So Tumblr really died, huh? I follow hundreds of blogs but all of the sudden I’m only seeing posts from like, three people... and they aaaaaallll reblogs.
I’m really slacking on the #grablrchallenge, but on Friday I finished revising The Big Chapter, which was one of my main August goals. I sent the chapter to my advisor, and I don’t expect to hear back for a few weeks, so there’s really no reason not to move on to The Next Thing, except that I’m mentally exhausted. I was away all weekend on a cycling trip, and trying to get back into work mode on Monday was a struggle. On my desk at the moment are some revisions to my chapter on Thomas Hardy (not as major as the revisions I just did, so hopefully doable in a couple of weeks) AND the drafting of my dissertation introduction. I have some rough writing for the intro already (about 1500 words) and yesterday I made an outline for the part I have left to write. Today, I need to start, but I just... don’t want to. D: I’m going to try and trick myself into working by starting with some VERY rough, ungrammatical, rambly free-writing.
I’d like to make a separate post about my cycling trip, but I took literally no photos. Sometimes i deliberately forego picture-taking so that I can enjoy the moment and not feel like I’m doing something just to post about it on social media afterwards. The trip was amazing, though. I went into it REALLY stressed out (cumulative work stress, but also the knowledge that we’d be getting off the ferry and onto the island after dark. I was convinced we’d all get hit by cars on one of the island’s narrow, winding roads - but fortunately, we did not!) I’m also in much worse cycling-shape than I was last summer, so I was expecting to get my ass kicked by the steep grades on the island. i did get my ass kicked - to a degree - but we took it pretty easy on Saturday, and ate lots of delicious food. The plan for Sunday was to take public transit back from the ferry terminal into town, but there were so many passengers trying to get their bikes on the bus that my friends and I just said, “Screw it, let’s ride back.” So, we got a bonus 60km ride back to Vancouver, and it was somehow the best part of the whole trip. The afternoon sun was shining; the wind was in our favour; I was chasing some of my best friends over country roads and through corn fields, feeling free.
Things have been challenging lately. But sometimes I get a little perspective and realize I’m still living a charmed life.
