Tomato: Week 7

Bonjour, mes amies! I am excited to be back on the SWIM bandwagon and love hearing all about y'all's writing experiences. It's so inspirational! I've been feeling a lot less pressure to write, and as a result, it's coming more naturally and easily. Work's been so slow lately also that I take advantage of that time to blog and journal. I just got put on a doc review so I'll be working a lot (hopefully). Figuring out how to squeeze in time for all my "fun" writing will be a challenge, but I welcome it with open arms. After all, isn't real life learning to balance work and play?

My Week 6 check-in:

WEEK 6 GOALS!

1) Experiment with fun journaling a la Revisionista! Don't worry about lack of drawing ability and just GO FOR IT! Haha um... I did do this, but not well. I need to take Doodling 101 or something! It's ridiculous!

2) Consciously set aside your Juicy Journaling assignments and come to peace w/ the fact that I can take those on at a later time. Yup - set up a gmail folder where all my juicy journaling emails go. It doesn't stress me out to see them piling up anymore!

3) Get feedback on ideas for Le Book (may need some of y'all's help on this one) and start notebook exclusively devoted to its conception. Right now Le Book is mostly an idea in my head, and I think I need more vision and guidance before I begin writing it full-on. I envision a notebook full of ideas as a good starting point. :) Check! Also bought a notebook for Le Book and plan to start exploring ideas and thinking about feedback there. Woo hoooo

4) Keep up with SWIM!! (because you ladies are FABULOUS and INSPIRATIONAL!) Check!!

Voila my Week 6 Goals:

1) Attempt morning pages (actually in the morning) at least 2x/week

2) Work on planner pad - i love my planner pad, but i often don't use it as best i could. I'm going to try and carve out some time this weekend to really spend time planning the week ahead.

3) Write 3 snail mail letters/cards to friends. (I've been truly slacking on this one.)

4) Post weekly SWIM goals in planner pad!

5) Write a difficult blog post for moi... has been on my mind for quite some time, but have been scared to write it. I think it will be good for me.

(No reward for moi this week. I've given myself enough rewards lately. ;-) )



{photo credit - Jennifer Emery}

Vienna: Mystery goals

Hi ladies!

While I write this post, I have already met one of my writing goals for the week: I have emailed my Greek friend explaining what I expected from the holiday, budget situation, writing time needed, etc. She replied and seemed understanding. Fingers crossed now!

I really don't know what to expect next week so I'll keep my goals simple:

1. Morning pages
2. Daily morning yoga.
3. Daily creative writing (I don't know what I'm going to be able to do, but I am going to 'protect' some writing time every morning, even if it's half an hour).

Well, next time I post I will be in sunny Spain since I'm flying on Wednesday! I'll include some nice pictures with my future posts.

Happy week and happy writing everyone!

Revisionista: Update, Goals, & Jedi Mindtricks

Bonjour belles mademoiselles!

First off, thanks for all the lovely comments you've left on my blog & twitter thread, re my finishing CH 1 of the research book last week. I think I've said it before, but writing, especially academic writing/research, can be such an invisible process (until tenure review of course when the powers that be want to see journal articles & le book). So, it's been a great motivator to know that y'all are out there reading along as I figure out how to make a book (and a novel). Merci beaucoup! As soon as I check some stuff on my to do list this morning, I'm looking forward to popping around to each of your blogs and SWIM posts for a happy dose of inspiration.

Now typically this is the time of year that I FREAK out that my summer has ended and I have to go back to school. But this year, I think I've figured out some strategery (as Bush would say) aka some Jedi Mindtricks that'll help me get ready for classes without the usual meltdown.

Jedi Mindtricks for the Start of School

1. While my vacation may be coming to an end, it's still summer until Sept. 21. So until that scintillating summer solstice lady sings & tranquilista has us drawing more petals to welcome fall, I'm going to continue enjoying all my summer activities.

2. Instead of waiting until the week before classes start to pull together syllabi, etc I'm going to do everything this week. That way I can return to my research and summer rituals next week and then roll into the semester the following week in a calm, mindful & chic way. (Plus, I'm totally treating myself to the 2nd Season of Mad Men if I can get all my teaching stuff done by the end of the week!). I'm hoping that by making the conscious choice to do this prep work, I'll move through it tranquilly and not get bogged down in procrastination and dread.

