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Everyone else: Gee isn't it swell to start NaNoWriMo, a month dedicated to fleshing out and writing one's own novel? :D
Me, finishing my Honours thesis and has barely written any form of original creative fiction in the last few months: I do not want to look at a word processing document until next year.
Backlog: 26/10/2021 🌷 | In which ya mate is finished with Honours in all senses except the official XD
I.e. I got my marks back! For my manuscript AND my overall Honours degree which was a flippin' shock let me tell you XD
So, I was having lunch with my friend (hence this pic of a vanilla chai latte with bonus cookie!) when I got an email. Without thinking, I clicked on the little notification and was confronted with the email subject (paraphrased): 'Manuscript report and final grades'. Alas, I was already in the email before my brain caught up with what had happened lol
My response? "Oh god." XD
But hey, all's well that ends well, because the marks were damn good if I do say so myself!! But the best part was my unit convener's comment re my final Honours presentation. They said it was one of the best they'd seen and reader, let me tell you, I felt VINDICATED.
Ever since leaving high school, I've done ok with my presentation assignments, but rarely have I ever felt satisfied with them. But finally! The vindication I craved! XD
It wasn't just their comment to be fair; even after I had presented I felt content and almost happy with how it went.
Anyways, the million dollar question: what's next? Well for one thing, I've got a manuscript to edit so we can get it published! And a lit review that I've been saying I'll get back around to for a few weeks now and still haven't 😬 lol
Maybe this week... at some point... 😅
🎶 Song rec of the post: anything by Gang of Youths hits the spot, but 'the man himself' is particularly exceptional- I find myself playing it in my mind often 😌
14/05/2021 🍂 Featuring my shockingly terrible handwriting! Seriously, my handwriting is not aesthetically pleasing at all- there is no consistency to any of it XD
Anyway, I decided to take it a little easy today (I worked all day yesterday which was way more draining than I anticipated ooft) and get through another data lesson in R. Just for funsies I pulled out my fancy-schmancy pen/stylus for my laptop and wrote in my notes! My handwriting is barely legible at the best of times, but it's always fun handwriting onto a screen and seeing my scribbles in my digital notes lol
That's one more data lesson in R down, a list-worth still to go ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ But first, I need to get all my tracking spreadsheets ready for tomorrow's [redacted sport] viewing!
🧣 highlight of the day: I washed my not-Oodie and it's so fluffy omg!!! I'm so excited to use it (especially with winter on our doorstep)!! :D
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12/05/2021 🍂 Proof that my Honours project isn't all that aesthetically pleasing, but this bit looks kinda cool (don't worry, this data is fake)
Got to hang out with my friend @thysistime today! I infiltrated 'the enemy campus' (a.k.a. I visited the uni that I don't actually go to 😈 lol) and we had brunch! We had a lot to catch up on and he gave me a mini tour of the campus (my reaction: damn, my uni is really missing out on this whole 'academia' atmosphere lol)
I just finished a data lesson for R for my project, so now it's time to plan my next step! Probably type up some notes for the next data lesson tbh lol
🎶 my current playlist (because I've got too many songs living rent free in my head right now lol): Could Have Been Me #142
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30/10/2021 🌷 | Shoutout to this ridiculous set-up that got me through my final Honours presentation and is currently getting me through my final manuscript (long post ahoy!)
I feel like I should explain what that red and white thing is lol - it's a fish finger-puppet (no pun, it literally is a finger-puppet shaped like a red and white striped fish lmao) that I've popped on the end of that lil microphone to act as some form of windscreen. Does it work? Jury's still out, but hey, at least it got me through my presentation lmao 🐠
Data analysis ✅
Final Honours presentation ✅
Final manuscript - almost there!
I had my final Honours presentation last week which I was freaking out about because I wasn't actually feeling too stressed, which made me more stressed because I should've been more nervous... it's a vicious cycle tbh and happens every time I do a presentation lol
With a final Honours presentation, not only do you have to justify your whole project and present all your findings within 10min, but you also have to answer questions from well-respected, intelligent, published lecturers and professors. So, I (quite practically one would argue) prepared some answers to questions I thought I'd be asked the day before my presentation. Which was all for nought, because none of the questions they asked me had anything to do with the answers/questions I had prepped for lmao
I got my marks back and I know people say to never get hung up on numbers and whatnot, but geez the pride I felt! Finally some redemption from my initial presentation and every other presentation I'd done in my undergrad!
