It is much easier to write a blog than a PhD dissertation. Duh. Without really trying, my blog has accumulated 95,138 words since the January this year, prior to this writing.
In contradistinction, I’ve been working on the dissertation, compiling smaller sections since January 2012. But as of 2:00 PM Friday morning, I submitted 82,691 words to my adviser, Knut (including footnotes and bibliography, but not including the appendices which has over 8,000 words). This isn’t finished yet, as there are 2 sub-sections yet to write, and probably much to revise.
I get to see Knut this week in Atlanta at the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL)conference in Atlanta. Then I’ll get his gracious but challenging critique. That will put me in revision mode and strengthen the last sections of writing.
The SBL is kind of like nerd camp for adults who geek out on biblical studies. I now have a circle of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible women colleagues who have become friends over the years. For once, we get together and the whole group of people are interested in what we do! And we get each others’ jokes! I’ll try to write down some for you and see if they are funny to you!
I’ll also meet with my future Swedish colleague, so it will be good to strengthen my connections there.
So, my next post MAY be from Atlanta, but let’s see if I find any time.
I’ll have two friends here holding down the fort with Anya. Others will be filling gaps with transport and things.
So, most of this week has been feverishly writing, proofing, and preparing the draft dissertation (thus far). Afterwards, it was preparing for the annual lefse party. Lefse is a Norwegian treat that is kind of like a tortilla or chapati that is made from potatoes with wheat flour. It is rolled very thin and dry fried on a large round griddle. With butter and sugar it is delicious! It is one of the few things of our Norwegian heritage that has lasted through 5 generations in the USA.
Janet and I have be doing this since 1992 almost every year. We even rolled lefse in Tanzania when she came to visit!
Fresh lefse that is hot off the griddle and shared with friends was the highlight of the week!
FYI, the last week had visitors to this blog from places I’ve never heard of. I’m hoping to have comments posted from some of you, connecting across cultures, which is one of my intrinsic curiosities and joys of life.
- Bellevue, Washington, 6
- Moscow, Moscow, 5
- Samara, Samara Oblast, 3
- (not set), 2
- Belfast, Northern Ireland, 1
- Dmitrov, Moscow Oblast, 1
- Duluth, Minnesota, 1
- Elista, Kalmykia, 1
- Ipswich, England, 1
- Kharkiv, Kharkiv Oblast,
- Krasnoyarsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai, 1
- Kyiv, Kyiv city, 1
- Linyi, Shandong, 1
- London, England, 1
- Memphis, Tennessee, 1
- New York, New York, 1
- Nice, Provence-Alpes-Cote Azur, 1
- Novocheboksarsk, Chuvashia Republic, 1
- Novokuznetsk, Kemerovo Oblast, 1
- Novosibirsk, Novosibirsk Oblast,
- Odessa, Odessa Oblast, 1
- Saint Paul, Minnesota, 1
- Saint Petersburg, Saint Petersburg, 1
- Savigny-sur-Orge, Ile-de-France, 1
- Seattle, Washington, 1
- Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, 1
- Tel Aviv-Yafo, Tel Aviv District, 1
- Tomsk, Tomsk Oblast, 1
- Volgograd, Volgograd Oblast, 1
- Yegoryevsk, Moscow Oblast, 1
- Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk Oblast, 1
With blessings,
Beth