Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Can U get me some time???



Time! That's what I need.... I'm working most of the time... have already started fearing I might have to submit my thesis in February 2006 :-(... Who can get me some time???

NOTE: this picture was painted by the Spanish artist Salvador DalĂ­ in 1931. It's known as Persistence of memory... You can learn more about it on Wikipedia. First picture I remember finding appealing, if that matters to anyone!

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Reading at a cafe


Yesterday a student who takes one-to-one lessons cancelled our appointment, so I had two "free" hours between taking the kids to school and starting teaching... Those who have ever been working mothers of young kids will probably understand how much that can mean!

So you know what I did? I took 70 pages of my thesis, printed them and sat at a cafe near school (something I'd not done for ages) and went over my final draft once again (though for some sections it was the first time I'd put it in black and white, used as I am to working on the screen by now...). It was a great feeling! Funny, but reading myself at the cafe I felt as though I was reading somebody else, some authority, one of the many authors whose publications I've been reading for years. I would say that is another step towards joining my "discourse community" of ELL academics... I could almost hear Sharon's voice by me "You're the expert, Gladys, you ARE the expert!"

The final editing was so minor that I've decided not to work on it today. Instead, I'll keep on working on the missing sections, to see if I can soon sit at a cafe again, reading the whole thesis!
note: The image in this entry is a Picasso, called Glass of Absinthe. Click here to read more about it.

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Why friends make the difference

I don't have much time now, but have to share two experiences before they "vanish from my heart"...

1. Sharon skyped me last Sat morning, as I was working on the thesis (what else? Computing ). We spent about 90 minutes chatting on lots of things, not basically about the thesis... Finally, she said "you needed to work on your thesis, and I've made you waste a lot of time!". But you know how I felt? Full of energy, confident, ready to face new challenges... So that can't have been a waste of time at all!

Holding HandsThis is what I learnt: "whenever U need a push, meet your friends" Sometimes, as in the case of my research, friends are far and cannot be met f2f, but that's where the Internet does the magic!

2. For about 3 weeks, I'd been looking for some reference to back up a statement in my theory, an idea all my colleagues share... Yet, nobody was able to suggest an author for this... I'd just given up and decided to just state it myself, though I was aware it was "weakly" presented... Just on Mon morning, I got an email from my friend Angie... She'd been doing some reading for her "Licenciatura"... and yes! come across exactly what I needed. She took the trouble to send the quote and exact data for the reference.... Some minutes to her, a Earth to me! It's one of those favours you can only pay forward, isn't it?

So, in short, Thank You friends for being there and putting up with me through the whole process!