Yes, I'm still reading.

In response to HD's query... since I seem, judging from my posts, not to be reading. I had a meeting with my main supervisor today, so that one hour totally counts as "work." And after that, I talked with people from my department about preparations for next year, and our student society's projects for this summer. That counts as "work" too, in my books. But then I watched "Good Night and Good Luck," which I can't really claim is part of my formal education, though any historical film is sort of relevant, so that's okay. I've got a couple things I need to do over the next couple days which puts my reading on hold, but, again, they aren't totally unrelated. Some of my colleagues would say I really should be concentrating on preparing for my exams, which, after all, are in a month and a half---if you know the process, that isn't very far into the future. Distractions are perfectly fine in my books, though. (Notice my use of the phrase "in my books" for the second time, which was totally unintentional? I think it's my subconscious reminding me I should be reading books.)

Despite my sojourns into non-reading territory, I am still making progress. Slowly. I figure (though I haven't actually done the math recently) that I need to "read" 60 books between now and the end of July. This is doable.

As I get closer to the exams, I realize more and more that I have actually taken in a lot of information over the last several months. Not nearly as much as I think I should have, but still. As long as I'm smart about preparing for the actual exams (making outlines for answers to possible essay questions, for example, and making sure to organize my thoughts on specific topics beforehand), then the fact that I haven't actually read all 200 of the books on my lists shouldn't matter. Which means I can take time off to chat with FN, HD, etc., watch movies, go to concerts, read the news, stay involved in departmental goings-on, and write blog entries without feeling guilty about it. As long as I'm still reading.