Well, it’s the end of another summer, my ‘to-do’ list in tatters, and I’m confronted with the usual sorts of painful choices. School starts in a week, and already work – both ’schoolwork’ and ‘work-work’ – has started to pile up. What’s the rational thing to do?
- Attempt, in the last few days of vacation remaining, to finish an incomplete paper left over from the spring?
- Or, take a few days off, hit a couple of museums and see a few more movies, and enjoy what appears to be a minor stretch of good or at least not-so-humid New York August weather before classes begin?
The rational thing to do would be to finish the paper, though it’s not likely I’ll be able to complete it by next Tuesday. Still, as a colleague said, incompletes are like dirty dishes – the longer you leave them lying around, the more disgusting they become, and the more disgusted you become with yourself for letting them lie around. I have the general argument worked out for this paper, but I have to collect evidence to prove the argument (it should be the other way around, I guess – but oh well, everything’s a circle), which will take me a little bit of time.
On the other hand, a little voice is telling me it’s going to be a brutally busy semester, and after taking 6 credits and attending two conferences over the last couple of months, in addition to working part-time here and there, I’m tired.
