Something I thought about:

  • My colloque de thèse was this week, so the two main things on my mind were 1) getting courses prepped well in advance so that 2) I could review / prep / rest my brain for the private defense. I knew Thursday was going to be incredibly long and intense – I was scheduled to teach two seminars before the defense – so pacing was important. It was also the first of two school vacation weeks, which meant juggling the usual load with a child at home. I had less running around/commuting but more interruptions. Overall, less running around was good – fewer things to track plus physical rest – which definitely helped.

Something I did:

  • Passed my colloque de thèse (private defense) with minor revisions!
  • Scheduled my public defense for December.
  • The usual teaching, grading, etc.

Something I read:

In other words, I could end things on a sad note, but it didn’t mean the book was sad. And if I did it right, if I built everything right leading up to it, the ending would serve as a highlight for all the other feelings I wanted to express. It could even take the reader somewhere brand new entirely, but it did not have to leave behind the world I had created.