NB: This issue was supposed to go out last Sunday, but my internet was down and then I got swept up with work and forgot to publish during the week. So enjoy two seperate
Hello friends š¤
I didnāt particularly notice the additional day afforded by this being a leap year. Ā Nonetheless, it was a day well spent. Ā I had a very productive meeting with my supervisors about my second chapter. Itās like I am one of those toys and they have picked me up, wound the key in my back, and set me back down in a better direction. Does that make any sense?
š Activities š¼
Monday 26 February.Ā
AM. EDIFY workstream meeting
PM. Science communication career talk
Tuesday 27 February.Ā Teaching onĀ Madness and Society; CHSTM seminar on antibiotic resistance
Thursday 29 February.Ā
AM. Podcast meeting with Tom
PM. Dual supervisor meeting on feedback for chapter 2
Sunday 3 March. Ā Reading for book review
šļø Supervisor meeting šļø
Came out of my supervisor meeting feelingā¦ good? Determined? Excited? Iām not sure how to label it but I itās positive. It was freeing to be told that I donāt need to include everything I find out. That I can and should be selective. Neil hit the nail on the head when he said that I feel obligated to include every detail of the story that I find out. Itās true. Realistically, the reader does not care about everything that I care about. Just because I was excited to find out about the American Long Cane film being shown at the Edinburgh Film Festival does not mean this information needs to be in the chapter.
It was a reality check to hear that whole sections (heavily researched and substantially commented on, mind you!) could do with being one or two sentences. Perhaps itās enough that I know the fuller story. Maybe one day I will post these tidbits and longer stories here. That way, somebody else who cares might be able to discover it one day without having to re-do all the work I already did.
I realise this sounds negative. But thatās not how I feel the meeting was at all! I came out of it with concrete steps and clarity with how I might frame this chapter in a way that a) makes sense and b) excites me. Yes, it will take work and a lot of thinking but the material and the scaffold is there already. And I am optimistic that I can turn this chapter into something to be proud of.
š Lit Review š
I re-read my literature review as part of my post-meeting revision of chapter two. And might I say, it is pretty damn good. Honestly, I was kind of impressed with myself for having written it. Of course, this pride was also accompanied with a powerful sense that nothing else I ever write will reach that standard again. But you win some, you lose some. Ā
š Internet Down š
So, my internet is down. Itās only at times like these that you realise just how much you depend on it. Currently, Iām writing this newsletter in a word document rather than in substack and I have no way of sending it into your inbox without connection. Itās eerily quiet, too, since I donāt have the background drone of a video or podcast.
When I sit down to eat tonight, I will do so looking into the silent abyss rather than while enjoying some trashy TV. Ā Perhaps I will set Pokemon playing on my Switch just to have some music to listen to. I wonāt be able to video call my mum, but at least we can still talk on the phone. Looks like my entertainment tonight will be a good old jigsaw. Thankfully I have some books downloaded on my kindle, but if I didnāt then even my bedtime reading would be out.
š§© Entertainment šŗ
š Finished readingĀ The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley. Too romance-y for my tastes though and did not feel like an authentic academic setting
šŗĀ Finished watching this season of Waterloo Road Ā
šŗĀ Started watching The Apprentice
šŗĀ WatchingĀ Desperate HousewivesĀ and Love is Blind
šŗĀ Watched Ā¾ of an episode of Doctor Foster ā I was thoroughly bored. Thought it would be more about her as a GP but she is just running round trying to figure out if her husband is having an affair
š® Playing Pokemon Violet ā Finished Victory Road and Operation Starfall so Iām eeking out the last storyline
š§āš³ Batch cooked cannellini beans and chickpeas in a tomato and feta sauce
šØ Drawing more Pokemon! Quite happy with how my Leafeon turned out.
How was your batch cooking? Successful? I am sure you will and have written things as good as your literature review. May be different but I am sure just as good for different reasons.