Were you expecting something interesting?
Mar. 9th, 2007 02:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
zcat_abroadI keep coming up with fascinating things to write about, when I'm nowhere near a computer. And the minute I sit down at a computer all my energy goes away. Some kind of 'energy-reducing' field.
So instead, you get a boring update "A week in the life of Zcat the Broad" (where 'broad' is a slang term for woman, and not indicating my size, much).
I have now given two tutorials, so theoretically should have met everyone in the class. I have not. There were people in class on Wednesday night that I have yet to meet. Monday's tutorial looked okay, and we got through most of the material. Wednesday's class was frighteningly quiet, and remained so well into the class - only one person responded to anything I said, and she did because she's been in one of my classes before. However, an icebreaker that included, among other questions, "how will Middle English help you in the outside world?", raised the noise, and hence energy levels in the class, considerably. I had trouble getting them back together into one group. Which is good, but we didn't cover as much of the translation, and I would like to have a chance to discuss themes and issues...
I hadn't prepared much for my one-on-one Latin translation with Michael this week but managed to struggle through a goodly portion. I know that if I applied myself harder, I could beat Latin into a mushy pulp, but it's still hard to motivate myself. It is not a lovely language. And poetry when the writer is trying to apply as many classical tags as possible while writing about a saint, is not fun.
The trains did their best, this week, to convince me (further) of the dangers of trusting public transport to get you anywhere on time.
On Monday I aimed to be in at Uni for 1:00, even though the tutorial is at 3:00, because I wanted to make sure all the papers were in order, and also get to the gym. At 12:50, the train came to a halt under the motorway, beside Mt Eden Prison, and stopped. About ten minutes later, the conductor walked down the train, saying there was a problem with a signal, and it would be another 15 mins. At 1:30 I got out and talked to the conductor, who said that they were trying to get all the trains moving around Newmarket, as there were lots backed up. So I walked up Kyber Pass and into Symonds St to catch the 50c bus, because that was all I had in my purse, and there were no shops I could get money out of along the way. Only about 10 buses passed me, on a hot, hot day. Fortunately I had my gym stuff, so I could get a shower at Uni and cool down.
Notwithstanding this, I tried to take the train again on Wednesday. The train was in the station when![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
zcatcurious dropped me off, and I thought I would miss it. But it was still there once I crossed the road, and the conductor promised this was going in to Britomart in 10 mins (when it should have left). The train then continued sitting there, and didn't leave until it was 20 mins late. Fortunately, I had stuff to do (in the form of Latin translation), and the conductor didn't charge anyone on the ride.
I think the biggest problem I had with all this was the lack of communication. There doesn't appear to be any public address system on the train, which is strange in itself. And then the conductors could have told us sooner about delays, and keep us up-dated. And the Monday issue, when it was found out it would take over half an hour to get things moving, should have been solved with buses, to get people to places on time. Grr. I support the idea of public transport, but it just can't be trusted. And outside of rush hour, there are only hourly services from the suburbs into the central city, when they feel like running.
No real, useful study has happened all week. Or the week before. In fact, precious little has happened all year. I am finding it terribly hard to get motivated. I love reading the texts and manuscripts, and find interesting things which could make the whole thesis rock, but when it comes to writing about them, I don't care. And yes, I feel guilty about that, and so I sit and feel guilty for an hour, then leave the computer, and go back to reading. I'm supposed to hand a fat wodge of writing to my supervisor, and I have only half a wodge.
It's become one of those situations where I'm depressed about the lack of work done, which makes me less likely to do any work, and so on. I'm depressed because I didn't want to be tutoring this semester, and already I can see how tutoring eats up my time, but it doesn't really matter, because I wouldn't have done anything productive with my time anyway. I have successfully managed to waste today, by watering plants (which needed it, badly), shopping (for having friends round this evening) and reading lots of lj. I would like the world to stop now, and start again when it treats me better. Or something.
I would like to do some serious re-arranging of my pot-plants, and make about 3 corsets, which are hovering in the back of my mind. Not to mention finishzcatcurious's tailcoat, which has to be done first. But I don't have the energy, the money, and I shouldn't have the time.
