high hopes low expectations
Jun. 20th, 2013 07:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dineruIt's been far too long since my last proper update, and life just keeps getting busier. I've been cycling between feeling pretty good about myself and complete mental and physical exhaustion. Objectively, things are going really well, amazing even, but the uncertain nature of research and my inability to "turn it off" and take a break when there's still work to be done means that
Research. My advisor was gone for a week, back for 3 days (2 meetings in that time), and gone again for another two weeks. It's hectic and stressful and my precise task is still a bit nebulous and ill-defined, but I think I'm finally working on something that's challenging and interesting and that my advisor thinks is worth pursuing. It's a somewhat different problem from what I thought I might be doing, so I'm struggling a bit to get a grasp on the task and data on the moment, but I think there's a lot of unanswered questions in this direction so hopefully something works out!
Friends. Regular lunches with labmates et al. continue to be a refreshing break in the day. M is back from her trip home so lab is a little more livelier (sometimes too much so).
D and I are gradually becoming the same person: we own the same tank tops and dress similarly and sometimes say the same thing in unison. She drunk-texted me hilarious things about setting cowboy hats on fire over the weekend while she was in TX with her boyfriend, and on Tuesday when she had a major crisis over her research, we went out for drinks and a bit of crying and talked for hours. And we have similar approaches to a lot of things: research, stress, to-do lists, being slightly confused by other people's emotions, etc. so we always have something to talk about.
Fitness. In addition to jujutsu practice 2-3 times a week, I'm doing a strength training program - Sensei designed an individual workout for everyone who wanted to join in, so now J and I spend Tuesdays and Thursdays at CRCE doing mobility exercises and deadlifts and rows. It turns out that I'm not as weak as I thought I was, but I hope to get even stronger! I entertain foolish hopes of maybe doing a pull-up one day...
Vacation. I worked up my courage and asked Katie and Y if I could crash on their floors in San Francisco (Y is there for his internship, Katie just graduated and is moving there long-term in July). Because I miss both of them and I've never been to San Francisco and my advisor will still be gone and I'm honestly on the verge of burning out, I don't think I can wait till the end of July for my first actual vacation since January.
So! July 1-8, San Francisco, Y's couch and Katie's floor for a few nights each. I'll have to entertain myself for a few days while Y is at work and Katie is busy moving in, but the flights were cheapest for those dates and exploring the city a bit on my own isn't a hardship. I'm an exhausted mess of ridiculously excited and stressed/guilty about this trip but I'm doing my best to focus on the excitement!
Fandom. The season finale of Hannibal is tonight and I'm so terrified. THIS SHOW. I've been getting the urge to read Star Trek fic again (if you have any recs, throw them my way?). We have the first trailer for the next Hobbit movie and it looks AMAAAAAZING.
Research. My advisor was gone for a week, back for 3 days (2 meetings in that time), and gone again for another two weeks. It's hectic and stressful and my precise task is still a bit nebulous and ill-defined, but I think I'm finally working on something that's challenging and interesting and that my advisor thinks is worth pursuing. It's a somewhat different problem from what I thought I might be doing, so I'm struggling a bit to get a grasp on the task and data on the moment, but I think there's a lot of unanswered questions in this direction so hopefully something works out!
Friends. Regular lunches with labmates et al. continue to be a refreshing break in the day. M is back from her trip home so lab is a little more livelier (sometimes too much so).
D and I are gradually becoming the same person: we own the same tank tops and dress similarly and sometimes say the same thing in unison. She drunk-texted me hilarious things about setting cowboy hats on fire over the weekend while she was in TX with her boyfriend, and on Tuesday when she had a major crisis over her research, we went out for drinks and a bit of crying and talked for hours. And we have similar approaches to a lot of things: research, stress, to-do lists, being slightly confused by other people's emotions, etc. so we always have something to talk about.
Fitness. In addition to jujutsu practice 2-3 times a week, I'm doing a strength training program - Sensei designed an individual workout for everyone who wanted to join in, so now J and I spend Tuesdays and Thursdays at CRCE doing mobility exercises and deadlifts and rows. It turns out that I'm not as weak as I thought I was, but I hope to get even stronger! I entertain foolish hopes of maybe doing a pull-up one day...
Vacation. I worked up my courage and asked Katie and Y if I could crash on their floors in San Francisco (Y is there for his internship, Katie just graduated and is moving there long-term in July). Because I miss both of them and I've never been to San Francisco and my advisor will still be gone and I'm honestly on the verge of burning out, I don't think I can wait till the end of July for my first actual vacation since January.
So! July 1-8, San Francisco, Y's couch and Katie's floor for a few nights each. I'll have to entertain myself for a few days while Y is at work and Katie is busy moving in, but the flights were cheapest for those dates and exploring the city a bit on my own isn't a hardship. I'm an exhausted mess of ridiculously excited and stressed/guilty about this trip but I'm doing my best to focus on the excitement!
Fandom. The season finale of Hannibal is tonight and I'm so terrified. THIS SHOW. I've been getting the urge to read Star Trek fic again (if you have any recs, throw them my way?). We have the first trailer for the next Hobbit movie and it looks AMAAAAAZING.