3. Once I get my teaching/research/novel writing agenda in place for fall semester, I'm going to stay in the moment and focus on the day I'm in. I have a bad habit, which started in grad school, of living in the future--ie wishing for winter break, spring break, summer break, etc. instead of finding contentment in the day I'm actually in. So while I have some awesome stuff to look forward to in the coming year (a birthday trip to New Orleans in the spring, turning this research book in to the publisher & going to Italy as a reward), there is much to enjoy and experience on Monday, August 3rd.

So, here's a look back at last week:

* YES! morning pages: continue to incorporate sketches, doodles, etc
* YES! ~~ CH 1 is complete! 15min/weekday on CH 1 of the research book
* Comme ci, Comme ca 15min/day on le novel But I did manage to finally burn the novel house down & get back to a place where I have no idea what happens next. I know where it starts, where it might end, and an ideal turning point in the middle, but other than that, who knows. (I'll post more about this on my blog)
* YES! 1-2 Italian podcasts I'm listening to *My Daily Phrase Italian* on itunes. Each lesson is about 3-5 min & you learn a phrase or two. It's TINY Italian. :) And it's free!
* YES! read for fun (am loving my book baths--such a great way to drift off into a book w/o interrupting self w/ internet, etc)
* YES! (2) 2-3 blog posts

I'm collecting my reward of a shopping day later this week.

Here's what I'm cooking up for this week

*417 syllabus, BB setup, & first day brainstorm
*310 syllabus, BB setup, & first day brainstorm
*Aim for 7 hours of novel time
*Type last week's novel pages
*Gather materials for Le Rsch Book introduction
*Read/skim vol. I of E for CH 5 of Le Rsch Book
*Outline fall teach/research/novel agenda
*Artist Date
*2-3 blog posts
*1-2 Italian podcasts
*Start mapping out dream trip itinerary for Italy
*Send City Girl a pearl of wisdom

It's time to get to getting as Miss Niecy says on Clean House. Here's to a good first week of August!

dharmagirl: goals august 3-9

Goal Update...

Goals July 27-August 2
1. write email to campus about Poetry event on Thursday yes! plus follow up email about how fabulous said event was and how lame people were for not coming (no, not really, exactly, but wanted to say that:)
2. select poems to read at aforementioned poetry event yes
3. craft ENG 102 syllabus yes--schedule all set. need some new prose, but have ideas in mind. will blend with existing syllabus prose
4. work on novel collaboration project yes--set up wiki and worked on characters a bit
5. read one hour each afternoon sorta. started reading Dracula, and read for longer at night too, a great collection of essays, Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume
6. create versions of morning rituals--flexibility is a key! not every morning is going to be/should be the same yes, and this worked really well
7. post two year anniversary blog on monday yes!
8. do something really fabulous and fun yes! spent lots of time with super awesome person
9. continue reading writing advice books for a) myself and b) for ENG 102 inspiration yes! digging Twyla Tharp!
10. check in with fellow bloggers yes, though not as much as I'd like. it's hard to keep up, especially when I fall behind. so if i don't comment, please know that i'm still paying attention to you and your conversations:)
11. MPs yes!


This past week was just the week I needed: a relatively quiet week, with no visitors and no travels. One major event, a poetry reading that I hosted, plus some fairly significant personal events/fun, still fit into my routine. I felt happy and accomplished all week, able to balance good eating and exercising with the work of writing and reading and thinking ahead to fall semester a bit.

In fact, this week went so well, that I was loathe to leave the routine for a fun break. Every summer I head to one of my best friend's parents' home in Northern Michigan for a few days of good girlfriend bonding time, shopping, eating, wine-ing, and beaching. It's a bit of a hike from here--an 8 hour drive--and I nearly discounted the trip because it would be a lot of driving and time away from my lovely routine.

But. Then I looked at my calendar, and the big START CONTRACT DATE near the end of the month, and realized these days where I can come and go as I please are coming to an end. I'll be in a much stricter routine soon enough, and should take this time for myself, and to visit my friend, and to enjoy the most beautiful, restorative place I know. And so, my goals for this week are simple:

1. try to write a little something every day.
2. soak up beauty.
3. wonder at the natural magnificence on the long drive.
4. ponder important, big things whilst driving.
5. enjoy my friend's company.
6. be in the moments.

