Dissertation fix

I've been jonesing for my dissertation lately, and the Christmas break finally gave me a chance to work on it.

Yep, I'd say it was a bit of a compulsion, and having the chance to put other projects aside (and work) for a week and spend some time reading the stuff I really want to read was such a relief, the only thing I can compare it to would be how it would feel to have a cigarette again. Getting back to the stuff I want to read might not quite be that lightheaded, relaxed feeling I would get from a puff, but it sure did feel good.

Not that I haven't been doing work on the dissertation, but for the last two months, I've been responding to a reviewer's request to add material that holds little interest for me, and it's been tough going.

It's also taken me a long time to adjust to my new line of work. It's not that I'm working a lot, but that I'm unsure of what I'm doing, so I spend a lot of time thinking about it when I'm not actually working, which eats into time I could be spending reading things I really want to read!

So I finally got to read some criticism on cyberspace, and a book about Star Wars (only marginally relevant, but on my to do list) and I felt reinvigorated about the dissertation. Now I even feel like I can slog through the rest of the material my one reviewer told me to read 'cause I'm remembering what I'm in this for.

So one of my new years resolutions? Not to quit this compulsion, but to encourage it. Unconventional for a resolution, but if it works, who am I to worry about protocol?