I know, I know. Where have I been? Well, on my return from the exhibition, I realised, by giving a quick glance to the calendar, that I was to get married two months and a half later. Checklist said: no dress yet, no table arrangements, no transport, no flowers, no ceremony, no vows, no legal paperwork, no rings, no hen party, only half a honeymoon (I got my priorities right!). So there you have it. I kept the PhD ticking with only its vital constants, while I sorted out the mess I had been avoiding. It all went wonderfully, though, and in the time from the exhibition until August 2nd (W-day), I managed to cross all the items on that kilometre long to-do list. The day was better than I had dreamed, one to remember. And so was my hen party in Berlin and our honeymoon in Cascais.
When I returned, on the 15th August, though, my hard drive imploded, leaving me bereft of all my work from May 3rd, the last time I backed up my files (yes I know, but read the above paragraph). If you usually read this journal, you will realise that this is somewhat before the exhibition and that I lost all the photographs from an event that will not happen again in the same way. Thankfully, the Apple store geniuses really deserve the their job titles and a chap called Ewan retrieved 80% of the lost data: the images. What was lost was the diary I wrote. I have some notes about the general structure and writing things the second time usually takes less than the first time round. In any case, it is not too bad a result for my incompetence at keeping my files safe. Now, every Sunday, my diary says: “Back files” and damn me if I ever miss the appointment again.
So you see where my time has gone. but now I am back. And full of energy and commitment to this project. At least I’ll have that once I get my head round what it was I was researching. But so you are not too upset with me for disappearing without a word, I leave you something I found out while those vital constants were ticking. Isn’t it the best abstract ever?
Malcolm Ashmore (1989)The Reflexive Thesis. Wrighting Sociology of Scientific Knowledge. London, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
With thanks to Kathy O’Doherty, for introducing me to one of the most excitingly written PhDs I have ever encountered.
Hi Laura! It’s great to see you back. Congratulations on your new status. I hope you’re kidding about the abstract or I’ll have to crack some stupid joke about what marriage does to our neurones…
Hi Linda, it’s good to be back. I am really not kidding about the abstract although the fact that I am reading a good number of Masters dissertations with predictable abstracts may have something to do with my post. I think it is difficult to find exciting abstracts and I am curious to see why you did not think this fit the bill. It made me smile, and that is a lot for an abstract… Besides, it is from 1989!
I am not sure what marriage has done to our neurones but I have a pretty good idea of the consequences of too much champagne and port… Lx
I have been out of academia for many decades and the juxta-position of certain words (sociology, method, knowledge, etc.) called up associations in my mind such as hermetic, circular, boring, lacking in substance…
Maybe the problem is that to “get it” I would have to read the thing several times and the brain gets lazy, looking for instant gratification… prose has to grab me or I switch off.