Hi Lara,

That all sounds really good, your friend's given very sensible advice! (up)

I've nearly had enough today, I'm in danger of adding new typos to chapters I'm allegedly correcting...:$ I am SO tired now. I dreamt my ceiling had big holes in it and some strange beady-eyed person had been living in the roof for ages, and was peering down at me. I woke up quite scared with one of those jerky awakenings when you jolt upright. I think it must have been a stress dream, as I don't usually have nightmares. Anyway, forget the imaginary weirdos in the roof, right now I think I will skim though all my chapters and see what's outstanding *without* attempting any so-called corrections, then mark that lot down on my draft TOC and make a new timetable tomorrow when I feel perkier. Ooh, that's the best plan I've come up with all day.

I'll sign out for now, but good luck with today's aims, they all sound immensely doable! :-)

I don't think there is an age when you *should* stop dying it - it depends on your individual look and what you're happy with. Most of our fashion staff dye theirs up to retirement age, some a very vibrant red, and it suits their style. Many of the older women artists do too, so it's whatever seems right for you, I guess. :-)

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There isn't necessarily going to be a huge choice of courses available that are exactly what you want, it's something that happens when you start to specialise in an area, and is even more so at PhD level. Perhaps you should look at the courses you've found, decide which suits your needs best, then approach people who run those courses to find out whether you are likely to be able to pursue your own interests within that course or not. You may find that a course director would be flexible in supervising a dissertation topic that stretches the apparent boundaries of that course.

That's why hair dye is so useful.

Pam, I have the odd day where I work in my dressing gown, but it's an occasional treat (yes, that sort of thing is a treat these days...). I wouldn't go to a meeting with my sups in my slippers or go out dressed in smelly rags though. However slovenly one may get while working at home, I'd imagine most of us know what is socially acceptable and don't cross the line to slither down that old slippery slope of slobbishness. oops too many s words. oh well.

That's brilliant Sarah, a well deserved result!! You must be SO pleased that you can finally move on to something else and put this behind you!!

Thanks for posting stuff about your experiences btw, I've really admired your tenacity for staying with it. (up):-)(up)

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Well done Zelda, minor typos is a great result! Ooh... you can take it easy now and get back to normal. How lovely! :-)

Eska, it looks a bit like a commercial site if that makes any difference to you - first posts with urls often seem to be on here.

I've had enough for today!!! I've been working on that chapter, then started flagging later in the afternoon. I got to the point where all I was doing was updating my bibliography, so it seemed a good idea to call it a day. It's still not done but couldn't have really done anymore, not with all the theory in it. It's a bit annoying I didn't finish it as I won't be able to work on it for a few days, but maybe it'll simmer away and make more sense when I come back to it. Well, I hope so!

One paper's ok Lara - no point in doing loads for the sake of it, you have to digest it all mentally don't you!! Quality not quantity and all that!! :-)

Anyway, I'm having a break for the next few hours, so see you soon. (up)

Yes, I wondered that too Aloha.... yours is coming up soon, isn't it?

To be honest, I think in any new job, even outside academia, your employers wouldn't welcome the prospect of a new recruit going off travelling for a year by choice at the end of their first year, let alone on a 2 year contract. Unless you really are the only person for the job, there are likely to be plenty of other more reliable (in the uni's view) candidates for the post. I don't think you can afford to mess employers about in the current economic climate.

Hello. Well, I'm back again for another action-packed day of theory and methodology, though it feels like I haven't been gone from this chair at all, it's so horribly familiar now.... I know the back of the chair won't really merge with my spine but it feels like the chair and the computer are becoming extensions of my body. Inseparable, we are!

Harry Hill always ends the first half of TV Burp with a surreal match between 2 unlikely contestants, and I was thinking if it was a contest between me and the methodology chapter, who would win? Me??? Or the methodology chapter???? There's only one way to find out.... fight....!!! Not to promote fighting of course, but I feel like this flipping section is beating me at the moment.... grrrrr..... but I would really hate to lose out in a tussle with a gigantic wodge of paper so I'll have to finish it somehow. Maybe print out last night's work and see how it's looking.

It's the private view tonight of that exhibition that my modest contribution is part of, but I'll be working. What a sad state of affairs! The worrying thing is that my mum thought I 'looked well' yesterday, so does that mean a silly workload and complete isolation agree with me??? VERY weird..... dear me! Haha, unless she expected a gibbering wreck, so it's all relative - phew!

Will probably be back later....:-s

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I want to go to bed now, but not sure if I should allow myself, or to just carry on .... I'm very sleepy and I think my brain's none too perky right now, but I still haven't finished this damn methodology chapter..... aaargh, I am starting to really hate it. It's only just over 7000 words, but I keep moving bits about and putting in new refs that I need, so it keeps growing and it all takes SO long to do. And my sup mentioned she hadn't had it yet. Yes, that is true, she hasn't, because I still haven't finished it.... well, I can't do any more tonight, my eyes are sore and I can't think, so I'll have to email her and start again tomorrow.... it's SO annoying. I feel pathetic for not finishing it actually, but I have done my best today. The extra annoying thing is that I think it would be a good basis for an article for a certain journal, but I just want to get it done right now so I can get back to the normal corrections, which are wildly interesting in comparison to this. Hard to believe I know, but it's true.

So how's your reading going then Lara...? Better than my meth. ch.? Oh well, see you tomorrow anyway! :-)

My uni picks supervisors for research students. A lot of people apply because they want to come to the college to do their research, so it's the reputation of the place for a particular subject area rather than any specific supervisor that's top of their wish list. Personally, I went with the supervisors that fitted my project though.

I'd go for it if you're that keen on the idea - I did that, I gradually reduced my FT job as I realised I wanted to change career direction as I got more into my PhD. You don't know whether you'll love it or not until you actually try it!

Hi Lara! I'm talking rubbish wherever I go today I think... oops! Got the abstract, intro and context sections done last night and sent them off about 2.30am when I realised I was in danger of starting to write crap. Said I would send the methodology chapter on today, though I am very tired but had better force myself, or I will start feeling like flaky is my middle name and that won't do. Coffee then start on it again. :-s Will I write incomprehensible rubbish or will it be ok? That's why I don't like doing late night sessions....

Good luck with your reading, 4 papers sounds ok, as long as you don't nod off :-)

See you later! (up)