I am pissed off. I am now, for the first time, reading a paper which contradicts around ten other papers that I've already read, written about, and referenced. And contradicts them in such a way as to make it obvious that this paper is correct and the others are wrong. Damnit! How DARE science change when new discoveries are made? ;)

Frivolous post, but I'm really very stressed. I'm sorta stuck with my thesis, until such time as I can get the books that I need. (Discovered late last night that I hadn't photocopied everything that I thought I had - because for copyright reasons photocopies in the British Library are 24p per A4 sheet and you're only allowed to do one page per sheet for book preservation reasons. So I try not to photocopy stuff unless it's essential, and don't always guess right). Didn't get to the library today because my back hurt. So I'm working on one of the bits that I don't understand instead of getting on with the stuff that I DO understand, and it's stressing me out.

Also, I'm also premenstrual ("again?!" says Richard), which isn't a good state to be trying to do anything difficult in.

rowan_leigh shared an excellent New Yorker article about procrastination, which may explain why I'm now struggling to write this wretched literature report in a couple of weeks instead of over a couple of months. Apparently, "Lack of confidence, sometimes alternating with unrealistic dreams of heroic success, often leads to procrastination" - you think?! The most amusing part of it is that, apparently, "Victor Hugo would write naked and tell his valet to hide his clothes so he would be unable to go outside when he was supposed to be writing"!! If only it were warm enough for that! I'm wearing three or four layers with the heating going full blast!

Might try that method in the summer. Um, when I'm in my study at home, that is. I might scare people if I did that at college.

Tags: literature report, science
Current Mood: stressed