Something I thought about:

  • This week was really up and down. Transitions and schedule changes are always difficult, and we have three schedule changes in three weeks as we switch from summer/camp to school/extracurriculars mode. There was also a hate crime committed against family friends. I only know one of the women personally, but it was quite a shock to the community. So it's been a week of all sorts of emotions and transitions.
  • I also realized that when I get stuck on a task that I intellectually know should be straightforwad, I get really down on myself in a way that exacerbates the situation. Turns out, I do much better with carrots than sticks. Twice this month, I've gotten through these things by setting a reward instead – something to look forward to and to use to celebrate the completion of the dreaded task – and it's worked. These are little things like watching a movie that's been on my list or doing a LEGO project or something. A kind of "as soon as you finish, you can do this thing you're looking forward to" – and that's been just the boost I've needed.

Something I did:

  • Started another round of diss revision (mostly line edits) based on my advisor’s feedback.
  • Wrote a summary about the Oxford symposium.
  • Got the child back into school mode.
  • Watched the Elizabeth Bishop movie.

Something I read:

  • The new Ilona Andrews and Patricia Briggs novels.