There have been many farces produced over the years in which a quest for something grand in a far off land drives the plot. I'm finding that writing a dissertation this semester resembles such films, as there have been monsters, temptations, wounds, duels, good deeds and fluffy black bunnies galore. Luckily, my big, black, fluffy bunny hasn't tried to bite my head off with her fangs, but she did try to bite my thumb off yesterday when I forced her to have "couch time" with me while watching another dorky German made for TV movie. I now have a cracked thumb nail.
The semester started with injuries to both of my index fingers. I cut one and burned the other. These minor flesh wounds healed quickly and didn't slow down my quest for a holy hypothesis. Three days later I realized that the funny feeling I kept having in my arms wasn't due to my clothes cutting off circulation, I was suffering from nerve pain. For two weeks I haven't been able to carry books, a backpack or fluffy black rabbits because doing so increased the pain shooting through my upper limbs. It turns out a disk in my neck is pinching a nerve, which is causing pain in my arms, elbows, wrists and fingers (which oddly also happen to be half of the body parts my dissertation focuses on...). My mornings have been spent at the chiropractor's office. The pain is mostly gone and I can type and hold a pencil without cringing again. It seems that stress triggers my spinal chord injuries to flare up. My word of advice for avoiding such irritants: don't fall off the roof of your house.
On the first day of the semester, my secretary was missing and someone new has been in her place ever since. This has led to being asked for help with many menial tasks, such as making tables and calendars, while waiting for water to heat for my daily tea. Meanwhile, students keep asking for favors (I couldn't make it to class, can I still get points??? kind of favors) and I wish that I could turn such students into newts (they'll get better).
The office computer that sits on my desk broke. I have no idea what happened to it. It won't turn on. The IT department is supposed to fix it but is taking forever to set up an appointment. I finally had an appointment this morning, but my car's radiator broke and I had to fix it before riding the bus to school today. My faithful steed, Papa Smurf, is supposedly healed and being held in captivity until I can pay the proper ransom. Until then, I can utilize the set of coconut shells hidden in my closet at home. As for the computer, maybe it will be fixed with a herring sent to the IT department.
I outsmarted the mean librarian so that she would give me a key to my study carrel. Her "none shall pass" attitude quickly changed with the mention of African swallows.My study carrel has proven to be the proper place to accomplish a lot of work.
My quest for a working hypothesis has been much longer than I anticipated. I am running out of rations and need to meet with a certain adviser. I just sent out a plea via SOS and hope the response doesn't come back in an annoying French accent. In the mean time, I don't think movie references will help me write about metaphor and grammar, but it does make me feel better.
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