Oh! The Places You'll Go!

So. I tend to be a little all-over-the-place with blogs (unlike in real life, where I am a beacon of steadfast progress & constant organisation) which is why it's been a while since I've written. But there are other reasons too, & I hope that by listing them I'll be more inclined to write here again, because it's a nice little space of internet for me to rant about thin-ideal messages in young adult vampire fiction or to rave about the new dystopian books I've been reading or to make fun of The Vampire Diaries, cause that's one of my favourite pastimes.

The first thing that happened was that I got Thesis Block for a few months. Thesis Block is a terrible affliction I'm sure many of you are familiar with. It's the second cousin twice removed of Writer's Block, & only applies to the writing of (& researching of, & reading for, & confidence in) a dissertation or thesis. It was rather unpleasant & I'm very happy to say that it's sorted itself out & I'm back to alternating clacking away on the laptop & mashing my forehead against the keys, which is, I gather, pretty much what writing a PhD is all about.

I tend not to talk about the more difficult parts of thesis writing, & I don't really know why. (Apart from the fact that if you Google my name you can find this blog. Hello, prospective employers, examiners, landlords, bankers! Hello mom!) Maybe it's because writing a thesis can be a very solitary activity, & since, academically at least, I tend to be a bit of a lone wolf (lone werewolf?) I sometimes forget that I'm not the Only Person Ever Who Has Ever Felt Like This Ever. It's nice to occasionally talk to other people in the same rockety boat, who also go through those weekly Oh My God What Am I Doing With My Life crises ("Can't I just run away & live on a barge like the Sylvanian Family toys? I just want to, I dunno, go fishing & raise dirty, barefoot children who can swim really well.") before realising yet again that yes, this is what we want to be doing.

The second thing that happened was that my thesis changed direction ever so slightly (which may have thrown me off-balance momentarily). I'm now going to be concentrating solely on young adult fiction texts, rather than anything with a teenage vampire character (not that there's actually much overlap, which is interesting). Which means that I now don't technically have to watch The Vampire Diaries for my research, which in turn means admitting that I actually like to watch it anyway. (Gasp!) So that's why I've gotten behind on recaps, & you know the way when you've fallen behind it's a lot harder to catch up...

The third thing that happened was that I suddenly realised that I'm getting married very soon & that there's actually a whole lot of organising that needs to happen before a wedding (who knew?) so I, & my wonderful team of minions helpers, have been doing a lot of calling & emailing & budgeting & sewing & cutting & planning & thinking, which is all very fun & time-consuming (apart from the budgeting, which is less fun than the rest).

So. There's my explanation for my absence. Now, to get back to The Vampire Diaries! I also have a bunch of books I want to review, & a lot of things I want to talk about, & a lot of links to link & all the thinks to think, but I should probably leave all that for another day, before I start sounding too much like a Dr Seuss book.

Deadline-Dreaders

So. I'm submitting the first chapter of my thesis soon, very soon, too soon, & I have Thinker's Block. It's more than Writer's Block (I'm writing heaps, just nothing that makes much sense or is any good), it's not quite a mental block (there's some stuff going on in my head still, but this stuff isn't necessarily thoughts, & certainly not Thesis Thoughts) & as a result, for one of the first times in my life, I'm spending my days procrastinating. I don't usually have a problem with procrastination, but something about this deadline is giving me the psychological heebeejeebees & I just can't seem to face my chapter for more than fifteen minutes at a time.

It doesn't help that (for those few people reading this who aren't my friend in real life & so therefore haven't heard & read about this all over the place & constantly for the last two weeks) I'm recently engaged, & if there's one thing that makes for excellent time-wasting, it's wedding blogs. Also, I recently got an iPhone, & if there's another thing that makes for excellent time-wasting, it's Angry Birds (isn't Angry Birds the silliest, most mindless thing ever? & for that reason isn't it wonderful?).

I think place is pretty important for any kind of writing. Here is where I can work well: on the train from Dublin to Mayo, on the train from Mayo to Dublin, in the veranda of the house in Mayo until it gets too hot, on the apple-green couch in the house in Mayo with a cup of earl grey until I get too cold, sitting on the kitchen step in the back garden in the sunlight with a glass of lemonade, squinting at the laptop screen & shooing the cat away from the keyboard.

The problem is that I can't always be on a train, & when I'm in Dublin I can't be in the house in Mayo (for obvious reasons), & when it rains I can't sit on the kitchen step in the back garden in the sunshine (sitting on the kitchen step in the back garden in the rain just doesn't have the same appeal). I've tried turning off the internet to get away from wedding blogs but I still have my iPhone. I've tried hiding my phone but I don't have any secret hiding places from myself, & even with no phone & no internet I find the cat gets quite distracting when I tempt him to chase a ribbon.

Help me, fellow deadline-dreaders! How do you cope with the psychological heebeejeebees? How do you even spell heebeejeebees? Do you have any tried & tested anti-procrastination techniques? Or would you rather I posted a picture of my cat? (He's a very lovely cat. He has a heart on his nose.) Do you think I'll get this chapter in on time? I'll match any bet against. Oh dear. Even this post is a type of procrastination. Pity me, dear reader, it looks like I'm doomed.