The life of a writing woman

I've been writing, writing, writing the past few weeks. Sometimes I write about students, and then for a break, I write about teachers. Since writing is a big part of research (what's the point of having all these brilliant ideas if you don't tell anybody about them?), I'm lucky I don't dislike writing as much as some grad students I know. But I have to admit that I like having the finished project a bit more than the actual writing.

This week I've been creating presentations and posters, which is just a different kind of writing, as far as I'm concerned. (For those of not in academia, when you attend a conference, two of the most common ways to present new findings are either with talks, accompanied by Powerpoint slides, of course, or on a poster, a great vinyl sheet on which you print all your deep thoughts, then stand in front of it at prescribed times. You accost anyone foolish enough to wander by while looking vaguely interested. It's like a science fair without judges and afterwards you go out for beer instead of ice cream. )

Tomorrow night I leave for a week's vacation in tropical Ohio. I know that's not everybody's idea of paradise, but I'm hoping for lots of garage saleing combined with a week's respite from washing dishes (my mother spoils me). Bliss!