Meetings and busyness.

Another very full day for me. I had wall-to-wall meetings, but just enough time for a quick take-away lunch in the early afternoon. It was tiring, but good. And, I voted in the provincial election! So I'm feeling like a useful member of society, the university, and the department.

This afternoon I attended my first meeting of the, um . . . Committee on Program Matters, an advisory body within the School of Graduate Studies (SGS). I sit on it as an elected graduate student member of the SGS's Graduate Education Council. The committee is made up of SGS people, professors and administrators of various kinds, and graduate students. We make no decisions, but our role is to consider significant program changes that come through SGS and provide feedback. It was an interesting experience. True to form, I of course had some things to say. Meetings are fun! Plus, you know, good cookies.

Afterward I joined the other conference organizers in the departmental common room. A group of grad students in history are planning for our graduate history symposium, which is coming up in February. Organizing tasks are eating up more time than I anticipated, but the work is more short-term than long-, and it's really interesting to be involved in this. Also, it's fun! I think we're all becoming excited about how things are shaping up, though of course it's still early.

The last meeting of the day was the departmental meeting. Although this one was devoted to the undergraduate curriculum for next year, I still felt it important to be there. I like to keep on top of what's happening in the department, and it's useful to put in face time with professors. It means that when and if I come calling on them to participate in the conference or other events, they might be more inclined than otherwise to be accommodating.

I've spent the last several hours working on various things, none of which have anything to do with my dissertation. But I figure it's good to do these things when I'm tired. Times when I'm less tired should be the times when I devote my energies to dissertating.

The friends who are supposedly flying in from California haven't called yet. I'm thinking our dinner plans are cancelled . . . .