April - Am I a Fool?

Well I survived my viva, and I wasn't kicked out or told to go away. I do have corrections, but with plenty of time to do them in, so unpressured. I have a broad outline of the changes they want me to make, and I'm fairly happy with them.

• Chapter 1 needs "tightening", although I await their detailed comments to know exactly how they want that to be achieved. One area I do know they want, is for me to mention more of my background reading for the prime reason of letting it show in the bibliography. Slightly tedious, but it's no skin off my nose to do it, so I'm happy.
    
• Chapter 3 they want to see my own transcriptions alongside my translations. I had originally had mine in, but wasn't happy with them and lacked time to redo them. I am actually looking forward to having a good reason to go at that bit again :)
   
• Chapters 4 & 5 they felt would be better merged. Chapter 5 was, in my opinion, the most clunky of the whole thesis, so of all the ones to pick on, that's the one that I am least attached to in it's current form.

Overall, I accept their criticisms, especially as something that will not only strengthen this thesis, but stand me in good stead for the PhD as well.

Plans:

1. Work on paper for Borderlines in Dublin - just over a fortnight away now so I need to get cracking. Currently reading up on opinions on chantry foundations as I don't want to get wrong assumptions that will kill my logic.
    
2. Work on paper for EMREM in Birmingham - this is broadly the same area as the Dublin paper, but from a slightly different angle. Hoping to get some good questions in Dublin to bring into this paper. Regardless, I need it close to done before I go to Ireland as it's easier for me to amend than write.
    
3. Go through detailed revisions notes once received from the examiners (probably next week).
4. Think seriously on getting myself Chartered Librarian status over the next 12 months while I have the opportunity. It's mostly portfolio-of-current-work so I'd be surprised if it impinged on studies.

Other stuff:

TGO put in for a transfer to a long-term project nearer to me, so keeping my fingers crossed about that. Having just spent a week up with him after my viva I'm badly missing the chit-chat that you have when someone's in the same room/house as you.

Counting pennies to see if I can afford Leeds this year. I really want to go, but not sure about finances.

MA to PhD:

I have up to 12 months to resubmit.
I can start the PhD in either January or September following a pass.
Supervisor is on research leave from September 2016 for 3 years.
So,
Get as much rewritten before September so I can get full feedback from her along the way.
Find a second internal supervisor, probably from History since my Principal Supervisor is from English.
Focus on LIFE bits to get them processed ASAP and thus completed within that 12 months as well
Aiming to restart September 2017, as January 2017 is a bit close for the entire process from corrections through the External examiner to acceptance, in my opinion.

~~

Revisiting my old plans from October...:

1. Make Christmas presents - sloe gin and maybe a flavoured vodka again.
   Made damson vodka instead. Had the flavoured vodka from last year as a NYE drink and loved it, so I now want to make more!
2. Rewrite my paper for Borderlines into an article. The paper didn't feel like it 'worked' well, to me, so I really want to go back to it, pull it apart and fix it.
   Still a plan, still not happened. Maybe in May/June
3. Create the database I'll need for the PhD research - I can't assume I'll fail miserably, so I'm just going to get on with it.
   Postponed for 9 months or so
4. Start databasing some of the data for my PhD - it will need doing some time
   As above. Concentrating on getting the MA thesis "right"
5. Read for fun - novels and non-research nonfiction
   Aiming at 1-2 books a month, but have also upped my intake of short stories.
6. Do some sewing - I have patterns for a dress, top and a skirt I want to make, and now I have the time. (Simplicity 3847, New Look 6808, Simplicity 3673)
   Made Mum a peg bag for Mothering Sunday (she asked for one). Not started on clothes yet. Current bad excuse is that I need a tailor's dummy - I either need to stump up or shut up on that one really.
7. Join an exercise class, or a dance class. Maybe belly dancing! Something to get me fit, but without boring me senseless, like I find I get in a gym.
   Um, oops
8. Level all my Warcraft characters to 100. What, I never said I wasn't a geek!
   10/11 on main account. Secondary account lapsed due to finances for now.

Viva Tomorrow

OhGodOhGodOhGod....

*panic*

February Round-Up - Marching on

February is a short month. This year it started as another one of nothing much going on, but almost as the month ended that lethargy was followed by sudden urgent movement.

