Thursday, August 24, 2006

Examinutiae II

Days remaining if I start my three-week qualifying exam period on Nov. 22: 91.
Days remaining if I start my three-week qualifying exam period on Jan. 15: 145.

Number of pieces in the three exam lists: 169
Number left to read: 70 (44 books, 26 articles)
Number left to annotate: Anybody's guess. Some integer between 70 and 134.

As you can see, I ran the numbers again this evening. It's not hopeless by any means, given that I can still meet the Nov. option if I have a solid few weeks. The burr in my sock is that while I'm reading and annotating individual pieces, the patterns arching across the readings are perhaps best compared to a serving of spaghetti.

Dropped from a high-flying hot air balloon.

Into a turbulent ocean.

Where it's being nibbled by predatory sea creatures.

You get my drift. Thing is, while time is short enough for reading, I also have to form possible responses, give the new stuff a shape beyond a set of finely tuned but scattered notes. So while reading is going fairly well, the part where it sinks in such that I can do intelligible justice to it in a few months: a disconcerting lack.

Bookmark and Share Posted by at August 24, 2006 11:45 PM to Qualifying Exams
Comments

I've been in a cave for awhile, Derek, so first things first: congratulations on your gorgeous baby girl! And what a name--Isabel. Beautiful. You must be so happy. And tired.

As for the spaghetti-like patterns emerging from your reading, have you seen Douglas Hofstadter's depiction of his "semantic network" in Goedel, Escher, Bach? It should look familiar.

Posted by: Lance at August 25, 2006 9:35 PM

Welcome out of the cave, Lance. Missed your entries at comp/lexus since the move. Thanks for the note about Is. Happy, yes, and tired.

I wish my spaghetti was a well-plated as Hofstadter's. I suspect that I'm at or nearing the most frayed moment in exam prep and I look foward to the moment when it starts to appear coherent again. Should be any day.

Posted by: Derek at August 26, 2006 10:48 PM