and because I thought the group was going to be small, I said, oh no, don't worry, it's a simple dinner. But now I really wish I had asked them to at least bring drinks!!!
Unfortunately, that didn't come from a potential publisher but it's nice to have that affirmation even if it admittedly comes from one's committee member who is not really in one's field . . . . it is nice after a week of not-terrible-but-at-the-same-time-not-so-great news and poor or slow productivity. My 18th C Brit Lit adviser is super-experienced but she has always been super-supportive as well so while I think that she can be honest, I also think that she would be harsher on me if I had worked on her area of research simply because she knows a ton more about what goes on in her area than in mine.
Well, all this is to say that I'm not convinced that my project is either impressive or original but I'm glad someone else thinks it is!
I'm leaving work early today to start cooking for a group of friends and unfortunately, two people just told me that they're coming too, and that brings my party up to FOURTEEN. Gosh, I hope I have enough food for 14 people. Oops, 15, including myself. I planned this dinner for about 8-9 and then kept inviting one or two extra people and now I have to go get extra food, I think. I definitely won't have enough pineapple cookies. Of course everyone asks if they can bring something and because I thought the group was going to be small, I said, oh no, don't worry, it's a simple dinner. But now I really wish I had asked them to at least bring drinks!!!
Friday, August 28, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
down we go
Is it my imagination or are my friends blogging or updating FB more infrequently these days? :)
Well, I'm approaching another emotional downturn again but as someone responded to my FB status update, all of us have inherited "KBSM," an acronym for the M'sian secondary school curriculum but also for "Kerja Berat Sampai Mati," translated as "Work Hard Till You Die."
So I guess it's not just academics who feel that way. How is that supposed to make me feel better???
Well, I'm approaching another emotional downturn again but as someone responded to my FB status update, all of us have inherited "KBSM," an acronym for the M'sian secondary school curriculum but also for "Kerja Berat Sampai Mati," translated as "Work Hard Till You Die."
So I guess it's not just academics who feel that way. How is that supposed to make me feel better???
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
confused
A very liberal paraphrase and re-memory of a recent conversation.
Me, in great anguish: Someone recommended that I read Theorist X and I can't make sense of him!
P: Do you know what _________ means? (Names a philosophical tradition.)
Me: No. I haven't been trained in philosophy.
P: If you want to read philosophy, you need to read it slowly and carefully. You need to start by reading the broad introductory books instead of jumping into these difficult texts.
At the end of conversation, P agrees to read Book Y with me (not written by Theorist X but it falls in the same philosophical tradition).
. . . . A week passes.
Me: Okay, so I guess I need to read up on __________ first before we read Book Y together. Here are the few introductory books that I think might be helpful. Please let me know if I'm on the right track.
P: Yes, and here are a few more.
. . . . Another week passes and I bump into P in the halls.
Me: Oh, I started with one of them but I got lost because I couldn't understand his explanation of H's argument on the self-evidentiary nature of naturalism.
P: Oh, I don't understand that either.
Me: Huh??
P: I know what I understand and what I don't.
Me: What? But I thought I needed to read slowly and carefully?!
P: You need to read what's pertinent to you.
Me: How can I tell which concepts are pertinent and which aren't??
-__-
Me, in great anguish: Someone recommended that I read Theorist X and I can't make sense of him!
P: Do you know what _________ means? (Names a philosophical tradition.)
Me: No. I haven't been trained in philosophy.
P: If you want to read philosophy, you need to read it slowly and carefully. You need to start by reading the broad introductory books instead of jumping into these difficult texts.
At the end of conversation, P agrees to read Book Y with me (not written by Theorist X but it falls in the same philosophical tradition).
. . . . A week passes.
Me: Okay, so I guess I need to read up on __________ first before we read Book Y together. Here are the few introductory books that I think might be helpful. Please let me know if I'm on the right track.
P: Yes, and here are a few more.
. . . . Another week passes and I bump into P in the halls.
Me: Oh, I started with one of them but I got lost because I couldn't understand his explanation of H's argument on the self-evidentiary nature of naturalism.
P: Oh, I don't understand that either.
Me: Huh??
P: I know what I understand and what I don't.
Me: What? But I thought I needed to read slowly and carefully?!
P: You need to read what's pertinent to you.
Me: How can I tell which concepts are pertinent and which aren't??
-__-
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Friday, August 14, 2009
cookery
Now that I've moved to a one-bedroom apt, I can actually have friends over. When you live in a studio, having friends over is not an option unless you want them to sit on your bed or on the floor. I don't much like it when people sit on my bed.
The problem is, the people who are coming over for dinner on Saturday evening have food allergies and between the four of them, I will have to avoid: gluten (wheat, which is not only in bread and flour but also most soy sauces!); garlic; shellfish; carrots; cilantro; chilli (basically spicy food is out); and alcohol. I guess I'll be cooking with a lot of salt and ginger!
I don't have much of a repertoire and my default flavor is "garlic" so I'm a little stumped. Apparently people with ulcers can't have garlic either cooked or raw. This is going to be interesting.
ps - Artist, if you're reading this, we'll have another get-together when you get back into town. It would've been nice to have you along as well but I organized one for this weekend because a friend was going to be leaving town for awhile--and it turns out this friend won't be able to make it anyway even though I asked her last weekend if this would be a good weekend for her. Well, I don't want to let down the four other friends who have made room for me this weekend.
The problem is, the people who are coming over for dinner on Saturday evening have food allergies and between the four of them, I will have to avoid: gluten (wheat, which is not only in bread and flour but also most soy sauces!); garlic; shellfish; carrots; cilantro; chilli (basically spicy food is out); and alcohol. I guess I'll be cooking with a lot of salt and ginger!