At the start of February I still had no idea what was happening with my MA thesis and was planning to discuss it with my supervisor “soon”. After many weeks of drifting aimlessly, I pulled myself together and submitted abstracts for two conferences – Borderlines in Dublin and the EMREM Symposium in Birmingham. To my surprise and pleasure I have since been notified that I’ve been accepted to do both papers.

On 25^th & 26^th I was at Quadrivium, which was being held in Leicester this year. I’ll try to remember to do a write-up of that separately as it was another good year IMO. As hoped, my supervisor was at Quad, so we had a brief chat and she STRONGLY encouraged me to contact the department on the Monday to chase my thesis progress. Back home on the Saturday, however, that plan was hastily dropped as I was met by a letter inviting me for a viva on either 17^th or 22^nd March. So the last three days of February have been panic stations trying to organise myself and my brain back to September, when I submitted the thesis.

Currently I’m still waiting on official confirmation that I’m being 'done' on the 22^nd (couldn’t get the 17^th off work due to meetings), but all being well that’s what should be happening. Plan now is:

• Go up to UniCity the night before and crash in a Youth Hostel near the station overnight
• Head into campus in the morning.
• Viva is "make myself available from 12 noon"
• Attend lecture that evening on campus (nice coincidence) – assuming I’m not a complete wreck!
• Head to TGO to spend Easter there (*happy dance*, have arranged 3 days working from home and been asked to attend a meeting at a site not far from TGO's residence so perfect timing)
• ~ Easter ~
• House clearing and tidying so we get a bit closer to selling and then living together permanently again
• Head back Weds after Easter

Once the viva is gone, I will be able to focus on any corrections (I’ve already found some I want to do!), and then the papers for Dublin and Birmingham. Despite all the stress of preparing for an upcoming viva, I can honestly say I’m glad because I can once again see forward. However terrifying the viva is in my head, and may be in practice, I have something I can work towards, which is so much better than sitting on my hands waiting and worrying...

A side benefit is that it has prodded me to chase down the letter with my official ASD diagnosis on it, to provide to my examiners.

Releasing stuff

In the unlikely event that anyone was wondering... I've just prodded the last few month's posts as they don't seem to have published despite being scheduled. My mistake I think on understanding how Blogger works on that (Save+ScheduledDate doesn't push it to the queue; Publish+ScheduledDate does). So yeah, 3-4 months of random witterings in one go, sorry!

February post

Nothing much to add this month. Currently stuck waiting for a gas man for the second day running - just what I wanted to do on my week off!

Still waiting on my MA thesis - even if all is well, I'm now not expecting to start the PhD before Easter at the earliest.

I'd hit a hiatus in research reading because I'd tied myself into mental knots. How? Well, I'd got into the loop of what should I be reading on - further depth for MA thesis, or onwards into reading for the PhD. I think that I'd convinced myself that A) I shouldn't read more for the MA thesis because I shouldn't change where I was (Hmm!), and B) I shouldn't read for the PhD yet because I'd jinx it (Double hmm!). I exasperate myself.

This week I've consciously been trying to break that and start reading again regardless, and it's working.

Currently reading: Peters / Patterns of piety.

Plans for February:
 Quadrivium in Leicester
 Kathryn Rudy lecture in Cambridge.

Slightly late December post

Still trying to get into the habit of a monthly posting. This month is a bit late because I keep getting distracted by other things, as usual...

No response regarding my MA thesis yet, which means that without a minor miracle I definitely won't be starting in January! Unless I get it back with 0 corrections (unlikely IMO!) there is no way for me to receive comments, act on them, AND get them checked by one of the assessors. Accepting that as a fact, I need to keep working forwards...

So, I need a plan for the next six months. Obviously things can change, and hopefully will, but I find it is easier to deal with uncertainty with a plan in hand. Yes, even a plan which may never happen!

Six Month Plan (Not enough of a Russianist now to do 5 Year ones!)

• Fun Craft
• Duct-tape Dressmaker's Dummy
• Current patterns: 
• Skirt (Simplicity 3847)
• Dress (Simplicity 3673)
• Top (New Look 6808)
• Bake a monthly cake
• 
  
• Victorian Ball - I'd love to attend the 2016 Victorian Ball in Bath. The theme this year is "Crinolines". I own almost nothing that would be of use! I do adore costume history and living history though, so it's a great "off duty" plan to construct/sew/buy...
  
