i successfully defended my dissertation just now. as soon as i attend to a couple of issues with the introduction, it's done. not sure whether or not i want to blog a narrative of the affair, but for now i can report that it went very well, the conversation was probably one of the best i've been a part of, and that everyone was happy with the project (the hastily composed introduction notwithstanding).
i lost my friend evvie last night, though. our cat had been sick on the inside for a while, and she had a hard day after some surgery. and so i am heart-sick.
i realize that maybe these two things do not belong together in the same story, but for every moment i stared at a screen, read an article, worried over ever finishing, evvie was there.
For the record, just between you and me, for what it's worth, &cetera, five copies of my dissertation have been passed along to my five committee members.
Two weeks to prepare for the defense.
How satisfying is this?
Very satisfying. And just what I needed for my five-minute break.
Just wrapped up a draft of the dissertation to give to a committee member tomorrow morning. In an eminently fair trade-off, this professor agreed to join my bricolage committee on the condition that I provide a draft one week earlier than is required by both my director and the graduate school. Before a final draft is due to the rest of my readers, I have the next seven days to tidy up the hastily crafted introduction, write the conclusion, and avoid the urge to copy edit every word of the completed main body.
I am so tired.
UPDATE...
Got an unsolicited reprieve of one week from aforementioned Professor Super-Nice. Happy for the deadline that forced me to complete that draft in the wee hourse, but even happier for the 168 more hours to make sure everyone gets a stronger dissertation.