CHAPTER ONE

i wrote my first chapter yesterday!!! haha!!! ok, not the whole thing, for example i didn't write the "scope and limitations" section because i don't know yet where i'll start and where i'll end. i know i'll have TONS of data and won't be able to analyze it all. so i'll write that section at the end. but i wrote a statement of the problem, the theoretical assumptions, the goals and research questions of the project, the significance of the project, and a list of definitions of terms and acronyms i'm often using. i used a lot of stuff i had already written for my prospectus and also the grant proposal i sent in may (which i am SURE i won't get), but i had to do a lot of rewriting and cutting and changing and adding details and references. 20 pages already (including 5 pages of references). but tomorrow i'll print the whole thing and spend 4-5 hours cutting things down a little, especially in the first section.

one thing that i like is that i introduce (not discuss yet!) a lot of references and i feel super familiar with all of them. i know most of the people i cite and i know their work quite well too. it's fun. it's also nice to realize how much i've read and learned.

today i'll start working on chapter 2 and then tonight i'll go out to the cajun connection with xiaoye, yeahhh :) i need to ask him 2000 questions about looking for jobs and all. he sent me some of his letters and his CV and wouah, i'm not even close to having half the work he has done in the publication area! this guy is a machine! yesterday i worked on my CV and manage to go from 2 to 5 pages, huhuh! mostly added details, lists of references, and a list of classes i've taken. it's pretty nice now. i just wish there were 4-5 more publications... actually, i really hope to hear from the three places where i sent those two articles and one book review last spring spring! come on, i need those publications!!!!!! G. seems to be confident we'll get the TQ article published but i know they can still refuse it even after the second review. i should hear about the ET article soon now, but it's summer so things must take longer than usual... and i am not sure how the book review will work. someone told me that book reviews are always accepted, but i doubt it. it was super mean, too, so i bet they hesitate to take it. .... big sigh....

... back to work....