To Do

Ignore the fact that I’m procrastinating right now. I’m not procrastinating, I’m giving myself room to think. I’m allowed to do that. But these are desperate times. I’m leaving town (again) on Thursday, to return Monday, and before I do so, I need to:

1. Prepare a dissertation prospectus so that I can
2. Meet with my advisor and introduce her, finally, to my new topic. She will either like it and tell me to move forward, or she will look at me with her classic quizzical expression and ask me to explain exactly how I got from where I was (where was that?) to where I am (where is that?), and exactly why I think the new topic is worth doing. Chances are I will get the quizzical expression, but it doesn’t matter because
3. I need to get to work on this thing I signed on to write (it’s a small thing, but it’s still a thing), which is directly related to the new topic. And I also need to
4. Revise and submit a paper that is also related to the new topic. So really, you know, I’m fucked if she says I’m going down the wrong path and I need to go back to a variation on the old topic (which, by the way I’ve decided I Absolutely Hate and Why Was I Planning to Do That Anyway???). My research plans and article submission plans for the rest of the summer revolve around the new topic. And did I mention
5. I don’t have any publications? Like, none? I have conferences, yes, but no pubs (the scientists, I hear, do things differently. Their conferences in many cases also count as publications because conference proceedings are published). We (my cohorts) have been advised not to take on any article projects unrelated to our dissertations (i.e. if it won’t make it into a chapter, you should not be spending time writing it). So
6. By tomorrow afternoon, I will either have a topic and two article projects, or…nothing.