Epiphany
This weekend was full of movies. I watched
Resident Evil on Friday night and loved it. On Saturday I saw
American Splendour and am still thinking about it. I loved Harvey Pekar's darkness and found him really funny as well. I have just returned from seeing
Tomb Raider which I also enjoyed (though read and agreed with a good critique of it too).
Actually its been a pretty full weekend. I had Thai in Toorak Road last night with a friend and I ate till I was so full I could barely move. She has just moved to Camberwell, just around the corner from Beech Street - very familiar territory. Her new place is nice, with a really cute old 60s bathroom.
I'm also going to the gym and noticed late last week that I can do most of my workout now. On Saturday, I was exhausted but made through the X Trainer stuff as well as the rowing and weights stuff. I am finding if I don't think about it but just get out of bed and get myself there that the work out isn't too bad. I'll be glad when my body stops aching at all this exercise though. I took a novel with me on Saturday as I've noticed some people reading while they use the equipment. I've discovered I can read and absorb information while I am on some machines, so I think I might start to take work there rather than fiction as it makes the time pass more quickly and I seem to be able to think while I exercise.
This week I'll get going with chapters 2 and 3 and maybe finally catch up with my industry partners for a briefing. It will be nice to get some feedback from my supervisor about the draft I gave her last week too. I wonder whether I have slowed down a bit too much in relation to my work output, but I suppose I'll just have to catch up if that's so.
Off to watch a bit of Sunday night tellie now :)
Attended the
AUSCC conference again yesterday and earlier today. Notwithstanding it was an undergrad conference, it's all quite interesting and I like the concept.
A session about the impact of the federal
Cybercrime Act 2001 on IT professionals was useful in the light of my research. I also introduced myself to a student from the University of South Australia who looks like doing his honors thesis on a subject concerning wireless technologies in health environments. I've asked him to stay in touch with a view to possible future collaboration on matters of mutual interest.
This morning I've also caught up on correspondence, fixed up a link on my web page and done a little scheduling. This afternoon I'll try to get a start on chapter 2 of my thesis.
My supervisor is back from Italy and so we spent time catching up yesterday. The meeting was really constructive and it seems I will be working on a few more articles; I'll be first author for one and second for the others. We also revisited my research question and I gave her a draft of chapter 1 of my thesis to critique.
The conference seems a little disappointing, although tomorrow's sessions are of more interest to me than today's were. It's the first time they've run the
AUSCC conference, so maybe that's why it seemed a little disorganised. I also felt there wasn't as much industry support as I had expected.
I left at about 11.30 and then spent the rest of the day winding my way through Carlton, Fitztroy, the bookshops at the top end of Bourke Street (
The Paperback Bookshop and the
Mary Martin Bookshop), lunch at a Southbank restaurant overlooking the Yarra, then on to St.Kilda for some shopping, an adventure and a glass of cab sav reading the book I bought in Bourke Street while enjoying the ocean views.
Tomorrow will be much more focused on the AUSCC conference until at least 3.00 pm :P
Another fabulous weekend that was amazingly full. I went to the
Show and I still adore it as much as I did when I was a child.. there's a kind of atmosphere about it, not to mention the lollie frenzy I go into; the wheather was fabulous and it's all good :) I have been so restless and full of energy.. maybe it's a Spring vibe?
Yesterday consisted of gym, cycling at Hampton, listening to live Jazz in the arvo and generally feeling good. Melbourne Fringe is about to kick off and the program looks pretty exciting, am already pencilling in days and and events...
I also had a couple of really intimate and funny conversations with friends and my daughter... they were mutually nurturing.
I've spent this morning planning and scheduling stuff, replying to emails and organising the next phase of my work. It's very carthartic because I was beginning to feel a little overhelmed- it's remarkable what a list with a plan and a few items ticked off it can accomplish (or maybe it's a kind of delusion, either way it works for me).
In a minute I'm going to have some lunch and do a little recreational web browsing, then an afternoon of reading and more planning is in store.
Also need to prepare more information for the Conference this week and remember Mum's birthday this week... I am hungry.. I need food now.
I feel happy because the first draft of chapter 1 is written and the conceptual planning for my project seems to be flowing too. I've also organised a session with some academic staff and my supervisors to help generate focus for my research, which should be excellent. I'm going to upload a couple of presentations to my web site later tonight. I'm about to start work on a new journal article and have agreed to give a presentation next month to IT staff at the hospital where I have joint networking committee meetings. I've also managed to connect to some people who are working an area that informs my project. I feel like things are really moving along.
There's a conference at Melbourne Uni next week that has a couple of interesting sessions related to my work even though it's pitched at undergraduate students so I've registered to go - I'm glad attendance is free.
I'm really enjoying my social life too. I went to Cape Patterson last weekend, saw the
Pirates of the Carribbean early this week (loved Johhny Depp) and had a great night out last night. I also joined the gym *ouch*
I hope I can sustain this positive attitude - it's so constructive and I like feeling happy.
My working document is going pretty well and I have worked really hard all day to make up for yesterday, when I spent the afternoon and evening drinking, eating and catching up with friends. Last night ended in a quiz at a local pub and I think I might begin going there regularly on a Tuesday night for a few drinks and trivia.
I updated my web page today and started researching the conceptual aspects of framing my research question more intently than I have before. There's something about working hard and getting somewhere with my work that just makes me feel great.
Well the weekend was all I hoped for in terms of relaxation, peace and quiet. We went to Phillip Island and stayed in a hotel with ocean views which I always adore.
It hasn't been a great start to the week today. I felt so alone this morning and the speed with which that starts me questioning myself, my ability to conduct research and the value of my thesis is frightening. I sat out in the sunshine with Sandy who patiently listened while I talked it all through. Afterwards I got back up and started work again, trying to find my way through the doubt and by about 2 pm I'd made some headway.
I also realised that all of this thinking and uncertainty and working through various theories and approaches is a valid way to start tightening up my research question. I have created a kind of resource document where I'm attempting to plan where I am headed in stages to see if I can design something thats rigorous and valid. Then I'll show it to my supervisors and the other more advanced PhD students for feedback. I think I will also try and get some input from my industry partners as well. Then I'll review it again and see where I can head from there.
Ethics Committtee for Research on Humans training was brilliant. I haven't been surrounded by such a large group of passionate, articulate individuals for a long time. I'm going to adore being on this committee.
My lit review is so close to finished (for now anyway), just a few amendments to the appendices and I'm done.
I have training tomorrow for my position on the human ethics and research committee, should be very interesting and I'm looking forward to it.
A friend recently described how she was feeling as
cabin fever and I know exactly what she means since I have a bad case of it myself - I am going to have to do something about it ...I feel a huge week end coming on.
