I can honestly say that I have never been so glad that a week is over! This has honestly been the worst week of the past 4 years that I’ve spent at Wits, and it feels somewhat miraculous that I’ve survived. The trauma was as a result of handing in my research proposal, and the less said about the circumstances surrounding the entire thing, the better. All that I will say is that my proposal has been handed in, and I’m holding thumbs that my presentation on Friday will go well – or that I won’t be required to start from scratch (and at this point, that seems to be the slightly more realistic goal).
After the stress of this week (part of which involved nearly bursting into tears in front of Luke. Again. I’m sorry), the Easter weekend has come as a bit of a shock to my system. I feel as if I’m currently in limbo, awaiting feedback about the proposal, and not really being able to change or correct anything in the interim. Fortunately (?), I’ve got 2 essays to do – 1 for the Unisa logotherapy course which I signed up for, and 1 for my Freud elective at Wits, so I can sublimate my energy into those (although my energy reserves are a tad low at the moment). So far, neither has really got off the ground, as I’m still busy doing research for both of them, and I suspect that the rest of the weekend is going to be spent staring at my computer screen, as usual. I just feel weirdly guilty not working at the moment – I have a feeling that this is some strange symptom of Honours. Thank heavens for sublimation – Freud would be thrilled.
Some respite did come my way in the form of the graduation party that I held on Thursday night. Unlike most other faculties, Humanities graduations stretch over weeks because there are so many students. Thus, I graduated with only 2 of my friends, and no one made any concrete plans to celebrate. So, on Thursday night, those who could make it joined me at Mike’s Kitchen in Parktown for dessert and drinks. The group was a slightly unusual crowd, consisting of Kirstan and her new boyfriend Just Plain Chris, Stead and his girlfriend Chantelle, Chris Fisher, Sarah (Duncan’s sister) and her hubby Graham, and Paul the Frog. Somehow, commonalities were established, mostly surrounding tactics for getting rid of Kirstan’s sister’s crummy boyfriend (we eventually concluded that an attack by a goat would do the trick) and the correct usage of the term “heteronormativity”. I eventually left at about 11pm, after a long conversation with Stead, Chantelle and Paul, and some very nice dessert.
As an aside, I finally made crème brulee a few weeks ago. I must confess that it didn’t go particularly well – mostly, I suspect, because I didn’t correctly heat and then cool and then heat and then cool (and then heat and then cool) the mixture as well as I should have. In short, I discovered that it is bloody difficult to make crème brulee (or at least crème brulee that is set all the way through). I will try again at some point (after all, I spent R60 on ramekins) – hopefully when my ankle is fully healed and I don’t mind having to stand and stir a custard mixture for 20 minutes. The sugar topping did come out nicely though. I’m counting this as a completed “20 Firsts” task though – mostly because I’m running out of time, and because I didn’t really specify that the crème brulee had to be made successfully.
And finally… A little something that I stole/borrowed from one of my favourite blogs, Being Brazen (mostly because I love summarizing my life in the form of lists):
1. Thought for the day: Wherever you go, there you are.
2. Song of the moment: “Don’t look back in anger” – Oasis (the explanation to this deserves a blog post)
3. Drink of the moment: Tea. Nothing new there!
4. Next thing you want to buy: The electric blue long sleeve t-shirt I saw at Woolies. And a new cellphone.
5. Word of the week: heteronormative. He he…
6. Currently annoyed by: Standard Bank. Simpler, better, faster? I don’t think so!
7. Currently reading: Douglas Adams’ “Restaurant at the End of the Universe”, Viktor Frankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning” and avoiding 4 Melanie Klein readings for my psychoanalytic theory class.
8. Last movie you watched? “Emma”. I really have to write a blog post to explain how much I love this movie.
After the stress of this week (part of which involved nearly bursting into tears in front of Luke. Again. I’m sorry), the Easter weekend has come as a bit of a shock to my system. I feel as if I’m currently in limbo, awaiting feedback about the proposal, and not really being able to change or correct anything in the interim. Fortunately (?), I’ve got 2 essays to do – 1 for the Unisa logotherapy course which I signed up for, and 1 for my Freud elective at Wits, so I can sublimate my energy into those (although my energy reserves are a tad low at the moment). So far, neither has really got off the ground, as I’m still busy doing research for both of them, and I suspect that the rest of the weekend is going to be spent staring at my computer screen, as usual. I just feel weirdly guilty not working at the moment – I have a feeling that this is some strange symptom of Honours. Thank heavens for sublimation – Freud would be thrilled.
Some respite did come my way in the form of the graduation party that I held on Thursday night. Unlike most other faculties, Humanities graduations stretch over weeks because there are so many students. Thus, I graduated with only 2 of my friends, and no one made any concrete plans to celebrate. So, on Thursday night, those who could make it joined me at Mike’s Kitchen in Parktown for dessert and drinks. The group was a slightly unusual crowd, consisting of Kirstan and her new boyfriend Just Plain Chris, Stead and his girlfriend Chantelle, Chris Fisher, Sarah (Duncan’s sister) and her hubby Graham, and Paul the Frog. Somehow, commonalities were established, mostly surrounding tactics for getting rid of Kirstan’s sister’s crummy boyfriend (we eventually concluded that an attack by a goat would do the trick) and the correct usage of the term “heteronormativity”. I eventually left at about 11pm, after a long conversation with Stead, Chantelle and Paul, and some very nice dessert.
As an aside, I finally made crème brulee a few weeks ago. I must confess that it didn’t go particularly well – mostly, I suspect, because I didn’t correctly heat and then cool and then heat and then cool (and then heat and then cool) the mixture as well as I should have. In short, I discovered that it is bloody difficult to make crème brulee (or at least crème brulee that is set all the way through). I will try again at some point (after all, I spent R60 on ramekins) – hopefully when my ankle is fully healed and I don’t mind having to stand and stir a custard mixture for 20 minutes. The sugar topping did come out nicely though. I’m counting this as a completed “20 Firsts” task though – mostly because I’m running out of time, and because I didn’t really specify that the crème brulee had to be made successfully.
And finally… A little something that I stole/borrowed from one of my favourite blogs, Being Brazen (mostly because I love summarizing my life in the form of lists):
1. Thought for the day: Wherever you go, there you are.
2. Song of the moment: “Don’t look back in anger” – Oasis (the explanation to this deserves a blog post)
3. Drink of the moment: Tea. Nothing new there!
4. Next thing you want to buy: The electric blue long sleeve t-shirt I saw at Woolies. And a new cellphone.
5. Word of the week: heteronormative. He he…
6. Currently annoyed by: Standard Bank. Simpler, better, faster? I don’t think so!
7. Currently reading: Douglas Adams’ “Restaurant at the End of the Universe”, Viktor Frankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning” and avoiding 4 Melanie Klein readings for my psychoanalytic theory class.
8. Last movie you watched? “Emma”. I really have to write a blog post to explain how much I love this movie.
No comments:
Post a Comment