What I said, Part Deux



Prof ******,

OK, here is the story:

Prof. **** offered me a few days extension if I wanted it, earlier in May, until the 31st, and I assumed (wrongly, I'm sure) that he would handle the administrative details. I e-mailed him on Monday to say that I would like the extension, and that my thesis was finished, but before I handed it in that I would like to talk to him. He said to visit him Tuesday or Wednesday. I visited him on Wednesday morning, because I thought that he had handled the necessary details, and therefore I would hand in my thesis the next day, today. Unfortunately, he thought I meant that I had handed it in by the deadline itself when I sent him an e-mail, where I asked him about extending the deadline to the 31st. I would have waited all afternoon to see you if I could, but unfortunately I was required to work yesterday afternoon, and could not wait for a long time.

Anyways, the delay is now going through the right channels, which I would have no problems going through before, but, as I said, there was a problem between what I understood to be the case and what my promoter said.

As for visiting you earlier, I only read last week in an e-mail from the Institute that I should visit you if there was going to be a problem, and I didn’t think that it was the case that I needed to visit you, since, like I said, my assumption was that my promoter talked to the person responsible for deadlines.

Anyways, I appreciate your time invested into these matters. I’m sorry for the inconvenience. Thanks.


Sincerely,


Brennan Sarich


---And now, the paragraph I didn't include, because it was too controversial, and clearly would have put my promoter at fault. Whether that's fair or not, I am still unsure:

I wish I had a better explanation and that I was more active in pursuing and double-checking details, but I can't really offer a defense of that. What I can say is that I tried to do what I thought was most reasonable in this situation, and that I don't have a problem with deadlines, or this particular deadline, but only that I either misinterpreted what was said or took someone's word for something that was not actually possible. And that's what happened.



----So, now I wait. I have no idea what's going to happen, other than he's going to say, "no."

If that happens, I am SOOOOOOO going to take a three day break before I start block studying for my exams. I SOOOO am.

If he does say yes, I'll laugh. Because I wouldn't. I wouldn't at all.

Prof. ******,

Between me and my promoter, Prof. ******, there was a miscommunication about my thesis, and subsequently I did not hand it in on the deadline of the 29th. I came to your office during your office hours to discuss this problem (12:10-20) but unfortunately you were unavailable. Prof.****** has given me permission to hand it in this Saturday, the 2nd of June, if I so wish. I, however, need permission from you, obviously. (I had assumed Prof. ****** had already talked to you.) Anyways, if this is possible, or if I can stop by for five minutes to talk to you about this and give you Prof. ********'s letter of permission, please let me know either way. Thanks.


Sincerely,

Brennan Sarich
2nd MA


And the saga continues.....

I will know when I am doing my thesis defence in a day, or maybe even a morning.

Well, there, I did it.

It's finished.

88 pages, not including references and other pages and bits.


....


Now I need to edit it.

Honestly,

I just don't know what to do with myself now.

Well, I just sent the revised section of this onto Prof Steel, I don't care what he thinks about it. It's crap anyways. =/

I will just keep working hard. No failing. =)

Well, off to bed, after I take a break. For just a minute, maybe I'll do something nice for myself...like....uh....um....

maybe just sleep. That's only nice thing lately. =)

I'm done the first section on the good will (for the third...fourth...time?) again. It's 22 pages. It was actually more like 25, but holy crap, I literally edited out about 3 pages worth of "However, therefore,.." etc., ad naseum. You don't realize how much filler you're capable of until you're trying to talk about concepts that you just want lightly pass by when, in reality, you need to discuss them in serious depth or you're going to become a snack for your promoter.

It's so early in the morning. I want to go for a jog, but I know I should sleep instead. I will lurk around the philosophy department, and see if my promoter is available for a 15 minute chat, and then I can start working on the next section. Because I have failed trying to do this on my own, since that seems to bring extremely unhappy results. =/ =/ =/ =/


Got an e-mail from Kristin today, I'm so happy to hear from her. Currently I am just trying to finish my thesis...geez, it's rough. Hm. I dunno. It's always rought when you haven't shaven and you can only think about how much crap your thesis is.

Huh there's a little spider making a web on my lamp this morning. I think he's responsible for the itch I have on my scalp. =) AUGH! SPIDERS!

The more I do my thesis, the more I realize I don't know what my promoter wants, and I'm literally shooting in the dark. He says its my research, but really, I just don't know how I can write things that he can find interesting and agree with remotely. Granted, the other grad students seem to have similar problems, so I'm not too worried. It's a Belgianism, and really, I'm a lot younger than most here.

Anyways, I should go, none of this is restoring my faith in humanity, and I need to get up in an hour or three. Hm. Two is better, I imagine.

It's getting better.

One section of 1st chapter finished.

Not much, is it?

This week I

wrote a bunch pages, section on lust finished...I guess (I refuse to even edit it at this point)

I had a meeting with my promoter

I have another meeting with my promoter on Thursday to discuss a little more where it's going. The meeting with my promoter on Tuesday went really bad. Really, really, really bad. Really bad. Bad.

....

Really.


But, no problem, life moves on, keeping writing, and not worrying about what said promoter thinks of my writing, just keep writing, since the editing can come later. Main ideas, not structure.

Anyways, I am starting my part on the difference between the law and the sickness-analogies of evil and Original Sin, we'll see how that plays up. I'm really just too tired and sleep to do it, so maybe I'll take a break...no NO. OK, temptation avoided. The only temptation I'm allowed to give into is sleep, and that's because between looking like a prune when I'm 25 and finishing my thesis on time, I'd rather have it done in August.

I think I'm going to have to defer it if I keeping having issues like Tuesday, though. It's pretty for sure.

Which brings up a whole host of other issues which I'd rather not think about right now. Heh.

=)

OK, back to writing. Time to be meaningful! I, uh, guess. Eh heh.

I'm almost finished the chapter on lust.

12 pages finished, probably will be fourteen, hope not much more, seeing Ralph tonight, maybe make him dinner.

Don't feel like talking about lust, already ready for the next chapter on punishment.

I have a meeting with my promoter tomorrow. Sigh. HE suggested it, which probably means VERY BAD things.

Sigh.

Anyways, hopefully my head is still attached to my body later. Ay yay.

Starting last week,

I've stopped seeing all my friends
ate my weight in chocolate, chips, candy, crackers, meals made by other people concerned for my physical and mental health, and cheese.
Sweated off half of it in my little room of heated death
Decided that I will never do laundry again, but simply make a bed out of all my clothes and grow bacteria on my body for a living

....and then, on the work side of things


photocopied two books, read half of one, need to read both (That reminds me, need to read the other book by O'Donovan. Hm.)
read a bunch of articles again
organized all of them once I couldn't find them because they were in huge messy piles
drove myself crazy editing and re-editing. Slashing wrists considered a viable option.
almost finished the really long, semi-useless yet semi-important section on Original Sin (It's at 16 pages, which is really freakin' long, because I never meant it to be more than 15 max, because it's not even the beef of my thesis. Sigh.) which I will send to my promoter tonight. Maybe 5 more pages? I hope so. I don't really feel like making this much longer.



And now, I go back into the Cave..