Monday, March 08, 2010

Random bullets of DONE

So I finally finished the essay that has eaten my life and blog of late. Here's what you missed:

  • The weekend before last, I was supposed to attend a conference. I feared having my flight(s) canceled due to weather, but in fact my flight was canceled because, after a passenger had a panic attack and demanded that we return to the gate, the two flight attendants started fighting--and may or may not actually have come to blows. The pilot refused to fly with them, so we were deboarded and our entirely full flight canceled right before the region got hit with a foot of snow.
  • I adore the conference in question and was sorry to miss it--but I'd been so stressed out about my essay and resenting the conference for falling when it did that it was rather nice to have an Act of God (or of petty, venal human nature) grant me an unexpected five-day weekend.
  • That night saw our first serious storm of the season, and it snowed for a good 24 hours. So I sat on my sofa with cats and coffee, working and watching the snow.
  • And slowly, the essay got better.
  • The hardest part were the first seven or eight pages, which will form the core of the new introduction to my book. Synthesizing, theorizing, and abstracting are not chief among my intellectual talents.
  • But it felt enormously productive. And now I have half an introduction written!
  • An hour after I emailed my essay to the symposium organizers, my colleague Jack came over and we and Cosimo headed across the street to the museum/art house theatre that hosts an annual Oscars party.
  • Because Flavia has a closet full of clothes for a life other than the one she actually leads, there were rhinestones, elbow-length gloves, vintage Ferragamo heels, and a deco Whiting & Davis purse, topped off with a big fox-fur stole. (There was a dress, too--black taffeta and vaguely Dior New Look-ish--but that was really just a backdrop for the accessories.)
  • Okay: I looked a little insane.
  • But the party was such fun. The museum is in a restored mansion, and the whole house was decorated for the party, complete with a dance floor and a fantastic band in the conservatory. The attached movie theatre was running a live screening of the Academy Awards, so we wandered in and out, watching for a while, then hitting the dance floor, then getting more food and drink, then wandering back in.
  • Did I mention that my essay is DONE? And spring break just a week away? I couldn't have celebrated in happier fashion.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

So, any photos of you at the Oscar party?

Congrats, and enjoy spring break, Flavia!

What Now? said...

I'm all about rewards to celebrate writing accomplishments, but your rhinestone-studded, fur-stoled extravaganza beats any reward I've ever given myself. Well done, both on your essay's being done and on the style with which you celebrated this achievement!

FLG said...

I read about your flight in the UK news somewhere. Crazy.

Flavia said...

Annieem: not here, but I'll be posting some on Facebook before next weekend (and anyone who knows me/my name IRL should feel free to friend me--seems the blogosphere is conducting much of its business there these days).

WN: thanks!

FLG: Probably. It was mentioned on an NPR show this weekend, too. Makes me feel I got something out of the experience.

Sisyphus said...

That outfit sounds awesome, maybe even awesomely awesome, and congrats on an article that appears to also be an introduction! Yay!

medieval woman said...

oh my god, that flight sounds insane!!! And your outfit sounds fabulous - I do hope to see a pic of it! Glad you and Cosimo had a good time - did he have rhinestones too? :)

And congrats on finishing the essay!

Susan said...

Just want to say that your flight made it onto the quiz on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me... I was listening to it on my walk this morning and thought - Oh, that's Flavia's flight!

Anyway, I think five days at home is awesome, as is finishing an essay and dressing to the nines for an Oscar party.

Flavia said...

Susan: yes! That's actually where I heard it, too.

MW: re: Cosimo: well, you'll just have to wait for the photos, now won't you?

The Bittersweet Girl said...

Wow. That sounds like the best conference EVER.

Renaissance Girl said...

Yay about the article!

You know, if you dressed like that when you wrote essays, it might seem like less of an ordeal. I'm just saying.