Closing in on 2000 words
The paper writing is going alright; I have nearly 2000 words of my 5000 word paper. I’m doing the boring one first (of course the shorter one is the topic I’m more interested in). I may be doing a lightning-quick editing turnaround tomorrow and so need to get most of my paper completed tonight. I met with a prof yesterday, Susan Manning, who has been leading the American portion of my course the last three weeks. I talked with her for an hour about various research interests; she’s probably one of the most ‘famous’ people in the department and seems keen to work with me and guide me into a suitable area for Ph.D. research. She gave me some good practical advice and said how she enjoys working closely with text which really thrilled me! I have felt that so many of things I’ve heard lately have been about theory and practically, we only tend to use the literature to bring out themes rather than delve into anything deep within the text; so Susan’s interest in the text really was wonderful. I’m currently considering studying issues of physical space and its relation to the individual (what a house says about a person, how people cope in a prairie and other immense, sublime spaces, how they internalise space, are just some of the initial inquiries); also I’m looking at studying Scottish immigrant narratives to the US or other transatlantic issues.
We also had our last research methods class today, so happily that is over with. For my Monday class we’re meeting at the prof’s house to watch a film on the subject and have a discussion as well as eat some food and we’ve been told to ‘bring a bottle’ of some sort. 
Other than that, I made a pumpkin pie last night: good food is a good diversion from writing. Also, I am finished with my Xmas shopping and tomorrow night we’re going to hear Handel’s “Messiah.” But really most of the weekend including Monday will be spent in our flat, writing and studying. I remember when I was teaching how much I was looking forward to going back to university and now, sometimes I wish I just had a 9-5 job.