Wait, it's mid-July already? How did that happen?
Well, that means that, by this time next week, I'll be in Michigan! On Thursday, actually, I am flying back to the 'states for a two-and-a-bit week vacation.
It is sorely needed by this point. I have been missing my family, and friends back home, quite a bit lately-- actively missing, not just that background not-really-conscious missing that goes on most of the time. I'm also starting to get a bit burned out with working on my thesis. I feel like it will be good to take a break, and then I'll be able to come back to it with renewed motivation.
My rough itinerary:
17-19 July: Chicago, staying with Jim and Megan.
19-27 July: Michigan! Harmony and Adrian's wedding, spending time with the fambly (especially my sisty!), a visit to Lansing, sixth annual Pirate Party.
27-31 July: Chicago, back at el apartamento de Megan y Jim.
31 July-3 August: Washington D.C., staying with Curtis.
I'm not sure if I'll have a chance to update until I get back. After all, like I said around Christmastime, this is a 'blog about Ayla in Ireland, not Ayla in Michigan. Or even D.C.
Before I go, though, I have quite a bit of work to do around here. I have a lot of writing to get done for Lionel before I go, not to mention laundry and packing for my trip!
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Leabharlann Naísíunta na hEireann
Did I completely forget to post on Sunday? I guess I did! Oops. I slept in, and then watched the Doctor Who series finale. It was 65 minutes long and had some awesome moments, some heartwarming beautiful moments, and some absolutely heartbreakingly sad moments. So there is my excuse. :-P
(I hope you appreciate the fact that I generally keep this 'blog fairly on-topic, regarding my adventures in Ireland. Because I could very easily write nothing but reviews of Doctor Who episodes, with perhaps the occasional Smallville review thrown in there.)
Anyway. Last week, I was in Dublin researching! There is very little to tell, actually-- as my friend Quincy once put it, "my life is very busy, but not very anecdotally rich." I was there from Monday to Thursday, though I didn't get to the Library until Tuesday morning. I spent seven hours at the library on Tuesday, seven hours there on Wednesday, and about three hours there in the morning on Thursday. I would get to the library when it opened at 9:30, after stopping at Butler's for a coffee (and a free chocolate truffle!), and work until lunchtime. I would go get a sandwich at a café somewhere, reading the paper or maybe my notes from the morning, and then go back and work again until dinnertime. All I did was read old books, take notes on them, and think about them. It was great. I really do enjoy just diving in to a pile of literature and seeing what ideas and themes come to the surface. Long and uninteresting story short, I am much closer to having an actual focus for my thesis. I am pretty sure it's going to look at the way the British legal system is represented in Whitbread's dramas. I haven't found anything in the critical literature that really deals with this theme, and I think it's a pretty important one. Exciting stuff! (To me, anyway.)
I met with Lionel this morning-- bumped into him, actually, as I was drinking my traditional cup of coffee outside the library. We talked about my work in the library, I showed him my photocopies and some of my notes, and he was very excited by this idea. I am incredibly lucky, I think, to have an advisor that is so enthusiastic about my work and believes in me so much. Especially since I'll be working with him for the next four or five years!
I related to him my experience, how my library days were the sort where I would spend five hours sitting at a desk before realizing I should probably go eat something. Lionel smiled at me and said "You're going to have to write your parents and tell them 'I've found my vocation. I'm *sigh* an academic!'" I replied, "I think they've been expecting that for a while."
(I hope you appreciate the fact that I generally keep this 'blog fairly on-topic, regarding my adventures in Ireland. Because I could very easily write nothing but reviews of Doctor Who episodes, with perhaps the occasional Smallville review thrown in there.)
Anyway. Last week, I was in Dublin researching! There is very little to tell, actually-- as my friend Quincy once put it, "my life is very busy, but not very anecdotally rich." I was there from Monday to Thursday, though I didn't get to the Library until Tuesday morning. I spent seven hours at the library on Tuesday, seven hours there on Wednesday, and about three hours there in the morning on Thursday. I would get to the library when it opened at 9:30, after stopping at Butler's for a coffee (and a free chocolate truffle!), and work until lunchtime. I would go get a sandwich at a café somewhere, reading the paper or maybe my notes from the morning, and then go back and work again until dinnertime. All I did was read old books, take notes on them, and think about them. It was great. I really do enjoy just diving in to a pile of literature and seeing what ideas and themes come to the surface. Long and uninteresting story short, I am much closer to having an actual focus for my thesis. I am pretty sure it's going to look at the way the British legal system is represented in Whitbread's dramas. I haven't found anything in the critical literature that really deals with this theme, and I think it's a pretty important one. Exciting stuff! (To me, anyway.)
I met with Lionel this morning-- bumped into him, actually, as I was drinking my traditional cup of coffee outside the library. We talked about my work in the library, I showed him my photocopies and some of my notes, and he was very excited by this idea. I am incredibly lucky, I think, to have an advisor that is so enthusiastic about my work and believes in me so much. Especially since I'll be working with him for the next four or five years!
I related to him my experience, how my library days were the sort where I would spend five hours sitting at a desk before realizing I should probably go eat something. Lionel smiled at me and said "You're going to have to write your parents and tell them 'I've found my vocation. I'm *sigh* an academic!'" I replied, "I think they've been expecting that for a while."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)