• Health
• Do more/some exercise

Work is stable, so time to work on personal life. TGO and I have been living apart due to work for 18 months now and it sucks. Time to use the breathing space to work on that.

I made Damson vodka on the weekend. Unfortunately I now have to wait until at least the summer before it's ready to drink... I still want to try my hand at sloe gin, but I'm struggling to get hold of sloes as they don't grow within walking distance of home and I don't drive.

I need a new corset for the Victorian Ball, so if I'm not paying fees in January, I plan to put them towards a 3 day corsetry course. It's pricy, but at the end of it you have a customised Victorian-style corset to take home. The one I'm looking at includes materials. My main concern is where I'd stay while it's on, as I can't expect a lift there and back every day

November

So, I gave myself October off from study, apart from going up to a lecture at the John Rylands in Manchester one weekend. I've read lots of fiction for the first time in ages, and made my Goodreads target for 2015.

But now it's November and I've had my birthday so time to look to the next step. Which is what?
I can't assume I've passed through my MA with no revisions, so I plan to spend November re-reading it and looking for mistakes the examiners will want fixing. So far I've fixed some glaring grammatical errors in my abstract. Hope that's the worst of it!

I'm also working on some personal stuff while the pressure is relatively light, or at least when I can do nothing about it... We shall see what comes of that soon, hopefully!

October

Rabbits and hares and white rabbits.

It's October, and a lovely autumn day here. I'm sitting in my office at work looking out of the window and there's a lovely sunshine out there right now. The leaves on the walk home are also a fabulous colour which really cheers me up.

Academically I'm in limbo stage, but still a student. As I understand it, here is how things go from here. Bear in mind this is for the MA by Research NOT the PhD.

• Submit hard copy (with all the forms) - DONE
• Hard copies are sent to my internal and external reviewers - probably going to be sent next week, I was told.
• Both reviewers have about 8 weeks to turn around their feedback.
• I receive the feedback and have one of about 5 results
• Pass with no amendments
• Minor amendments (e.g. typos, small changes to specific areas)
• Major amendments (e.g. rewrite sections, add in X element)
• Revise and resubmit (End to end revision and resubmission as a semi-new thesis)
• Fail
• I respond to the result, and act accordingly.
• Pass (unlikely)
• Minor - edit, resubmit within 3 months, sent back to internal examiner to accept
• Major - edit, resubmit within 6 months, sent back to external examiner to accept
• Revise and resubmit - edit, resubmit within 1 year, restart review process
• Fail - no PhD place
• Viva is unlikely but a slim possibility, mostly if an examiner wishes clarification on an area covered OR you are borderline failing (do you know your stuff just can't write for toffee?!).
• I start the PhD (unless FAIL), 1st of the month after the thesis is accepted (HOPEFULLY January 2016).

So until at least November I can do nothing except wait, which is completely nerve-wracking.

Right now I've got student status for the year, but no fees to pay until accepted or not. Financially this is nice as it means we can save the money for other important stuff (#1, finish fixing the house!).

Despite this, I cannot just stop dead. Here's my plans for the next few months:

• Make Christmas presents - sloe gin and maybe a flavoured vodka again.
• Rewrite my paper for Borderlines into an article. The paper didn't feel like it 'worked' well, to me, so I really want to go back to it, pull it apart and fix it.
• Create the database I'll need for the PhD research - I can't assume I'll fail miserably, so I'm just going to get on with it.
• Start databasing some of the data for my PhD - it will need doing some time
• Read for fun - novels and non-research nonfiction
• Do some sewing - I have patterns for a dress, top and a skirt I want to make, and now I have the time. (Simplicity 3847, New Look 6808, Simplicity 3673)
• Join an exercise class, or a dance class. Maybe belly dancing! Something to get me fit, but without boring me senseless, like I find I get in a gym.
• Level all my Warcraft characters to 100. What, I never said I wasn't a geek!

If I fail? To be honest, I'm going to do the research anyway, but I'll have less support etc. I am doing this for the pleasure, not as a career move, so why on earth would I stop doing something I already enjoy?

Terror!

Today I submitted the electronic version of my MA thesis.

This afternoon I will being going to the nearby university to get two hard copies printed and soft bound (no library copy yet thankfully).

