Hi Skig, I've been teaching for a few days, plus a day off yesterday - hence my absence. But I'm doing some PhD stuff today, in between all manner of DIY and kitchen cleaning in readiness for a bommy night knees up at my place - which you are most welcome to attend.

So right now I am mustering the gumption to finish cleaning my fridge so I can put my recently purchased sausage supply etc in it. After that I will do some more editing, hopefully finishing a chapter. Did about 1 hour 45 this morning.

Good luck with your editing. I've no idea how I'd remove that much from a piece of writing! Are you going to recycle the remainder?

======= Date Modified 04 Nov 2011 12:25:37 =======
Hello everyone, this has got me thinking about the whole IQ and inteligence thing, so I did some indepth research on the interweb and found some interesting results.

Apparently, according to some - wobbly - web sources, IQ tests do not measure creativity, hence Andy Warhol having a score of approximately 84, well below the average of 100. Although some may say they are not surprised by Warhol's low rating, it does seem a bit odd, perhaps he was being a bit smart arsed when he took the test... Also, how come they say IQ tests don't measure creativity when they do measure conceptual intelligence (which Warhol had plenty of), which I always think of as the basis for creativity and innovation? Hhmmmm... Many creatives are dyslexic, could this de-value their scores? I noticed, when I took it a while ago, that lots of the test relies on language and numeracy skills. Not so easy for dyslexics.

That's my coffee break procrastination over with for now, back to cleaning the fridge - and then to finally finish editing my chapter.

======= Date Modified 03 Nov 2011 21:54:07 =======
Hi Sparkles, I'm not sure I feel intimdated, but i do feel envious of people who get the kind f research grants I would like. I feel intimidated by some people's work - like a PhD student I saw give a truly stunningly intelligent paper this summer, I hope I can do the same near the end of my process... I tend to think of people and their work as seperate things I really liked this girl too - so I was doubly impressed, but not intimidated.

I read a quote in one of the Sunday papers or somewhere like that recently: 'never compare your insides to someone elses outsides', and I think that's a good way to think.


I like the stuff that's been said here about average IQ etc, I thought: 'that's why I wonder about thinking 'Is everybody bl**dy stupid!'', maybe they're not stupid, but perhaps quite a few people do have a lower IQ - or however these things are measured - than mine. I also tend to assume that other people will understand the things I do, and get frustrated when they don't. I alsoe think high IQ doesn't necessarily translate into achievement, bt I do think hig IQs will seek stimulation, however that comes. I suspect that's why I prefer to be utterly brasic, but interested and engaged. I get very depressed when bored.

Hey Miss Piggy, sounds utterly cr*p. Sorry to hear about the supervisor trouble. But well done for getting on with it throught the tears. I think I would go utterly mental in your situation...

I've done 1 hour 45 mins of writing/editing this morning, so am making lunch: brocolli and blue cheese soup, hurrraaaahhhh! Then I must get on with the lecture prep I was having nightmares about last night. I dreamt that I had to teach two hours of maths and just freaked and bunked off it, despite realising later that I could have just got the students to do long division for two hours; hence getting the sack - in my dream only of course. Oh dear.

Good luck everyone x

Hi everyone,

I can't believe it... I did bog all yesterday, just slept under layers of sweaters and blankets sipping lemon. Then I woke at, what I thought was 4:30am all alert and raring to go. So I gave in at the presumed times 5:30 and got up. I started writing half an hour later and did 1 hour 45 mins of editing. And it was, in fact, an hour earlier! So I started working at FIVE AM, completely voluntarily. And I've done work BEFORE 7 AM. It worked really well for me actually, I may try and establish it as a pattern; although that will mean not watching late telly. I feel sleepy now though. I have to prepare a two hour session on research and essay writing for undergards before Wednesday, so will be doing that later, as well as picking up some references I generated earlier today. Why is it the further youo get with editing, the more there is to do?

I hoep you got your extra bit of work in Sneaks.

Emmaki, I'm glad you're enjoying the London sun and having time off. Sounds like fun, you deserve it! XX

======= Date Modified 29 Oct 2011 11:19:53 =======
Hi Sneaks, I'm kind of here too, although I'm watching crap telly and trying to fend off a cold/flu thing with lots of sweaters etc and hot lemon at present. I plan to do some writing in about an hour or so - am hoping to finish a chapter re-draft, so I can start a final re-draft thing on Monday.

