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06.03.2026 14:07
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A new post has gone up on my site all about the week off my PhD I gave myself to try and recharge. Catch up on all my activities here!
#phdchat #phdsky
www.lucy-brewer.com/blog/a-week-...
In good news? A week free of Phd writing means I can read Poirot and work on my embroidery without feeling guilty! 😂
Over the course of this year (and particularly this week) I’ve been working on a new version of my #PhD upgrade doc that was due today. Big news - I just emailed it off!
Now begins the self doubt of “what if my supervisors think it’s rubbish/not changed enough” 😂.
Well I’ll hear back next week…!
Embroidered, beaded, starfish in pink purple and gold with a central white pearl. Sat on a flowery bed spread
Photo is largely black with some glow in the dark beads in a swirly pattern.
Embroidered, beaded, starfish in pink purple and gold with a central white pearl. Being lifted up for a side on view, on a flowery bed spread
If you followed along with my two day postathon this week you’ll have seen “finish embroidered starfish” on my to do list, and you might have wondered what that was…well I’ve finished it! 🪡🧵 #embroidery #starfish
Black background with white text that says 'Part-time PhD Exhaustion'
Phew, after two very busy PhD days I'm tired as all heck - but straight back to work. I've written a little bit about how I got to that point, and how I'm trying to get through it all over on my substack!
open.substack.com/pub/lucybrew...
Very sensible - October sounds like ages away but it'll fly by!
And in case you were counting...the document is now at 14,561 words. Up 3335 since this morning.
Now it's time for Poirot.
And just like that I've finished my “two days in the life of a sleepy and distracted PhD student”. No idea if anyone read all the way along, but if you did - thank you! I hope it was a vaguely amusing insight into life of a stressed out, distractable part time PhD student trying to hit a deadline!
Definitions of key terms drafted ✔️
It's 10pm, the football's done, I'm tired, and whilst I didn't get to two of the PhD tasks today (task 4 and 5) I'm hoping that tomorrow evening, plus maybe an early start Thursday/Friday I'll be able to pull something together that I can send to my supervisors.
(6) Fox mosaic - first stage done ✔️
(7) Starfish - not done
(8) Flowers - planted ✔️
The big issue now is that the football is on upping the distraction factor...Hopefully the definitions won't take as long as everything else *said with ADHD time blindness brain*
Ok task list check in:
(1) Case study - a very initial draft done, loads to go. Won't get any more tonight ✔️
(2) Initial draft of thoughts on visual media - done ✔️
(3) Definitions of key terms - I'm doing this next
(4) Lit review - haven't started
(5) Historical background editing - haven't started
Well that took a turn and introduced me to a case I hadn't heard of before, and wasn't expecting. Would recommend the article - only 6 pages, and really interesting.
Oh the Javallina looks very cute (though those teeth look a bit scary). I mostly just have to deal with slugs and snails eating the foliage (though occasionaly the squirrels get a bit cheeky and nab a bulb, but that's less of an issue in my front garden where all the bulbs are).
The fox has been glued! Now I’m back to reading. I’m reading an article called ‘The Afterimages of Emmett Till’ which, so far at least, is about how we view images and how additional context changes how we view them. Very much enjoying it so far.
Do you have a looming deadline for it?
As always I’ve ended up going down rabbit holes but now I must pause for the next phase of the fox! 🦊
Nice! How are you finding that part of the thesis? I’m so many miles away from it that I haven’t even thought about it really!
Red hellebore
Snowdrops
I banged out a couple of hundred words with no citations and little rigour but it’s something. Took a quick break to tick off task 8 (photos for proof). Now back to task 2 - have been writing about the downsides to photographs as sources so far. Time to add in some more method I guess. 45 mins 🕰️
Well I'm not entirely sure how that was 45 minutes...I've read some stuff, I still know nothing, and I've got nothing to write....I guess another 45 minute timer? *sigh*
The glamour of doing a PhD ....
45 minute timer is being set…3, 2, 1…GO
Book - fourth edition. “Doing visual ethnography” by Sarah Pink. The sociver is a pink textured looking surface.
For that I’m going to be starting by trying to quickly find the relevant bits of this - Doing Visual Ethnography by Sarah Pink. Any good ideas of where to start!?
Mosaic fox
Phase one of the fox done. Phase two will be gluing it down.
I’m now moving on to task two - the methodology section!
I'm up to 12,450 and have incorporated all of my initial wave of tabs into the doc - huzzah.
Now I get a lunch break with some crafting (the fox mosaic, task six). Photo to follow...
No. No I will not complete the task. ARGH!!
New plan - Keep going with this till lunch at 1. At that point I’ll stop and do the fox mosaic for a fun activity. Following that…we shall see….
45 mins starts now....I've got 5 different tabs of sources open to incorporate...will I do it?
There's so much more research to do, but I think that moment will be a good stopping point to move on to a different task on the list. If only for a bit of a break. The person I'm looking at was in the WAAC and during my googling I came across this...should I buy it?
Wowsers that hour FLEW by. Almost distraction free too which I'm pleased about! Five minute break to grab another drink, then I'm back for a 45 minute session I think. I'm trying to incorporate all of the tabs I curently have open into the text.
Oh but the good news is I was distracted from even starting the timer...so let's try that again...
I've already been distracted...(1) by the USA men's hockey team AGAIN. I've literally never thought about hockey, now it's distracted me twice in two days, this time for a very different reason....and (2) breakfast - toast, coconut water, regular water, two tiny tiny apples 🍎🍎