mamalegato

In the taxi with Twyla Tharp

Originally posted on Anthony Wilson:
I have been thinking a lot about habits recently. The unconscious, unthinking ones which, as Sylvia Plath said about words, can govern a life. Coming into the kitchen and hitting the radio switch to On. Coming into the kitchen and putting on my iPod or a CD. Cooking whilst listening…

Still at it

“I am just finishing up my PhD” is a term I used frequently these days. It happens mostly when people ask what I have been up to or, in the situations when I am meeting people for the first time as a means of telling them what I do. For those I am meeting forContinue reading “Still at it”

Happy bird-day

It’s my birthday. I’m 52. And while I do have days (like I wrote about in my last post) where I feel a bit conflicted about getting older or especially in being a ‘mature’ student, for the most part, I am quite content about the whole thing and really try my very best to embraceContinue reading “Happy bird-day”

Way too old for this sh*t…

I had an old and very dear friend stop by with her teenaged children for dinner and a visit last night. We live on opposite ends of the country, and haven’t seen each other for ages and it was really terrific to catch up. We went to high school together and her kids are prettyContinue reading “Way too old for this sh*t…”

It’s a sign

I am sharing academic writing specialist Jo VanEvery’s newsletter here; It struck a chord with me because in it she talks about Brené Brown’s book //ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ac&ref=qf_sp_asin_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mamalegato-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=1592408419&asins=1592408419&linkId=bc5ebb4a1529736950a0377df1dc6eb6&show_border=false&link_opens_in_new_window=false&price_color=333333&title_color=0066c0&bg_color=ffffff“>Daring Greatly; Brown’s work centres around shame, vulnerability and failure all of which I having been pondering quite deeply lately. I’ve read some of Brown’s work previously, yet,I admit to … Continue reading “It’s a sign”

Resistance is Futile (and deadlines are looming).

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit”. ~Aristotle I have a little card on my desk that has this quote on it and I come back to it again and again (and again). I fully admit to being very distractible. Sometimes I try and go easy onContinue reading “Resistance is Futile (and deadlines are looming).”

Censors Working Overtime

“Censor the body, and you censor breath and speech at the same time. Write yourself. Your body must be heard”. (Cixous, 1975) This quote from Hélène Cixous (The Laugh of the Medusa) has, without a doubt, been my guiding light throughout the last three years of my PhD journey, and if I really take aContinue reading “Censors Working Overtime”

Take Aways from my freakin’ writing retreat–Day 3

Realizing that I won’t get everything I wanted to get done, done… but also realizing that I STILL got more done than I would have if I hadn’t been here… Also, “Why haven’t I done this before????” (oh, yeah, many children, 2 jobs…) Note to self; always bring more coffee than you think you willContinue reading “Take Aways from my freakin’ writing retreat–Day 3”

Notes from my mother-lovin’ PhD-thesis writing retreat- Day 2

Day one was super-successful (finished 2 chapters that I had been trying to crack since August)—I had high hopes for day 2 but have been feeling a bit stuck (although I must say, I still got more work done today than I would have at home— and the day is not done yet). The onlyContinue reading “Notes from my mother-lovin’ PhD-thesis writing retreat- Day 2”

Burn This *&$#@-Thesis Down Writing Retreat –Day 1

4 days and a 40,000 word PhD thesis to write… Totally do-able right?? Of course, I am not starting from scratch- I’ve got about 30,000 words in a very messy, chaotic mess of a draft… I’m hoping being here (looks pretty ideal, right?) Will just push me over the “get this sucker done” huge wall thatContinue reading “Burn This *&$#@-Thesis Down Writing Retreat –Day 1”