Good luck with your paragraph etc! See you later x

======= Date Modified 27 Oct 2011 12:57:38 =======
Hello arcade fire,

My initial thoughts are that doing this PhD is not a good way to pave the way for another 'dream', and that the prestige of the job you've been offered will carry you further towards your ultimate destination.

If your PhD department isn't that highly regarded then your struggle to find work after the PhD will be even greater - many PhD graduates, even those from top rated departments - find themselves languishing on the dole for a year or more when they've finished. At which point you'd probably be starting from where you are now in another field, hoping another great opportunity comes along.

Some people do seem to complete their PhDs as though they were 9-5 jobs, in a detatched, but efficient manner. I'm part time and very passionate about what I'm doing (this is my dream) so am not one of them. I suspect time alone may tell if you can do the PhD in a detatched way; but I imagine it's hard to put up with lack of money etc for something you don't care about. I've heard of people who take funded PhD places as a way of having a job for three years, but surely there are easier ways to earn 12-15k per year, and ways which will be more fruitful in the long run? Or does your PhD place pay much more than this?

Hi Bilbo. So sad to see you go. I too always read your posts, no matter the topic, because your words are wise, well written and generous in spirit. Not to mention your admirable presence here.

Thank you for being around for us, and I am flattered that I might have been part of a forum that helped you through the process.

I will miss you, but understand why you have to go. I am sending you my love, and wish you all the happiness possible with your loving husband.

Eska XXXXXXX ((((()))) and here's some snowmen too:



(snowman)(snowman)(snowman)

I can see why you supervisor says itallics: it's far more traditional and conventional.

And some academics can be very sensitive about these things - grumpy old men and women - so, like you say, it's probably best to be safe. But that's just what I think. The grean/blue/yellow stuff was a joke, me being silly btw.

======= Date Modified 24 Oct 2011 17:08:04 =======
As an arty type, I reckon it should all be composites of green - the colour of the sea: yellow for the things only penguins find interesting (because that was a good flavour of choccy biccy); blue for the polar bears (because they are cold) and green for the things they both like because that's blue and yellow combined - and, as I say, it also signifies the sea.

However, as your supervisor has requested differentiation by itallics I'd do that too, keeping the colour coding because her preference is only due to the, most probably misguided idea, that you won't be able to print colour.

Hi Folks. The plumber came this morning and my water is now back on and boiler is fixed.

Haven't been too productive today, just reading the introduction of a book, part of a chapter and scanning for further reading on the topic. Will have to get the book from the library tomorrow in order to finish it properly. Am going to get a bath now. Just because I can - and because I feel monumentally mingin'. Aterwards I'll read two, maybe three more articles on another topic.

Hey Wally, thanks for the update. What happened to you plns to publish and go back to academia, how's that all going?

Hi Rina, 730 words in a day sounds all right to me...

I more than welcome you on the thread, but I am also a newbie here. Maybe if this thread gets over-crowded we could start another.

I have done no work today. Instead I've been coming to terms with having no running water in the flat - due to a leaking boiler with a faulty isolation valve - by watching X Factor and Toy Story 2; while planning meals which involve no water and minimal washing up, and by munching chocolate - a highly effective method of chasing my aquatic troubles.

Tomorrow I begin again. So see you then. x

Just finishing for the day. I caught up with the 'big name' in th topic I'm looking at and feel I'm up to speed with their views. Next time I need to get up to speed with the broader picture on it - and then write up. Maybe I will do the research on Sunday eve, and write Monday morning, because I write best in the morning. But this will depend on degree of hangover recovery post-Haloween party.

Have a great weekend Batfink! And see you all on Monday - or Sunday... X

Good morning (just) Batfink et al,

I've spent the mroning faffing about on the internet looking for a book I need to get to the bottom of my topic - but there is no preview of it. I found just one chapter in PDF form, useful, but not the whole story. So now I must press on.

I did finish a lot yesterday morning, because I realised most of the stuff in the book wasn't relevant. But I have also realised that because there is a gap in the topic area, what I am doing matters more, so I need to read more widely than I had previously thought, but only another book or two - I think...

Today I will finish the second book chapter - and maybe start writing up my thoughts on the topic, but I think I may need the other material in its entirety to do so.

Good luck everyone, and good luck with pressing ahead Batfink. X