Progress Report

Handed in 10, 000 words of Chapter Two to my advisor (may he live forever) on Friday. As is his wont, said advisor (may he live forever) then flashed me that "You are the best graduate student ever to enter my office" smile that he gives everyone; this is why he is such an INCREDIBLE advisor and teacher. Just being around the man makes you believe that your project is a good one.

Caveat: he does tell people that their projects are lousy, he does tell them to do something else, and he can become quite angry and annoyed. Luckily, I've never had to have one of these discussions or moments in his office. No matter how discouraged or silly I feel when I walk in, I always always always walk out of his office feeling capable and brilliant.

Now comes the waiting... I might hear from him today, but probably not. The longer the wait, the more comments he will have for me. Comments are good - humbling, but good - but the waiting gets to me very quickly. I've already spotted two spelling mistakes I should have caught while proof-reading. Advisor (whose good health and abiding happiness etc.) will probably find all sorts of little things. (chuckle) My students don't know how lucky they are.

10, 000 words sounds great, except that when complete, the chapter will probably be twice that. I'd hoped for a repeat of my Labor Day weekend success, but not quite. Still, I suppose a record of 1-1-0 isn't all that bad.

I did take 48 hours off to relax and recover from the last nightmare-induced push. Joe at hipdeep wants us all to read something for Banned Book week. Since I read far too many banned and bannable books on a regular basis, I'm leaning toward reading something that I expect not to like, such as a Hemingway novel. I don't think I've ever read anything by Melville, Steinbeck or Hemingway voluntarily; of the three, Hemingway is probably my best chance to find something, somewhere, that I might actually enjoy, and if I don't like it, I will hate it with enthusiasm.