Tuesday, April 18, 2006

How to write a 20-page paper in one day*

* not recommended for amateurs

11:00 a.m. Finish teaching first-year writing; head to office in order to isolate self from distractions and begin writing paper

11:07 Remember that you need to give Tolkien Boy a new mixed CD

11:08 Stop by Writing Center computer lab to give aforementioned CD to aforementioned boy

11:10 Run into thesis chair in hall; talk to thesis chair about rest of committee

11:14 Stop by graduate offices to check email, shoot the breeze

11:53 Make it to office; open book; see block quote from important source; realize that you don’t have important source; return to grad offices to check library catalog

12:14 Library has book; leave student appointment a note saying that you’ll be right back

12:36 Return to office with book, plus four others, quite pleased with self; begin reading again

1:02 Woken by student knocking on door

1:16 Finish conferencing with student; decide isolation is dangerous; head home to computer

2:30 Sister agrees to wake you so you can take 20 minute nap

6:10 Sister remembers to wake you

7:00 Take bath to wake self up

8:00 Check email; blogs; blue-beta; blogs again; email again

9:45 Decide brain food is needed; run to Pudding on the Rice for an all-night supply

10:00 Decide caffeine is also a good idea; stop at Albertsons

10:03 Recognize happy and recently engaged couple from high school; return to beverage aisle to avoid them

10:06 Decide it’s safe to purchase Diet Coke and leave the store; wind up behind couple in check-out line

10:07 Exchange pleasantries; discuss grad program with Gyn while Guy pays for groceries

10:15 Walk out of Albertsons feeling good about single status

10:16 Single status leads to thinking about SA boy leads to thinking about SA boy leads to thinking about SA boy

10:35 Still thinking about SA boy

10:52 Write thesis by hand; need break—rice pudding and Diet Coke. . . and first few scenes of Clue

12:00 Mr. Body and the cook are dead. Didn’t remember Martin Mull, but he’s funny. Oh, and my paper. . .

12:49 First paragraph!

12:52 Stupid song stuck in my head, thanks to TB, who finally hit his stride. I’m still waiting. . .

1:13 Decide to stop blogging and write the damn thing.

5 comments:

Kristen said...

good grief.

Melyngoch said...

I'm thinking of you as I finish up (ahem, rewrite) my twenty-page paper in the next seven hours, five if I go to my other class, and four if I skim the reading for that class. And three if I keep checking blogs instead of (re-)writing. (It's a really bad paper.)

Tolkien Boy said...

Let us praise and give thanks for really bad papers written at three in the morning!

Who cares? We're all going to graduate anyway...or at least I am...

Th. said...

.

I have a couple extra paragraphs lying around if you want them.

Katria said...

You sound like me. Except that this is probably the first semester ever where I haven't procrastinated.

I remember last year I'd still be sitting out in the living room typing up my final paper when EmmaLee would get home from work at the hospital and wonder why I was still awake.

 

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