And now a new journey starts

Nou begin 'n nuwe reis

Wonderlike nuus!

Nadat ek vir ’n paar weke van die aardbol af verdwyn het,* keer ek terug met absolute wonderlike nuus:

ek het my meestersgraad geslaag.**

Ja, die einde van die nimmereindigende verhandeling is in sig. Ek hoef slegs ’n paar klein veranderings aan te bring en dan is ek klaar. My artikels in SpeculativeGrammarian tel nou net nie vir my akademiese artikel nie.

Aan die skryf

Ek het Flash Friday so twee weke gelede ontdek en ek gaan probeer om elke week ’n stukkie gedurende middagete te skryf. Die stukkie sal dan die volgende week op die blog verskyn.

*Vakansiepakkette buite die sonnestelsel is duur, maar elke sent werd.

** Dit is ’n MA in Afrikaans en handel oor die neerslag van Noorse mitologie in Afrikaanse en Nederlandse letterkunde. *probeer intelligent lyk*

Wonderful News!

After disappearing off the face of the Earth for a few weeks,* I return in triumph with some absolutely wonderful news:

I passed my master's degree.**

Yes, the end of the Eternal Dissertation is in sight. With only a couple of minor changes to go, it may sink in somewhere in the next few weeks that I passed. My articles in Speculative Grammarian, though, can’t count as my academic paper for the degree.

In other writing news

I discovered Flash Friday last week and I’m going to try and write a piece every Friday during lunchtime. I’ll post whatever leaks out of my pen here the following week.

*Holiday packages outside the solar system is expensive, but well worth it.

** It’s a MA in Afrikaans, about the use of Norse mythology in Afrikaans and Dutch literature. *tries to look intelligent.*

It is done!

That’s it. This morning I handed in the completed Eternal Dissertation.

I’m tumbling between wanting to party and just sleeping (but not while I’m at work, of course…)

My professor also gave me two books! (Trying not to fill the line with exclamation marks.)

So, in-between the wanting to party and sleep I’m also feeling a bit like this:

One Week to Go

The Eternal Dissertation

Today it is exactly one week before I hand in The Eternal Dissertation. The problem is that, now that I’m basically putting the finishing touches on the document, the perfectionist in me starts to haggle and tell me that I should rather rewrite a specific piece or that I should read through the whole thing just one more time. I’m trying my best not to listen, though.

In other, but related, news

I am also busy with a proposal for this year’s SASMARS. (Insomnia is wonderful when you have a lot to get done.) So, slowly but surely, I am getting there one step at a time and with lots of music. 

Some background music

If you read the blog often, you’ll know by now that I like background music. At the moment it’s leaning towards classical and early music. This piece from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake (Op. 20, Scène) remains one of my favourites.

And now I’ll get back to work.

Writing and Studying and Proofreading, O My!

Or, an update of what I’ve been up to the past month

While I’ve been off on “vacation”, I’ve actually been working at top speed on the Everlasting Dissertation. It now only needs a final proofread! And I finished a few days before my leave ended, so I had a few days off to let my mind remember that there is a world beyond the pile of books in front of me. That world includes more books and afternoon naps…

Some proper writing time

In the rush of the past few months I’ve only been able to jot down some ideas and not really giving much thought to my other writing endeavours. So, in my few days off, I indulged in some writing and am now busy with four short stories. (These are just too long to be considered flash fiction.)

The stories are all speculative fiction, though for quite different markets. I don’t want to divulge too much about the stories, but I can say that they include a Christian fantasy story, a zombie story and one for which I need to do some extra research on archaeological field methods.

Some Plans for the future

I’m also going to do Nanowrimo this year with one of my friends (if all goes well!) and I’m really looking forward to that. And there is another local competition I want to enter. The main gist of the idea is there, but it still needs quite a lot of world building.

Until then I’m burying my face in the Eternal Dissertation one last time before handing it in. Wish me luck!