Gah, mood swings

Wow. Working on writing up my dissertation is a complete and utter roller-coaster. This morning, I was in a black mood, feeling like I didn't know what to work on, or what the future would hold, feeling like the rest of my life was taking over my ability to do science. Whenever I have problems concentrating on writing, I start to blame everything in my life, and feel pretty hopeless. You have to remember that an academic career is not like most jobs; it's a lifestyle, and not always a convenient one.

Then, a collaborator who I have been meaning to contact popped her head in the door. WAY easier than e-mailing about the stuff we needed to discuss. We spent about an hour going over updates of our progress - she's mathematically characterizing the stuff that I've been empirically characterizing, and it was a good reminder that the things we are working on are awesome.