All day weekend I've seemed to rotate between the divine and the drudgery, from the sublime to the ridiculous.
The divine was the bird song (and hums, too--the first hummingbird of the season!), the bluebird eggs that I took a peek at in the blue bird house, the teeny raccoon who wandered onto my front porch just as dusk was settling in (much to the delight of Daisy, who watched it quietly through the open screen), and the iris bud that over the past few days has been opening gradually. Here are some pictures of the process. Please keep in mind that my camera has its own idea about colors. The iris is not pink, not lavender. It's a deep, gorgeous, purply blue.
And then there was the drudge stuff. That’s too strong a word. I actually enjoy the APA editing I do for doctoral dissertations. I get to read a wide variety of papers on a multitude of topics. But I’m working with a new client, and was unfamiliar with the advising professor’s way of making comments on the paper.
My client, the doctoral candidate, sent me page after page of those comments to go along with the dissertation final draft (all ready for editing). Yikes! Here’s a tiny section of those comments that I’m supposed to match up with line items in the dissertation:
UNCLEAR – HOW CAN THEY “UTILIZE”
GOAL OR GOALS? OF WHAT?
AWKWARDLY WRITTEN – REVISE
BE SPECIFIC IN WHAT THEY FOUND
THIS PART OF THE SENTENCE NEEDS TO LINK TO HOPE AS WELL – OR ELSE IT JUST HANGS THERE AND IS VAGUE
USE “HOPE FOR COLLEGE ENROLLMENT FOR STUDENTS OF COLOR – A BIT AWKWARD OTHERWISE
CORRECT THIS IN YOUR TITLE FOR CHAP 4 TOO
REMEMBER NOT TO USE THIS WORD - TRADITION
“OF THE STUDY” – REMEMBER TO BE AS SPECIFIC AS POSSIBLE IN YOUR WRITING AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY
WHAT INFORMATION? BE SPECIFIC. DO YOU MEAN THE FINDINGS OF THE STUDY?
THESE SENTENCES NEED TO STICK TOGETHER. ARE YOU SAYING THAT THE ADVOCACY COMPS CAN GUIDE SCHOOL COUNSELORS? SAY THIS IN SENTENCE 2
MISSING ARTICLE “A” OR “THE”
ANY? REMOVE THIS
WHAT TYPE OF GOALS? ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT?
COMMA
CASUAL LANGUAGE
WHAT DID THEY FIND SPECIFICALLY?
CASUAL LANGUAGE – “THE MAJORITY”
INCLUDE DASH
DEFINE DIVERSE POPULATIONS WHEN YOU FIRST TALK ABOUT THIS IN THE CHAP – WHEN YOU ARE USING THIS, YOU ARE REFERRING TO RACE/ETHNICITY RIGHT? IF SO, SAY THAT INSTEAD OF DIVERSE
THIS IS DATED INFO I BELIEVE – CHECK AND SEE WHAT MC COMPETENCE ASSESSMENTS HAVE COME OUT IN THE 8 YEARS AFTER THIS
At any rate, it’s very late, and I’ve taken a break. After I get this blog entry posted, I’m going to go sit on my front porch and listen to the night sounds for a while.
I’l be back at the dissertation tomorrow (including all those caps-lock COMMENTS) -- but for now: cricket sounds!
BEEattitude for Day #545:
Blessed are those who stop to listen occasionally, for they shall be surprised at how much they hear.
p.s. Today (Monday) would have been my dad's 97th birthday. He was a wonderful man, and I'm proud to be one of his daughters.
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2 comments:
I like to always remember how old my parents would be on their birthday,keeps them sort of real.My mother would have been 102 on the second of April but my dad was born in Ireland in 1897 and died in 1987 in Scotland and I am always pleased when I can say my father was born not last century but the last!I was his first child at 50.Envy you the humming birds.Watched a beautiful kestrel on my shed roof this morning but all the birds had the sense to hide.
And I envy you the kestrel -- although I suppose my birds wouldn't be too happy if one over into the area!
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