it’s sunday night and i’ve been reading and writing for exactly…13 hours. although i’m terribly sick of staring at my computer screens, i’m still not sick of the research or the writing, which can only mean one thing: i’m supposed to be doing exactly what i’m doing, which is being a ph.d. student. i think all the months off this year finally put me in a place to start over again. with gusto.

i’m not sure what your work spaces look like, but i’m constantly juggling my academic life and my creative life. in fact, it’s been a very difficult aspect of going to school full-time when i keep getting the creative tug to leave that world for something more…well, something different. if there’s anything i’ve learned about myself in the last 3 years, it’s that i can’t exist without both: to feel happy and content, i have to have one foot in the creative world and one foot in the academic world. and some times, i need to put both feet in one place (like now) to get some work done.

i took some pictures of my work-space over the last 24 hours. in order to focus on my comprehensive exam, i cleared all my creative stuff off and set up shop with piles of books, articles, and other random science and gender related materials. in order to keep myself sane (and awake), my day-time workspace looks like this:

note the most necessary features:

*2 screens for easy movement between documents
*a collage-background calendar that reminds me that, yes, my life has excitement and color and fun, even when i’m starting at pages and pages of research on girls and science (which is full of excitement and fun, but of a different sort)
*the second almond-milk chai latte of the day, to keep myself working after 5 and a half hours of sleep
*lots of nail polish: for when i get stuck on something in my writing and decide it’s time to change the color of my finger and/or toenails–a habit i developed during typing my thesis for my MA degree. it’s surprising how many coats of nail polish can dry while typing.

and the night-time shot, which includes necessary items like:
*wine: so that i can fall asleep after consuming 3-4 cups of tea in a day
*water: to keep me from writing my comp while tipsy on said wine
*nail polish remover: for when polish gets nicked from typing faster than my thoughts
*beautiful skeins of yarn: to remind me that down-time is coming. (yes, i have knit a few rows while trying to formulate an idea.)

i’m signing off until Wednesday. if i meet this deadline, there will be much rejoicing on wednesday night and many more posts of creative projects in-process and house renovation craziness at the end of the week. wish me luck.