kareina: (me)
Today as I was paging down on FB I saw a poster that had a photo of a famous guitarist with a PhD in Astrophysics whose story I had never heard before, so I asked google about him, and found his story very inspiring: If one has more than one interest one would like to follow, and starts out making time for both of them, but then one becomes so all-consuming that the other needs to be dropped, it is never too late to go back and pick up the other interest and do well with it. Yes, one can be both a rock-star and an academic researcher, if one devotes one self to each dream in turn (and has the good fortune to be in the right place, at the right time, with the right style to be popular (for the music side of it) and the good fortune to be interested in a research topic that hasn’t already been done to death by the time one has a moment to return to it (for the science side of it).

However, much to my disappointment, the poster that drew my attention to this inspiring story made no attempt to be inspiring, or even positive. Instead of reminding us to chase all of our dreams in turn the poster text just “explained” that the reader wasn’t as “cool” as the man in the photo because we would never have exactly his list of accomplishments. Perhaps not, but most of us don’t want exactly that list of accomplishments; we each have our own dreams and interests, and it is much better to pursue our own interests than those of someone else. Some of my friends may occasionally feel bad because they have set aside a project or paused in progress working on a skill while they devote their energies to something else. You know what? It is ok to set aside one thing while you focus on another, and it is also ok to return to it later, perhaps many, many years later and pick it back up. If you do you may find that you are a success in both fields.

For those of you with a habit of “sharing” things on FB, may I make a request? The next time you see a poster that could have been inspiring, but instead just tried to tear folk down, if you have a moment to spare, instead of “sharing” it, could you please edit it, make it positive, and re-release it to the world?
kareina: (Default)
I am just back from a quick trip to Umeå, where I met with the head of their Archaeology department and some of his students and colleagues. I sent them an email in December to introduce myself, since they are the most local archaeology department, and he invited me to drop by some time, so I did.

I arrived on Thursday evening, just on time to head to the lokal, the basement apartment that the Uma group rents (cheap) for their meetings and to store the group stuff for their regular Thursday gathering. Had a good time hanging out there with folk, and helped my minion with fitting on his costume in progress, before I followed him back to his place to do yoga (together, it is so nice to have company for yoga!) and get some sleep. This morning he and I hung out and cooked breakfast together and then his girlfriend L. arrived for a short visit before it was time for me to head over to the Archaeology Department. It was really good to see everyone, I wish that it didn't take so long to travel between places (three hours by car, or four by bus to get to Umeå from here--I took the bus, even though it is longer, because one can relax, and it costs about the same as petrol would have if only one is going).

The Archaeologists showed me their NIR equipment and some of their results. That is a technique I knew nothing about, and find it fascinating. They were able to distinguish a couple of different types of quartzite and a couple of different types of quartz from one of their finds. He suggests that if I am interested I could use their NIR technique on my soapstone before doing spot analyses, and they are interested in using my laser lab, so it was a good visit. I especially enjoyed the photos his student, Claudia, showed me of her work studying the walls at Carcasone. There is just so much really cool and fascinating stuff to do in the intersection between archaeology and geology! I am so delighted that I decided to start down this path. (Do feel free to remind me of this later, when/if I hit difficult or stressfull parts of the project.)

He also made a comment that has inspired me for a possible experimental archaeology component to my research. While we were discussing the differences between the two quartzites in their study above he commented that it could be due to changes as a result of use, rather than differences in the original rock--that if one heats a stone in a hearth every day, some changes are bound to happen. Therefore it could be fun to get my hands on some soapstone and make a vessel or baking stone, analyze it when it is new, then use it for cooking or baking (I love to bake, which is why latter crossed my mind) in a fire on a regular basis, keeping careful records of when, how long, etc., and then periodically re-analyze it, to see what, if any, changes wind up being visible, and if any, how long it took before they were noticeable. However, given how the small analysis chamber of the laser is, a baking stone wouldn't lend itself well to this idea, unless we were only using the NIR for its analysis...

