The Rubber Ducky of Paper Writing
Trust me, the giant burrito makes paper writing that much more fun. I am approaching the end. In a burst of energy, I graded all of the exams on Monday, finishing up my grade calculations on Tuesday and washing my hands of that. Today I spent two hours going for "Diversity and Equity Training," not exactly the best way to spend a chunk of an afternoon during finals week, but this qualifies me for a raise and "experienced TA" status. It's not a great raise by any means, but it had to be done. I missed all of the earlier seminars.
Then I came back to my office and pounded out a good chunk of my Mekas paper. I feel that this paper is going to be too long and that it really lacks quite enough focus and specificity - this seems to the the problem of the semester - not having enough of a thesis to actually fit the length of the assignment (my documentary paper definitely wandered and I didn't know what to do about it). Maybe now that I have a solid start and have a lot written, I can be very discriminating in the editing process and trim it down. I leave very early on Friday morning (my flight is at 7:30am) but my goal is to have it done by the time I leave for the day tomorrow, whatever time day or night that ends up being. My apartment is a trainwreck and packing for go home for a month is going to be time consuming... so really, if I can just get down to business, get things done... I'll be so much better off than scheming to have friends turn the paper in for me or really packing at the last minute before running out the door.
Probably against my better judgment, but I am going bowling in about an hour. Last week, when we made the plans, it seemed like a great idea and a nice break from the ordinary routine of drowning sorrows in a bar, but now I just feel like what I
ought to do is to stay in the office and be productive, since I've penned some 10 pages and feel like I am on somewhat of a roll and to leave now, well, who is to say if I'll feel verbose or stumped tomorrow. But since I'll be out of town for a month, it actually feels somewhat "important" to see my friends one last time (even though many of them are bailing!) but such is life, and this Avant-Garde paper is a doosey. If I hadn't organized the bowling trip, then I'd probably be inclined to skip out as well...
Anyway, can't imagine writing much tomorrow in between the pressures of leaving for a month and packing and finishing this scholarly gem of academic brilliance (hardly)... next time I write, I'll be buried under two feet of snow, in a new time zone, and privy to all of the creature comforts of cable tv and the dog curled up at my feet.
posted by lmjasinski at 7:38 PM
