Wednesday, January 30, 2008

NOT a wedding post

This one's titled "Why I have the most awesomest academic supervisor in the UNIVERSE"

or "The Ostrich Effect"

I had a meeting with The Putt today. I haven't done fuck all work for months. I am behind.

I am so far behind that I'd even begun ignoring his emails. I kept telling myself "as soon as I have this awesome piece of work to show, I'll go pop in to his office." I didn't want to go in without work to show, because then he would know i'd been slacking off, but if I went in with another 20k words, all would be well.

But of course one can't write 20k words in a weekend. And so i didn't go. And kept falling further and further behind. Like a pile of dirty dishes in the sink that spills over on to the counter, you eventually think "I don't even know where to begin," and close the kitchen door. That's what I'd done on my PhD work for the past several months. Not. Good.

Finally The Putt phoned and ordered my ass into his office. Tail between legs, I went. I am sooooo glad I did. The man is wonderful.

He was grinning, and I could tell by his grin that a) he wasn't as disappointed in me as i'd feared (anger i could deal with, but letting down someone you respect the absolute worst), and b) he knew exactly what had been going through my head.

Through tearful sniffles I explained how embarassed and ashamed I was. He ordered me to stop feeling embarassed and said, "You're going to sit there and I'm going to fix you a cup of tea." Being a very gentle sort, it was incredibly comical how forcefully he said that. I couldn't help but crack a weak smile.

And then we talked business. My punishment is going to be to do some of the dirty work on his latest research. Fair enough. He's been exploring an idea in relation to alliterative verse, and he wants to see if it holds true in the more continental style of Chaucerian verse. Chaucer's Bitch to the rescue!

Oh, and I told him about the wedding and explained that wedding plans had been partly to blame for my absenteeism. His response? "That's wonderful! Getting married is far more important than a PhD, but as your supervisor I'm not allowed to tell you that. But I'm glad you've got your priorities in order. Also solves the visa problem if you need an extension. Good on ya!"

What a guy, what a guy, what a guy.

5 comments:

Johanna said...

lucky you. I'm about 2 years behind on my phd, my supervisor has just pissed off (with obvious relief) to Paris, and my second supervisor (who is there for the eventuality of there being any problems with the first supervisor) rejects all responsibility. I might just quit.

Unknown said...

Huh.. This makes me feel better about not having seen my dissertation supervisor in months.

Miss Melville said...

When advisors are good, they're great. I'm glad The Putt pulled through for you. And he's right, the rest of your life is probably more important, but getting your Ph.D. is definitely QUITE IMPORTANT. But yes, all things are relative.

And just to let you know, I got a 17 out of 20 on my first paper and the chair of my department (who was the primary respondant) said three or four times how he hoped I would apply for a Ph.D. here at Scabberbean. And that's a good sign even I can't talk myself out of, so maybe I just will. :)

And not to bring up the wedding in a non-wedding post, but I'd love to chat! How did teh meeting with the Brizzle Maid go?

Much love.

FirstNations said...

You're entirely too efficient. I've read all that and now I'm ALL TIRED. I hope you're happy.

showoff!

The Mistress said...

*cues Salt N Pepa's "What a man, what a man, what a man, what a mighty good man."*