After my meeting I met with friend Aron, who used to live in Luleå and sung in the student choir with me, and he joined me for waiting for the bus (I had about an hour with him), which was really nice.

Looking forward to my visit to Durham only one more week. Now I just need to remember to take with me things that I forgot to bring with me to Umeå (like the extra battery for recharging the phone while traveling).
kareina: (me)
Not too long back a friend of mine in Alaska told me about the blog of one of her friends. The friend has recently set out on a journey in Asia. I've enjoyed following her adventures thus far, and found the post I read today to be particularly inspiring.
kareina: (me)
Not too long back a friend of mine in Alaska told me about the blog of one of her friends. The friend has recently set out on a journey in Asia. I've enjoyed following her adventures thus far, and found the post I read today to be particularly inspiring.
kareina: (me)
I have been plugging away, far too slowly, on chapter six for a while now. I thought I'd finished the part wherein I summarize my results and compare them with the previously published data, and have sort of made some progress on part of the "so what" part of the chapter. However, on several occasions, when I thought I ought to be working on "so what", I'd think of yet another topic I'd not yet addressed in the "summary of my results" part, and I'd go back and do that. Or I realized that I really needed a figure illustrating a specific point and go back and do that. Meanwhile the stress was building in that I wasn't getting the "so what" part done, and the chapter really should have been finished before now.

Today I started my day by deleting some 600+ words from the "my results" summary when I realized that I'd covered that topic well enough in chapter five, and it really doesn't need to be repeated here--this chapter really only needs the information which supports the "so what" part--the other details are in the chapters themselves if needed. Then I worked a bit at actually organizing an outline of the "so what" part, looking (yet again) at the published literature that I ought to cite in this chapter, and, eventually, around 5 am considered calling it a night, though I hadn't accomplished all that much yet for all of the hours put in, and I have been staying up till more like 09:00 recently.

Then, out of the blue, inspiration hit--an explanation for a question which has been bothering me ever since I noticed that particular pattern in the data. Words poured forth from my finger tips, and I feel good about the addition (1,434 new words!). I've also remembered a couple of other topics that need to be addressed, and made note of them. But now it is nearly 07:00, and while I have been staying up later than this, I am sleepy, and once I do my walk and yoga it won't be early any more anyway. So I will wish you all a good day, and I shall get some rest, and return to the project in progress in a few hours...
kareina: (me)
I have been plugging away, far too slowly, on chapter six for a while now. I thought I'd finished the part wherein I summarize my results and compare them with the previously published data, and have sort of made some progress on part of the "so what" part of the chapter. However, on several occasions, when I thought I ought to be working on "so what", I'd think of yet another topic I'd not yet addressed in the "summary of my results" part, and I'd go back and do that. Or I realized that I really needed a figure illustrating a specific point and go back and do that. Meanwhile the stress was building in that I wasn't getting the "so what" part done, and the chapter really should have been finished before now.

Today I started my day by deleting some 600+ words from the "my results" summary when I realized that I'd covered that topic well enough in chapter five, and it really doesn't need to be repeated here--this chapter really only needs the information which supports the "so what" part--the other details are in the chapters themselves if needed. Then I worked a bit at actually organizing an outline of the "so what" part, looking (yet again) at the published literature that I ought to cite in this chapter, and, eventually, around 5 am considered calling it a night, though I hadn't accomplished all that much yet for all of the hours put in, and I have been staying up till more like 09:00 recently.

Then, out of the blue, inspiration hit--an explanation for a question which has been bothering me ever since I noticed that particular pattern in the data. Words poured forth from my finger tips, and I feel good about the addition (1,434 new words!). I've also remembered a couple of other topics that need to be addressed, and made note of them. But now it is nearly 07:00, and while I have been staying up later than this, I am sleepy, and once I do my walk and yoga it won't be early any more anyway. So I will wish you all a good day, and I shall get some rest, and return to the project in progress in a few hours...
kareina: (Default)
After posting last night [livejournal.com profile] 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 [livejournal.com profile] 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!
kareina: (Default)
After posting last night [livejournal.com profile] 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 [livejournal.com profile] 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!

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