Anyways, I sent my supervisors the final next iteration of my thesis draft on Thursday and was working on some supplementary docs yesterday. All I have to do now is wait for their feedback and try to convince myself that I can take a (bit of a break this weekend ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Recs of the post: 📺 BBC Ghosts - from the og folks who starred in Horrible Histories, Ghosts is full of heart and humour. I am forever in awe of how talented Them There/the Six Idiots (affectionate) are, both as actors and as writers. In fact, if I think about the ridiculous amount of talent they have for too long, it'll drive me wild (in awe and jealousy lol) 🎶 Jukebox the Ghost - guess who finally found a musical anchor?! (Only took me 4 bloody months lmao) I recommend their Long Way Home: Live album, and also, their damn good Queen covers!
21/09/2021 🌷 | You know you've done enough analysis when... (or: Spring has sprung and I'm still doing data analysis lol)
Turns out that 3 months being in lockdown does in fact have an impact on how well one can accomplish tasks; who knew? Certainly not I, the person studying mental fatigue 🙃 (this is what we in the academic world call 'irony')
For the first time in my academic life, I've asked for an extension. It's a weird feeling. I've spoken to some of my friends about this and the conclusion is: sure you could listen to your inner perfectionist and struggle your way through, but at what cost? I'm glad I have them to talk me through it and to kind of debrief why I did it.
Asking for an extension is something I never thought I'd have to do in my academic career, and despite being a mental health advocate myself, even I'm struggling with my own internal biases associated with asking for extensions. Things like thinking that I'm weaker for asking for the help, or beating myself up for not being able to get things done during a pandemic. But like my convener mentioned: they want me to complete my Honours to the best standard I can, and I think this extension can help me do just that.
I'm still kind of beating myself up, but the blows aren't as hard anymore. I think that goes to show that I'm in a better headspace than I was a month ago.
Shockingly and despite all of this, I still haven't wanted to throw my laptop against a wall! Thank heavens for small mercies!
Now, if you'll excuse me, it's time to set up my 3rd R Markdown document before I pack up for the night ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
📺 show rec of the post: Miss S (the Chinese adaptation of Australia's own 'Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries'! Come for the stunning-but-possibly-not-historically-accurate costuming, stay for the delightfully mischievous Miss Su, her endearing adopted family ragtag friends/co-conspirators, and the stoic-yet-surprisingly-soft Inspector Luo. It might take a little bit to get used to how CDramas operate, but once you do, it's one helluva ride!)
Backlog: 09 June 2021 ❄ Ya girl finally finished coding one game of [redacted sport]!!!
After a week of coding, I finally finished coding a whole game of [redacted sport]! :') 80 minutes, 1252 rows of data... data analysis is gonna be fun 🙃 Little wins, folks! Little wins...
📚 Book of the day: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo I got the Collector's Edition of Six of Crows for my birthday which was a Saintsend because I'd been craving a reread since I saw the first two eps of Shadow & Bone. I missed my Crows :') Also, Kanej is one of my OTPs; just the way Leigh wrote them? Stunning. Powerful. I wrote poetry to try to deal with it but it's still on my brain, so I made a playlist lol
Backlog: 26 May 2021 🍂 First time being on campus in a long time, yikes!
Ever since I moved off campus accommodation, the only time I visited campus was to catch up with some friends. That was once, months ago. I haven't been back since. But the 26th was the day, it seemed!
Had a meeting with my supervisor in which we went over the coding variables I'm using, making sure they're all describing what they need to describe. Much to their disappointment, we never did get to watch a few minutes of [redacted sport] but I enjoyed the brainstorm session. Hopefully I've convinced them that (despite not being a fan) I am picking up the rules and quirks of [redacted sport] lol
Had my go-to breakfast order (scrambled eggs on toast and a hot chocolate XD) at one of the quintessential cafes on campus; they're a personal fave for scrambled eggs on toast 👌🏼 Also, the place exudes 'quintessential uni-campus' vibes (in a good way) lol
Then I decided to go to the library which had been upgraded since I last saw it! It was very open plan, I was digging it. Until my friends pointed out that 'open plan' also meant that you could see into all the study rooms. So much for studying in peace I guess XD
Anywho, today was a public holiday in Ngunnawal country, so I had a slow start to the day, followed by several hours of [redacted sport] coding (7h of coding over 3 days has gotten me through the first half of the first half of [redacted sport] 🙃). I've still got my spreadsheet and [redacted sport] in the background and am planning on going back to it after I post this lol
🎶 song rec of the day: Little Things - Ziggy Ramo ft. Paul Kelly (100% necessary listening for every Australian, especially today. I'm going to make a longer post about it tomorrow maybe, but it's a really eye-opening song, highly recommend)
{31/05/2021}