I don't have much of a repertoire and my default flavor is "garlic" so I'm a little stumped. Apparently people with ulcers can't have garlic either cooked or raw. This is going to be interesting.
ps - Artist, if you're reading this, we'll have another get-together when you get back into town. It would've been nice to have you along as well but I organized one for this weekend because a friend was going to be leaving town for awhile--and it turns out this friend won't be able to make it anyway even though I asked her last weekend if this would be a good weekend for her. Well, I don't want to let down the four other friends who have made room for me this weekend.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
fatigued
Finally managed to successfully donate blood for the first time in about 5 months! After the last botched attempt that left my arm bruised and stiff for weeks, I was really stressed out and scared this time but all went very well and I even managed to fill up the bag in less than 15 mins! But now I'm feeling very tired and a little light-headed. I was already tired after last week's marathon writing, moving, and cleaning activities but now all I want to do is roll over and go to bed (3:50pm).
The only thing that stops me from going home and reading on the couch is the fear that my upstairs' neighbor's kid(s) might be running around.....yeah. I can't believe it either. My landlords lied to me about that! Because I know that soundproofing in the US is HORRIBLE especially in apt buildings, I always ask if there are kids in the unit above me. Always. And the landlord said, no, you don't hear anything except in this little corner of the living room. B_llsh_t!!! And these kid(s) don't sound like they go to bed until 10pm!
So far they haven't woken me up in the morning although I do hear them once I am up and I hate the thudding and the running back and forth. I'm sorry. People with kids should not live in apts with wood floors if they are in an upper unit. It's just wrong.
Well, that got my blood up. Maybe I will be able to go back to my book. It's not serious reading at this point since I'm giving myself a bit of a break after sending a revised draft of Chapter Three to a friend this morning. YES!! That is out of the way. Hopefully I'll be back working on other parts of the project tomorrow. Writing can still be really stressful and painful but it is qualitatively better than dissertating even though it is the same kind of writing. I'm working on the same project after all but for some reason, work is more enjoyable post-dissertation. Funny, that!
The only thing that stops me from going home and reading on the couch is the fear that my upstairs' neighbor's kid(s) might be running around.....yeah. I can't believe it either. My landlords lied to me about that! Because I know that soundproofing in the US is HORRIBLE especially in apt buildings, I always ask if there are kids in the unit above me. Always. And the landlord said, no, you don't hear anything except in this little corner of the living room. B_llsh_t!!! And these kid(s) don't sound like they go to bed until 10pm!
So far they haven't woken me up in the morning although I do hear them once I am up and I hate the thudding and the running back and forth. I'm sorry. People with kids should not live in apts with wood floors if they are in an upper unit. It's just wrong.
Well, that got my blood up. Maybe I will be able to go back to my book. It's not serious reading at this point since I'm giving myself a bit of a break after sending a revised draft of Chapter Three to a friend this morning. YES!! That is out of the way. Hopefully I'll be back working on other parts of the project tomorrow. Writing can still be really stressful and painful but it is qualitatively better than dissertating even though it is the same kind of writing. I'm working on the same project after all but for some reason, work is more enjoyable post-dissertation. Funny, that!
Friday, August 07, 2009
bleagh
I absolutely have to "finish" this chapter that I've been working on so that I can send it out to friends and whoever else I can get to read it by Monday--I've already given myself a week's extension! The problem is, I need to finish packing and moving and cleaning and selling furniture this weekend!! AAGGGHHHH.
I have the pages of the current draft laid out on my office floor. It looks like it'll make a pretty cool-looking rug but I'm not getting new ideas from looking at it yet.
I have the pages of the current draft laid out on my office floor. It looks like it'll make a pretty cool-looking rug but I'm not getting new ideas from looking at it yet.
Unbelievable
There are whole worlds out there that I know nothing about. I don't even know how I stumbled on this article (not through StumbleUpon!) but I'm glad I did because it was pretty funny to read even if it does raise a whole lot of ethical issues. Would you lie to liars even if you know that you might be doing good? (Kant's categorical imperative!)
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Henri Nouwen, Bread for the Journey
March 11, Listening as Spiritual Hospitality
To listen is very hard, because it asks us so much interior stability that we no longer need to prove ourselves by speeches, arguments, statements, or declarations. True listeners no longer have an inner need to make their presence known. They are free to receive, to welcome, to accept.
Listening is much more than than allowing another to talk while waiting for a chance to respond. Listening is paying full attention to others and welcoming them into our very beings. The beauty of listening is that those who are listened to start feeling accepted, start taking their words more seriously and discovering their true selves. Listening is a form of spiritual hospitality by which you invite strangers to become friends, to get to know their inner selves more fully, and even to dare to be silent with you.
To listen is very hard, because it asks us so much interior stability that we no longer need to prove ourselves by speeches, arguments, statements, or declarations. True listeners no longer have an inner need to make their presence known. They are free to receive, to welcome, to accept.
Listening is much more than than allowing another to talk while waiting for a chance to respond. Listening is paying full attention to others and welcoming them into our very beings. The beauty of listening is that those who are listened to start feeling accepted, start taking their words more seriously and discovering their true selves. Listening is a form of spiritual hospitality by which you invite strangers to become friends, to get to know their inner selves more fully, and even to dare to be silent with you.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
fighting words
My heart's been a little fragile recently and I'm hoping it's just hormones. So when I read this article, the cracks got even finer.
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Column on the transformation of the US. I'm all for the decoupling of race and citizenship all over the world.
Sunday, August 02, 2009
Saturday, August 01, 2009
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