Crazy Hectic

And relax...

....I think....?

I have just slumped back down in my chair after a very stressful week.

Last week I had my dissertation draft reviewed by my supervisor and, although I apparently write well, there was rather a lot of biased, rather than substantiated, waffle. Can't deny it though, she was right. So, I spent the past week sifting through the sea of red pen markings, re-writing, re-evaluating and copy/pasting 'til my fingers bled. Unfortunately, by the time I started the corrections, I had completely lost all interest in it. What started off as a sexy subject had, four months later, become about as interesting as stale cheese.

I gave it one final push though, and I have to admit to being quietly satisfied with the end result. I think it's not a bad piece of work; possibly even good. Problem is, when you've been staring at something for so long, you lose all sense of judgement. So, we shall have to wait and see what the grade says.

The reason I’m not relaxing, however, is that this morning I sent it to the printer's. I'm ordering three copies. Two have to be handed in, and one for myself. I think, of the two I hand in, one goes to the uni library and the other I should get back. That one will then be given to the British Deaf Association, whose advocacy department this research should help bolster and who, through my old colleagues at the Welsh division, helped inordinately in finding research participants.

Three copies comes to £98!!! That's before I take it to be bound, and each copy needs two bindings as I’m publishing the data in an accompanying book. I could have printed it out at home but my printer is more than a little temperamental and I felt this deserved a professional job... and nice paper :)

I have now promised myself that I will not look at a single word of it again until the mark comes back - by which time I should be in Rwanda! If I do, I’ll notice all those little typos and annoying things I missed the first seven proofreads.

It's hard though, accepting that it is now out of my control. A done job. It really was a hard slog getting that last bit done, took me longer than I’d anticipated simply because of my lack of enthusiasm. I call it lack of enthusiasm, but I have a curious suspicion that a little part of me didn't entirely want it to be over. There's a mighty big change coming and, in a way, that dissertation was my purpose for being here in Cardiff, at uni. Now I’ve got to accept that's about over. Perhaps that's why I was dragging my heels a little. But, yes, it was down-right boring by the end too ;)

Anyway, the other reason I’m pooped is that I finally got those bloody documents notarised! Involved driving like a loon all around Roath trying to find a sodding parking spot. Then the receptionist took them in to show a solicitor, who authorised her to stamp the copies. I'm sorry, but this is just paperwork for the sake of it! Ridiculous. But I will stop grumbling. It's done now, and in the post!

So, what's left to do...? Ermn. Dunno. Bit stumped to be honest. Spent so long avoiding doing my dissertation that now it's done I've lost my focus ;)

Think I’ll spend more time writing stuff for my new website. I've already managed to write an entry for the Celtx 8th Film Script Competition - it's nothing special, just a bit of fun for the online Celtx community, but it's the first time I’ve entered.

The criteria was to include the following elements in a 10-15 page script of any genre: Prop - a colander. Character - W. Fritz Bean, farmer. Line - "I made you who you are, and I can just as easily break you."

Essentially, my result was: 

A surreal step into a world where farmers are wild creatures who roam free on the land. One such farmer, Fritz Bean, has been captured and tamed by a tyrannical plantation owner who regularly beats and over-works him. Her daughter, Alice, takes pity on the poor thing but her attempts to make his life easier are hampered by Tara, a jealous, conniving plantation worker. Alice eventually risks her own safety and decides to release Fritz back into the wild. Her kindness is not forgotten and when Alice's mother finds out and turns her riding crop against her, Fritz returns with his fellow farmers to save her and secure a happy, and slightly romantic, ending. 

It's simply called 'Fritz' and the tag reads: When farmers attack...it's never pretty.

So, yeah, I’ve got a few other projects in production, so that's probably what I’ll get on with. 

And trying to sell all of my possessions before moving out, of course :)