Curious day...

Today has been a strange old day... I got that very odd and rude-seeming email from my Sup this morn and have had no follow up so far. We shall see. It put me in a pretty irritable mood though, which wasn't difficult as I am stressed about this methodology and TN, and haven't exercised for a whole week! So I decided to run away and went to the gym for half an hour - not a huge amount of time but enough to tire myself out a bit and get over the stress! I have been sitting out of exercise for a while because of my weird stitch pains and tiredness generally. (A week seems like a long time for some reason so today was oddly tiring. I would rather go for half an hour today and again tomorrow than an hour of horror today though!)

Then I came home, got out a LOT of old notes on methods, methodology, data analysis etc from year 1 and the MRes... and have been ploughing through it since! I have got a lot of info from it actually. I am starting out by writing a general spider diagram of what I think I need to know to go to TN confidently... And then another diagram for what my Meth. is based on: e.g. text, postmodern enquiry, assumptions etc. Then another diagram for ethical issues as they crop up. These will form my template. I found a wicked internet site about postmodernism and methods (we don't really have any - makes doing a methodology a tad confusing) and have got lots of grown-up buzzwords like 'sample' (probably a mixed purposive sample...?!) and 'validity' and stuff that I hate really, but have to play the game and add in anyways. And they are helpful. And I have realised the importance of my research questions (have kind of forgotton about those generally. I do know them, just not verbatim). And I know that I want to find out what data I want to get (text, but from whom and why?) and knowing this will lead me to understand how I should get it.

So I feel quite pleased really. And not as bored or frustrated as I thought. I thought I would be lost at sea but my notes are fairly helpful!

I tried to call the visa man again today but to no avail. Sadly it is complicated again! Jut gimme my money back!

I am *tired*. This morning I actually had swollen under-eye bags - I never, being a healthy 29, get these. DB is making me spag bol for tea to look after me. Yum! I am going to read my book and take a chill-pill now I think... I am reading the most brilliant book 'The Star of the Sea' I think it is called, by Joseph O'Connor. Looks really boring but lots of people have said I would like it and it was in the charity shop so I thought why the heck not?! And I love it!

I am starting my language learning tomorrow with earnest. I am going to do 15 mins in the morn before I start, and then another 15 mins later in the day recapping and any new stuff I have time for. I learnt spanish this way pretty well - it gets quite addictive as you get better at it. (I hope this lang does! I feel that it is a lost cause which is so pointless??! Cheer up grumpy!)

Ok am off for the day. Well, may read this bit about data collection skills and techniques as I am generally curious.

Bye chumps!
x J