inspiration

After posting last night clovis_t and I went for a walk. The moon wasn't up, and our neighbourhood is far enough out into the country as to have no street lights, so it took a while of walking for our eyes to adjust to the starlight, but after being out for a bit we could see not only the stars, but had a lovely view of Mt. Wellington, possibly because the Hobart city lights were enough to bring the outline of the peak into relief. It was truly beautiful, and made me glad to be outside on such a fine evening. Towards the end of the walk the winds picked up and clouds started closing in from the west, obscuring the clouds, and encouraging us to head back inside. Then we did our daily yoga routine followed by another hour of uni work. By then it was 02:00 and I was tired, so I took a nap, getting back up at 03:45 on time to watch the inauguration on TV. This is the first time I'd seen Barack Obama giving a speech (though I've read the texts of several of his speeches hitherto), and I was quite impressed. Not only is the content good, but the delivery was excellent. I was surprised to learn that he pronounces his first name rather differently than the other Barack's I've met. The ones I know say "bear-eck", so I didn't expect to hear his said "ba-rahck", but then again, his way of saying it better reflects the language patterns from which the name stems. If this man and his team are able to accomplish even 1/4 of their goals for making the world, or at least their portion thereof, a better place it will be good, but something about the energy and sincerity he puts into delivering his message (and the fact that the whitehouse web page was totally revamped as soon as he swore the oath) leads me to believe that he won't rest till they accomplish the lot.

After watching the ceremonies clovis_t, who hadn't had a nap, was very sleepy, but I was energized. So I decided to go for a jog "around the block", which took 25 minutes, and then I went to sleep about 06:00. Woke up just before noon inspired and ready to work--thinking of things I want to include in the discussion/conclusion section of the thesis (which chapter I hadn't yet really started yet) and sat down and typed up over 300 words before breakfast! Breakfast is now done, and I've caught up on reading livejournal and e-mail, and it is time for me to return to work. I have decided that I'm not going to keep working on the painfully slow process of gathering the figures together for chapter five, but instead I'll give it a read and see if there are any other edits and send it off to my advisor with the figures that I'd gathered thus far, and a note saying that if he wants to see any others let me know, and then I'm going to do more work on the discussions and conclusions.

It feels wonderful to feel so inspired! I feel good about my health, my fitness, how much I've learned in the 3.5+ years of my PhD project, and my ability to finish it soon. I'm excited about the various job applications I've got out there, and am looking forward to naught but good in my life! Such a change compared to yesterday's resigned plodding along at needful but tedious tasks with little to no interest. Funny how emotional outlook can make such a huge difference. Life is Good!

inspiration

After posting last night clovis_t and I went for a walk. The moon wasn't up, and our neighbourhood is far enough out into the country as to have no street lights, so it took a while of walking for our eyes to adjust to the starlight, but after being out for a bit we could see not only the stars, but had a lovely view of Mt. Wellington, possibly because the Hobart city lights were enough to bring the outline of the peak into relief. It was truly beautiful, and made me glad to be outside on such a fine evening. Towards the end of the walk the winds picked up and clouds started closing in from the west, obscuring the clouds, and encouraging us to head back inside. Then we did our daily yoga routine followed by another hour of uni work. By then it was 02:00 and I was tired, so I took a nap, getting back up at 03:45 on time to watch the inauguration on TV. This is the first time I'd seen Barack Obama giving a speech (though I've read the texts of several of his speeches hitherto), and I was quite impressed. Not only is the content good, but the delivery was excellent. I was surprised to learn that he pronounces his first name rather differently than the other Barack's I've met. The ones I know say "bear-eck", so I didn't expect to hear his said "ba-rahck", but then again, his way of saying it better reflects the language patterns from which the name stems. If this man and his team are able to accomplish even 1/4 of their goals for making the world, or at least their portion thereof, a better place it will be good, but something about the energy and sincerity he puts into delivering his message (and the fact that the whitehouse web page was totally revamped as soon as he swore the oath) leads me to believe that he won't rest till they accomplish the lot.

After watching the ceremonies clovis_t, who hadn't had a nap, was very sleepy, but I was energized. So I decided to go for a jog "around the block", which took 25 minutes, and then I went to sleep about 06:00. Woke up just before noon inspired and ready to work--thinking of things I want to include in the discussion/conclusion section of the thesis (which chapter I hadn't yet really started yet) and sat down and typed up over 300 words before breakfast! Breakfast is now done, and I've caught up on reading livejournal and e-mail, and it is time for me to return to work. I have decided that I'm not going to keep working on the painfully slow process of gathering the figures together for chapter five, but instead I'll give it a read and see if there are any other edits and send it off to my advisor with the figures that I'd gathered thus far, and a note saying that if he wants to see any others let me know, and then I'm going to do more work on the discussions and conclusions.

It feels wonderful to feel so inspired! I feel good about my health, my fitness, how much I've learned in the 3.5+ years of my PhD project, and my ability to finish it soon. I'm excited about the various job applications I've got out there, and am looking forward to naught but good in my life! Such a change compared to yesterday's resigned plodding along at needful but tedious tasks with little to no interest. Funny how emotional outlook can make such a huge difference. Life is Good!

very quick progress report

Since I last did a word count (it has been a few days, I think--certain there aren't any entries in my spreadsheet since the 16th, but there hasn't seemed to be a point with most of the past few days doing tiny edits as I get figures matched up with text) I've written 901 words for the thesis, and I am actually getting close to done with chapter five (which some of you may recall, I wanted done and off to my advisor days, if not weeks, ago), and I've actually started (about time!) the discussion and conclusions chapter. Still much to do there, but I actually have hope that I will get far enough along to have a draft abstract at the end of the month (which looms much sooner than I might want it to, but yesterday I didn't have that hope, so all is well).

very quick progress report

Since I last did a word count (it has been a few days, I think--certain there aren't any entries in my spreadsheet since the 16th, but there hasn't seemed to be a point with most of the past few days doing tiny edits as I get figures matched up with text) I've written 901 words for the thesis, and I am actually getting close to done with chapter five (which some of you may recall, I wanted done and off to my advisor days, if not weeks, ago), and I've actually started (about time!) the discussion and conclusions chapter. Still much to do there, but I actually have hope that I will get far enough along to have a draft abstract at the end of the month (which looms much sooner than I might want it to, but yesterday I didn't have that hope, so all is well).

and a beautiful cartoon

Edited to add: unfortunately, the link goes to whatever is current on the day for that cartoon, not to the one which I wished to share :-( So if you want to share it, page back to the one dated 1/19/2009.

I don't normally post things like political cartoons, but this image was so beautiful that when I saw it referenced in the depths of a comments-conversation on duke_flieg's journal I had to share. The man has his work cut out for him on that task, but he seems to be ready, willing, and able to tackle the job.

and a beautiful cartoon

Edited to add: unfortunately, the link goes to whatever is current on the day for that cartoon, not to the one which I wished to share :-( So if you want to share it, page back to the one dated 1/19/2009.

I don't normally post things like political cartoons, but this image was so beautiful that when I saw it referenced in the depths of a comments-conversation on duke_flieg's journal I had to share. The man has his work cut out for him on that task, but he seems to be ready, willing, and able to tackle the job.