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Big Magic
I received Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic when it came out last Tuesday. I had read it through by Thursday. The book was an easy read, similar in style to Eat, Pray, Love in that is was constructed by a series of connected essays. Content wise, there was much in there that I had heard in other forms, bits from her TED talks (thankfully that was not all the material she used), chunks of her personal experience, and comcepts covered by Julia Cameron. However, this is wholly in her own voice and comes together as a cohesive work that lends new insight to the creative life. I found it compelling in a way…
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Curriculum goals
Today I was asked to lead on a data management curriculum initiative. This was something that I had intended to do already, but this was also a goal of our data management group. I will be officially in charge of getting it completed. I have a few reservations on creating a curriculum by committee. Mostly it has to do with making the overall product bland. What I am thinking of now, is that it would be a good time to get in touch with a few of my former instructors for some advice and insider tips. I had been meaning to but didn’t know how to approach it. There’s a…
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Day in Review Tuesday, September 22, 2015
My brain threatens to make this entry a list of all the things to get done. It’s tempting simply because it’s such a habit. I’m on the long train home, I had to take drugs to get through the morning. What happened in between wasn’t as productive as I would like. Freedom can be a dangerous thing. I did get a walk in the late morning though, just from one side to another, but it was enough. For now, I think I will try to get another module of my IRB training done. Past that I will work on ideas for NNWM. My husband would like me to write something…
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NNWM 2015
It is September and that means a few things. One, that my birthday is in a month. Two that I need to book the date for our annual cookie baking day. And three, National Novel Writing Month is seeping into consciousness. I need to decide how I would like to participate and to what degree. Last year I cleared the 50K with relative ease. My approach was to write at least thirty essays, one per day, on topics that I wanted to explore about myself. I created a list of ideas encapsulated in two or three words that I would take my train ride to think about and examine. I…
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Indecision
I’ve always had a slight problem with indecision. I read somewhere that I likely has something to do with being a Libra. Another theory is that I have bought into a couple of cultural beliefs. One is the culture of scarcity, in this case time. Second is the impulse to make sure to get the best deal possible. Whatever the reason, I feel making decisions is a act that should be carefully considered, and once done, not retracted or changed. I can make quick decisions when the options are polarized, or when I have lots of clear information. Other than that, I will ruminate far longer, I suspect, than the…
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Buckets
It is Friday and the end of the work day. One of the last conversations I had before leaving was a wandering one that was part weekend projections and part weekday recap. One of the statements that came up by my colleague was “I couldn’t tell you what my job is.” She meant how a liaison is specifically defined within an institution that also considers librarians tenure-track faculty based on research. This is a separate consideration than how we spend our time. I was just thinking about this today. I spend my first year tracking how I spent my time. The purpose was to make sure I was using my…
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Beautiful words
I have a secret wish to write beautiful words. I felt it rise up in my consciousness on my walk with the puppy last night. The walk was an impusive flight to get out of the house and capture the early fall before it becomes late fall, and then winter. The day gave way to night in the graceful way it does every day. I typically don’t notice. Yesterday, I heard the cricket chirp and the traffic people faded away. The dark deepened and left me with no distractions to focus on. I could smell dinner from the condos we passed. And I wished I could capture all that I…
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Day in review Sept 9, 2015
The workday began well enough. I spent some time fixing my citation managment database for the meta-analysis that I am involved in. I am thrilled to say that the working relationship between the PI and I is good. So far, he has been prompt in conversations and responding to email. He has been clear in his communications, deadlines, and goals. The tenor of the relationship has been positive and one of equals. Not bad for a first run. The next month will be heavy on work, but worth it do get it done. I hope to have the majority of it done by the end of the year. The pilot…
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Day in review Friday August 28, 2015
The end of the week. I have two more instruction sessions next week. Today was unexpectedly good. The student were animated and willing to participate. It was more than I expected on a Friday afternoon immediately after lunch. And I finally got to get some scheduling done, until the end of the semester, for the data management project that I am shepherding. This said, I started to realize yesterday that I have the habit, probably formed from my other jobs, to do only short term planning. I need to develop the habit of long term planning. Further, I need to develop a cycle in planning. I had the conceptual idea…
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Day in review August 27, 2015
I have yet another headache. It is making me short tempered and judgmental. Someone is sitting near me that had an odor that isn’t helping. I’m listening to the guy next to me discuss with his kid, the editorial changes he made to his homework. There are more than a few that are on the rush hour train taking up extra seats. Earlier today, I was supposed to spend about six hours at a variety of clincal shadowing experiences, but I was stood up (essentially). It left me with a free day, but I didn’t use it as productively as I would like. Which always brings me back to the…