levertovfan | Emily rambling and babbling and searching for meaning

So I worked on stats all day and I'm feeling like I've really practiced the material. I'm taking the test tomarrow in two chunks because the prof gave me extra time. It should be good. The question is whether to work on my comps in the time in between. Working on comps usually upsets my mental balance. If I was ever mentally balanced to begin with. Today Derek told me that comps was making me stranger. (Derek: I'm just kind of amused by that comment. No need to mention shovels or holes.)

So after working on stats most of the day, I went to the computer lab to play around with my comps intro somemore. Came to the conclusion that the conflict between my advisors (which I haven't heard anything back on) is making my paper very vague and specious and unfocused. I can make a thesis about locating Veblen scholarship in intersections between politics, historical moment, academic field and personal circumstances, I'm just not sure that it means anything. It resembles a lot of history jargon, and specifically a lot of things Susannah Ottaway has had me read, but I'm not sure it is anything beyond common sense. I have a picture in my mind's eye of Joseph saying that "Well, it's vague and general but then it's all (making hand gestures to indicate the world in general) vague and general." I hope that isn't me at my comps defense.

I briefly allowed myself to read some of my leisure reading today. I'm reading Possession, by A.S. Byatt. Part of the plot enfolds as an epistolary romance. Mmm. As much as part of what I'd want out of a theoretical relationship is cuddling, there's something really delicious about reading an epistolary romance. Particularly when it's written by A.S. Byatt. I picture spending my whole spring break reading books checked out of the Sci-Fi library or else ensconsed in pillows in the Gould library with a stack of books. It will be so wonderful to be free of comps!