Happy week, everyone:)

Vienna: A few Sunday notes

Hi swimmers!
Just wanted to write a quick post about a few important things:

1 I do apologise if anyone has felt excluded with the comment in Spanish Lauren and I exchanged in one of my posts this week. Thanks, Kiki, for pointing it out. It just happened as an spontaneous thing and we never meant to exclude or offend anyone. I have written the translation of my part follwing Kiki's comment. Sorry, again.

2. A HUGE THANK YOU to you all for your sweet comments and wise advice on my chaotic post. I am immensly happy to belong to such as creative, kind and supportive group as SWIM.

3. My REWARD this week came without looking for it. As I've mentioned on a previous post, last night I attended the premier of Kandahar break, a controversial film shooted in Pakistan and Tunisia, where R (my boyfriend) had worked as a script supervisor. I felt so proud of him watching the film. It was amazing to see how all the hard work had come together and the product was that wonderful and beautiful film.

This is the page of the film on Facebook. It includes trailer, a piece of news and an interview to David Whitney, the director. The film is on its distribution phase. I hope some distributors show interest, the film gets sold and we can watch it soon in the cinemas!

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Kandahar-Break/89397491485

Have a nice Sunday.
X

Kiki: How do you prioritize?

And suddenly, it is August. Sigh. This post is therefore composed to the sounds of Brandi Carlile and Vienna Teng with a large glass of Merlot.

Wanting desperately to earn my rewards of a slice of Lush soap and a scarf last week was what kept me powering through a conference abstract, two paper revisions, chapter sorting, and drafting a review. And while technically I met all my other goals last week (missed daily yoga on Friday, when I kept thinking about it and thinking about it, and then just got caught up in helping Darcy prepare for his race), I'm left feeling like I'm not paying enough attention to Beijing.

Granted, between full days spent on professional writing, plus blogging and morning pages, I feel like do an imperial buttload of writing in the course of a week. So it's probably understandable that I spent several hours this weekend watching Hotel Babylon rather than writing Beijing. But I'm also returning to another book idea I had a while ago now that I'm refining my niche on Yogademia as well - hopefully that can be unveiled next weekend. While we have just enough time every day for what is important to us, sometimes there are just too many things that are important to me. In other words, I'm having difficulties with that prioritization thingy.

Oh, and this conversation with my parents yesterday was priceless:

Mom: "Why haven't you called?"
K: "Because I've been working - I'm trying to get the dissertation draft finished before September, and this week I had to revise the papers I'm giving in the fall."
Dad: "Have you finished your speeches then?"
K: "Dad, politicians give speeches. Academics give papers."
Mom: "Have you really been that busy?"
K: "Mom, what do you think I do all day? Sit around with my feet up eating bonbons collecting on the sales from my self-dissertating pens? Until that happens, I dissertate or do other work-writing nearly eight hours a day!"
Mom: "Oh, I didn't realize it took that much time."
K: "I'm beginning the seventh year of my Ph.D., and you're only just figuring this out now?!"
Mom: [silence]
Dad: [chuckle] "Busted."

ANYWAY.

Goals August 3-9
*Get at least 10,000 words down on paper for this final (dear lord, I hope so) chapter draft
*Spend 2-3 hours working on the book review for a complete draft
*Draft at least five longer Yogademia posts to have in the arsenal for next week
*Work on refining my Yogademia niche through better quality posts
*Draft and post another episode of Beijing (loved the Victorian serial reference, Revisionista!)
*Come to terms with the fact that Beijing has to be my creative writing side project and that the book I really need to write is more in line with my Yogademia niche
*Daily Yogademia posts, yoga practice, and morning pages, of course

Reward: Two-day Homemade Writer's Retreat next weekend, including taking my non-work writing out for a brownie and tea at Origin8.

Artist Date: two hours spent playing the guitar and singing at the top of my lungs without caring if the neighbors hear. Man, do I miss singing - using the Bon Jovi chant to close out my yoga practice only goes so far.

Tomato Pics: Collaging

Was doing some collaging yesterday and thought I'd share some of what I've put into my journal this past month. Also, I put up some of my Le Book collages on my bedroom wall to serve as inspiration. I LOVE collaging - it's so therapeutic for moi!