Dissertation Defense Draft

So I don't know whether to be relieved or terrified, but I just sent the defense draft of my dissertation off to my committee. If all goes well I'll be defending it on November 15.  Wish me luck!!!

Things I Vow Never to Do in My Own Fiction

So this is basically a list of things I'm pretty much sick of seeing in books, television and movies, and my reaction to that is to make my own solemn vow, here and now, never to stoop to them in my own stories.

I Vow to Never...

1. Give a character amnesia. Temporary addlepation from being shot or hit in the head is one thing, but total, or near total, amnesia as a plot device is getting old.

2. Bring a character back from the dead.  This doesn't include the zombie, ghost, vampire category, since they're still dead, they just manage to be interesting even when dead.  Not that I'm planning to write a vampiric-zombie-ghost story or anything, I just want to keep my options open.

3. Create a hero who must leave his love interest and/or friends "for their own good" because his life is oh so dark and dangerous.  Seriously, I hate that.  Suck it up and trust your people already.

That's all I can think of for now, and if any of you ever catch me doing any of these in my own writing you have my permission to burn my prose in effigy. 

One Draft Down

Sent my dissertation conclusion off to my committee today.  Yippee!  I may actually finish this someday.

2 Quick Lists

5 Things I've Been Happy About this Week
1. Tracy made dinner last night and it was yummy.
2. My Young Women Counselors are awesome and remember things I forget.
3. Gorgeous, gorgeous weather
4. The discovery of Pinterest
5. Getting to read Shannon Hale's Palace of Stone

5 Things I've Been Grouchy About this Week
1. At least two bacterial infections, one of which makes me dizzy
2. My inability to finish my dissertation conclusion
3. Garden snails (GROSS) that are eating our tomato and cucumber plants
4. The fact that there are only 24 hours in a day
5. That though I have an appliance called a "dishwasher" it doesn't actually do the dishes for me :-) 

A Good Day to Be A Historian

A few weeks ago I got invited to attended a luncheon with Pulitzer Prize winning historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich.  I assumed a bunch of graduate students were invited, and I accepted the invitation with only the passing though of  "She's actually kind of famous, for a historian, that would be fun."  In the back of my mind I knew it was connected to a conference they are having tomorrow on Women in the LDS Church, but I didn't really think about it.

So I show up today to discover that am I one of only a fairly small number of students that got invited, and in addition beyond this amazing historian (who I was impressed with, she managed to be gracious even when skewering people) this small group also included Church Historian Elder Steven E. Snow.  Elder Snow handled a difficult question with such humility and tact, while still being absolutely true to the gospel, that it made me delighted to be a member of the Church.  I was a little star struck and am still not entirely sure why I was lucky enough to be invited.   I even got to ask a question!

I also got to reconnect with one of my grad school buddies whom I look up to and who has meant a lot to me over the years. 

Beyond the sheer amazement I had at being in a room with those people, the discussion was extremely interesting and relevant to a number of things I care about, both as a historian, an archivist and as a Mormon woman.  It was one of those days that reminded me why I went into history in the first place. 

High Speed Warp and Awesome People

Yeah, that title is redundant, but it's an accurate reflection of the last two weeks.  I've been finishing a dissertation chapter, prepping to teach a class of 165 students, getting used to a radically different and time-intensive church calling and trying to remind myself to breath.

Thanks to several of these things (which are all blessings by the way) and a few extra not-so-fun things I woke up really out of sorts today and a bit taken aback that I would need to face 165 undergrads who didn't really want to be in my class and somehow make history interesting for them (while simultaneously scaring off the perma-slackers) -  honestly I wasn't sure I could do it.

Just as I was starting to freak out a little I got a short but sweet text from my Mom, who is being particularly heroic herself these days, and I remembered some supportive things my Grandma said to me last night on the phone.  They made me think, "Yeah, I can do this."

Then for the last hour I've been fielding finicky start-of-the-semester e-mails and was once again overwhelmed.  Hoping for a virtual breath of fresh air, I got on a friend's blog only to discover that she said some really nice things about me. 

Plus I had super-positive texts from Tracy and another friend which kept the day going as well. 

They always say Heavenly Father doesn't give you more than you can handle, and that's true, but only because I think He also gives you people to help you handle it.

Answering Questions about the Church

I absolutely love this article from the Church about how to answer questions about the gospel.

http://www.lds.org/church/news/answering-questions-about-our-faith?lang=eng

 I especially love the advice to have a two-way conversation instead of lecturing and of tailoring your response to what people want, i.e. don't give them an hour lesson when they just want to know what "stake center" means.   I always tense up at the idea of "missionary work" (because I don't think I'm very good at it)  but I love the idea of focusing on having conversations about the things that are important with people that you care about, because that's how you build good relationships anyway.  Usually I find that if you're respectful and don't try to "pressure or coerce" as the article puts it, conversations about faith-related matters can be a great experience. 

Also, as a person who was once a less active member, I can say that the people who helped me feel ready to return to church activity were those people who actually took the time to know and care about me regardless of whether or not I attended church.