Tomorrow I go up to hand in the physical version, and hopefully sort out registration for next year.


To Do

SCONUL application for next year. All my library books are due back either today or tomorrow and I cannot renew them until...

• University registration status confirmed
• SCONUL application can be confirmed once I have a current registration status
• Once I have my fabulous SCONUL email, I can renew my membership for those accounts.
• THEN I can renew my books (and probably have to pay overdue fines).

The International Medieval Congress in 2016 (Leeds)

Last Updated: 27 August 2015

For my own interest I'm gathering together here a list of any Calls for Papers (CfP) for the IMC 2016 in Leeds. The individual paper closing date is 31 August 2015.

31 Aug 2015	The Dominican Order in the Middle Ages	Ordernsgeschichte
31 Aug 2015	Academic Englishes and Academia in the Making: Who Will Write the Middle Ages and How?	Zsuzsanna Reed, CEU
1 Sept 2015	Artisans of the book and collaborative working methods	Manuscript Collaboration Hub
1 Sept 2015	The Long Lives of Medieval Art and Architecture	Amanda Dotseth, Courtauld Institute of Art / AVISTA
8 Sept 2015	Food, Feast and Famine, 3 sessions proposed	Royal Studies Network
10 Sept 2015	Topic: Names & Onomastics	Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources
10 Sept 2015	Session proposals for ICMA (ICMA members only) – scroll down	Janis Elliott / ICMA
11 Sept 2015	The Animal Turn in Medieval Health Studies	Sunny Harrison, Leeds
14 Sept 2015	Eating the Book: Manuscripts and Reading Habits in Anglo-Saxon England (Image)	Rachel Burns (UCL) & Francis Leneghan (Oxford)
15 Sept 2015	Interactions among towns and leagues of towns in the long thirteenth century	Dr Gianluca Raccagni
15 Sept 2015	Rethinking the Medieval Frontier	Jonathan Jarrett
15 Sept 2015	The Monastic Refectory and Spiritual Food	CESM
15 Sept 2015	2 sessions: Food and Feast in Medieval Outlaw Texts Ecocritical Outlaws	Kristin Bovaird-Abbo & Lesley A. Coote / IAHRS
ASAP or 15 Sept 2015	The Medieval Landscape/Seascape (blog)	Kimm Curran (Glasgow)
ASAP or 15 Sept 2015	New Directions in the Study of Women Religious (4 sessions)	Kimm Curran (Glasgow) & Kirsty Day (Leeds) & Steven Vanderputten (Ghent)
20 Sept 2015	Medieval Equestrianism: Theory and Practice	Anastasija Ropa & Timothy Dawson
[Unspecified]	Topic: Letters to Women (panel), esp. Letters to Jewish or Muslim women	@KRMaude
[Unspecified]	Medieval Ecocriticism	Heide Estes / Medieval Ecocriticisms
[Unspecified]	"If anyone is interested in putting up sessions for the International Medieval Congress at Leeds [...] under the auspices of the IPPS, please contact us."	Piers Plowman Society
[Unspecified]	Food + Death / Food in Death / Food + Wills	@Emy_Pica
30 Sept 2015	IMC Committee Deadline for Organisers of Sessions / Panels
[Closed]	Murder and Mayhem: Disorder and Violence in Italy 568-1154	---
[Closed]	Feast or Famine? What Presence did the Bible Really Have in Medieval Spiritual Writings?	The Society for the Study of the Bible in the Middle Ages
[Closed]	Mastering Knowledge and Power: Bishops, Schools and Political Engagement in Early Medieval Europe (650-1050)	Giorgia Vocino & Giacomo Vignodelli
[Closed]	Slavery in the Medieval World (PDF)	"Medieval Slavery" project
[Closed]	The Separation of Church and Church Bishops and their Communities in the Carolingian Era (8th-10th c.) (Thematic session)	SFB Visions of Community & the Network for the Study of Late Antique and Early Medieval Monasticism
[Closed]	Debating Relics: Reflections on Relics in the Middle Ages and Problems of Methodology	"Mind over Matter" project
[Closed]	Setting the Table: Medieval Tablescapes, Dining, and the Visual Culture of Food (scroll down) (Facebook)	Meg Bernstein / ICMA Student Committee

Any more I've missed? Leave a comment, or tweet @MEM_PG_Confs with the details.

#IMC2016.