More Advice...

Somewhere in this City is the perfect venue for celebrating a graduation, and a fabulous hotel to crash in afterwards.

Any suggestions?

It Is Finished... almost

Hurray! The dissertation is fully-drafted! I am now in the revision stage of things, well, I will be next week. Right now I am figuring out how to just sit around. Granted, I have only been sitting around for a few days, but coming down has been insane. I finally realized how tired I was; I've been falling asleep at 9 pm! I was in the habit of staying up until 1 at least, and I am up early in the morning to get my little one off to school. (I included a close-up just to prove to you how tired I am. Look at that eye-baggage!). At any rate, I can't say that I haven't enjoyed the process.

I have managed to write my dissertation in two countries, in multiple cities, with a small child, through a divorce, and with much support along the way. In fact, I was finishing my last chapter poolside in Pasadena at a very luxurious resort the other weekend. I think I forgot how nice Pasadena is (and how segregated...).

So, during my few days of down time, I took up a much loved hobby (see below). I still need a date ;-)

But if finishing a dissertation and a large puzzle is not enough, I am now onto the most difficult task of my life.... finding dresses to celebrate in! The way I see it, I need a dress for the ceremony (something "Garden Party-ish"), a dress for the night after the ceremony (something sex-y), and something for Vegas (I mean, you have to make memories to leave in Vegas after this kind of achievement, c'mon...). Well, it is a lot more fun to shop for Vegas-stylings, and I found a great shop for that.

Not naming any names, I tried on a bunch of things, and to my dismay, the staff (wearing things that looked like prom dresses and most of the ladies with tattoos), helped me struggle with the zipper. My friend, who had no trouble with her zipper, explained that we were receiving PhD's, but nobody there was impressed. "What did you do? Hmm, so what does that mean?" Fine enough. The problem set in when one of them asked me if I wanted to try the size 10. 10?! Didn't she see me trying to squeeze into a 6? Obviously I am out of touch with reality, what could a 10 do for me (unless she was rating my performance in those high-heeled silver stilettos!). Anyway, once we finished fighting that zipper, she told me, "Spanx are a girl's best friend, that's all you need." WHAAT? I had to eat a burger (with a chocolate shake) just to calm down.

I decided not to mention that I had been seen in public in a bikini the previous weekend! Admittedly, writing 10 hours a day means sitting for 10 hours, and I certainly did have to sacrifice the gym to put in enough writing hours each day. Also, when writing, Vanilla Wafers, Dots, and Doritos (the new blends) are a dissertating student's best friend (not Spanx!). I also admit that college students like beer (or a good wine with a cheese platter if the conversation turns to Bataille, Rimbaud, or racism generally...)...


So, whatever about the PhD, I need to lose 10 pounds, and then I will be sure that I can accomplish anything... (Don't comment on this last line, I am being sarcastic ;-)