"Is that your mom?"

Yesterday J. and I went sledding on a hill near the creek. It was us and a gaggle of small boys. When I sled I tend to hit every possible jump or bump and go flying. After a particularly spectacular fall, J. reports that one group of little boys said to the other, with amazement, "Is that your mom?" I've never been so happy to be mistaken for somebody's mom.

Unfortunately, the other effect of my particularly spectacular sled fall (someone built moguls on the hill. Who does that?) is that I've bruised my tailbone, that vestigial troublemaker.* It's not broken, which would be excruciating, but I don't think I can ride a bike for a while. And of course, what am I supposed to be doing right now? Finishing Chapter 1, which requires sitting on my ass for long periods of time.

Speaking of Chapter 1, I've decided to incorporate all of Chapter 5 into it and present it to my advisor as a fait accompli: "Here's my revised Chapter 1, and by the way, it includes most of the material on masculinity from Chapter 5. I've got a 4-chapter diss now, I guess I can defend 2 weeks earlier." 5 has never fit in with the rest of the diss, in terms of geography, chronology, or theme, and the ideas in it really need to be introduced earlier. I talked it through with my diss support group, and they think it's okay, if I present it to my advisor when it's already done. It helps that both were pretty weak and underdeveloped chapters: add together 4000-word chapters and you get one 8000 word chapter! So now I actually have to do it!


*And I thought tonsillitis would be the most vestigial-organ problem I would ever have to deal with. Now I'm just waiting for my appendix to burst.

Brains

I finished* Chapter 4 and sent it to my advisor on Friday. We had a meeting last week and determined that I can defend the last week of May if I keep to my current schedule. I've also decided to walk in commencement this year! Exciting!

As a nice reward for my Ch 4 diligence, I went to two parties last weekend. The first was a big house party (a winter formal!) with a dancey band that sang about zombies and bicycles. I got to wear an amazing long black dress that was once my grandma's, with orange and purple flowers on it and a ruffley neckline, and danced up a storm.

The second party was my friend A's birthday. She had a cake-off! Everyone brought a cake (I made doughnuts, natch), and each cake had a sewn little pocket near it into which you could put a superlative (I got 'holiest' and 'best cake with a center grip'). There was so much cake I slipped into a sugar coma and had to drink lots of coffee to recover, but I had a lovely time and got to talk to my new friend C.

Also this weekend, the East Lake branch library had its grand opening, after being closed for two years! for renovations. The old library was cramped and ugly and had nowhere to sit and didn't even have windows on Lake Street. The new library is bright and modern and filled with light. The only downside of going to the opening celebration was that I got street harassed on my walk home. I thought winter was supposed to provide a respite from all that.

Back to the diss: Chapter 1 is due on the 14th of March. It's in crummy shape, so I really need to put my nose to the grindstone for it. I'm thinking of scrapping Chapter 5 and putting the relevant stuff into Chapter 1, but I haven't asked my advisor and am not quite sure if that would be okay. Would I seem like a slacker, turning in a 4-chapter thesis? It's just that 5 doesn't fit the new organization of the diss, and anyway the ideas in it should probably be introduced earlier. I'm still working through this.



*It doesn't have a conclusion, but is otherwise done.

Snowshoes

I love the snow! We got about a foot of snow this weekend, and I got a new pair of boots from the vegan store. My reward for my work this week will be to go snowshoeing, which I love dearly. Maybe I'll rent some shoes in the Cities and drive out to Wild River Falls.

Chapter 4 is still plugging along. I did a full read-through, and I just have a few things to research yet, the chapter conclusion to write, and still the notes to do. I have some sort of block on doing the notes, so I'm planning to do (or 'implement,' as the lifehack bloggers would say) the (10+2)*5 procrastination hack, aka force myself to work by building in little breaks.

The chapter is due on Wednesday, and I worked at the museum today, so tomorrow will be the big push day. Wish me luck!


Also, my reader four time zones away should start her own blog. Not this week, obviously, but do think about it.