Blog of Bermanism

Things are going pretty well. I’ve been writing like a fiend and getting my stuff done. My first manuscript is finished and in rough form (my professor currently has that one), and my second manuscript is nearly finished. Both of these papers will be whole chapters in my dissertation, once I paste them in. Afterward, I will one have one more chapter that needs writing from scratch. That chapter is perhaps the most daunting of them all, the discussion. In this chapter, I’m supposed to come up with some brilliant insight into what all of my work means in relation to all that is known about alcoholism and the brain. A few committee members have already expressed that they will not let me graduate without something profound written in my discussion. This task is looming indeed, but I feel that I’ll be able to piece it together well since I now have the rest of my conclusions all put together. So, I continue to stay home and write as much as I can in a day. I seem to only have about four continuous hours of writing in me per day, but I’ve been extending that to six these last few days. I need to try to get as much done as possible so that I don’t lose too much time being out of town this week.

Which brings me to my next subject, being out of town this week. For the last three months, my rowing team has been training very hard for the US Rowing Masters National Championship Regatta, being held this year in Worcester, MA on Lake Quinsigamond. This race has been stressing me out due to the fact that it will cause me to be out of town for an extended period of time, a time when I need to be here working as much as possible. I’ve recently found my self wondering how I could have committed to a four day race in Massachusetts when I have so much writing to get done. But, I have committed and I’m going, so there’s no reason to freak out about it. I’m rowing in four races for this trip. It doesn’t seem like a lot until you consider that if I make it into the finals for all of them, it will end up being seven races. That’s a lot in four days, especially on the national level. I’m racing in a Men’s quad, a Mixed double with Rachel, a Men’s coxed four, and a Mixed Quad. Most people are going in with the attitude that we want to get into the finals for as many races as we can. I’m going in with the attitude that I want to row my best in everything. Winning is certainly important to me, and I don’t discount that it is possible for us to win. But, we will be racing against ex-olympic rowers and people who are really good, and really strong from all over the country. I’m not going to delude myself into thinking that I’m naturally good enough to contend with this type of competition. So, I’ve decided that I’m going for the experience and that I’ll be happy with any outcome. That won’t take away from any of my competitive spirit, believe me. When ever I’m up next to another boat, no matter who it is, the crazy competitive gene kicks in and I drive as hard as I can. But, I’ll still be happy with anything.

Anyway, I guess that the point of all of this is to say, as the title suggests, I’m tired and there’s a lot going on in my life. But, I’m happy. I’m moving forward with everything, everything is going well, and I’m happy with the work that I’m doing. And with that, I’m off to get some writing done that is not in my blog.

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