Sorry, there isn't much joy in this corner at the moment.
So instead, you get a boring update "A week in the life of Zcat the Broad" (where 'broad' is a slang term for woman, and not indicating my size, much).
I have now given two tutorials, so theoretically should have met everyone in the class. I have not. There were people in class on Wednesday night that I have yet to meet. Monday's tutorial looked okay, and we got through most of the material. Wednesday's class was frighteningly quiet, and remained so well into the class - only one person responded to anything I said, and she did because she's been in one of my classes before. However, an icebreaker that included, among other questions, "how will Middle English help you in the outside world?", raised the noise, and hence energy levels in the class, considerably. I had trouble getting them back together into one group. Which is good, but we didn't cover as much of the translation, and I would like to have a chance to discuss themes and issues...
I hadn't prepared much for my one-on-one Latin translation with Michael this week but managed to struggle through a goodly portion. I know that if I applied myself harder, I could beat Latin into a mushy pulp, but it's still hard to motivate myself. It is not a lovely language. And poetry when the writer is trying to apply as many classical tags as possible while writing about a saint, is not fun.
The trains did their best, this week, to convince me (further) of the dangers of trusting public transport to get you anywhere on time.
On Monday I aimed to be in at Uni for 1:00, even though the tutorial is at 3:00, because I wanted to make sure all the papers were in order, and also get to the gym. At 12:50, the train came to a halt under the motorway, beside Mt Eden Prison, and stopped. About ten minutes later, the conductor walked down the train, saying there was a problem with a signal, and it would be another 15 mins. At 1:30 I got out and talked to the conductor, who said that they were trying to get all the trains moving around Newmarket, as there were lots backed up. So I walked up Kyber Pass and into Symonds St to catch the 50c bus, because that was all I had in my purse, and there were no shops I could get money out of along the way. Only about 10 buses passed me, on a hot, hot day. Fortunately I had my gym stuff, so I could get a shower at Uni and cool down.
Notwithstanding this, I tried to take the train again on Wednesday. The train was in the station when
zcatcurious dropped me off, and I thought I would miss it. But it was still there once I crossed the road, and the conductor promised this was going in to Britomart in 10 mins (when it should have left). The train then continued sitting there, and didn't leave until it was 20 mins late. Fortunately, I had stuff to do (in the form of Latin translation), and the conductor didn't charge anyone on the ride.I think the biggest problem I had with all this was the lack of communication. There doesn't appear to be any public address system on the train, which is strange in itself. And then the conductors could have told us sooner about delays, and keep us up-dated. And the Monday issue, when it was found out it would take over half an hour to get things moving, should have been solved with buses, to get people to places on time. Grr. I support the idea of public transport, but it just can't be trusted. And outside of rush hour, there are only hourly services from the suburbs into the central city, when they feel like running.
No real, useful study has happened all week. Or the week before. In fact, precious little has happened all year. I am finding it terribly hard to get motivated. I love reading the texts and manuscripts, and find interesting things which could make the whole thesis rock, but when it comes to writing about them, I don't care. And yes, I feel guilty about that, and so I sit and feel guilty for an hour, then leave the computer, and go back to reading. I'm supposed to hand a fat wodge of writing to my supervisor, and I have only half a wodge.
It's become one of those situations where I'm depressed about the lack of work done, which makes me less likely to do any work, and so on. I'm depressed because I didn't want to be tutoring this semester, and already I can see how tutoring eats up my time, but it doesn't really matter, because I wouldn't have done anything productive with my time anyway. I have successfully managed to waste today, by watering plants (which needed it, badly), shopping (for having friends round this evening) and reading lots of lj. I would like the world to stop now, and start again when it treats me better. Or something.
I would like to do some serious re-arranging of my pot-plants, and make about 3 corsets, which are hovering in the back of my mind. Not to mention finish
zcatcurious's tailcoat, which has to be done first. But I don't have the energy, the money, and I shouldn't have the time. Sorry, there isn't much joy in this corner at the moment.
