Just do it.

I MUST FINISH MY RESEARCH PAPER.

Here's the deal. I need to apply to jobs, and the academic hiring process starts in August for the following school year (2013). I have found really relevant jobs in VT, PA, and WI so far, and it is early in the job posting season. One of my friends in academia thinks there may be one at school near Boston because she has some insider info too.

Since last year I: Got a fellowship, mentored two undergrads, took a short-course on teaching, and gave a talk at a meeting, among other smaller stuff. This is all good for my CV

The icing on the cake will be a paper. I had hoped that I would have a draft done in May before my undergrads started for the summer, but that did not happen. Putting together the data in the figures/pictures is almost done. Most of it is at least outlined. I am in a good position to finish it SOON.

Today my boss and I talked to the grad student with whom I overlapped briefly. I had emailed her twice about her data that we wanted to include in my paper - it makes it stronger, and more would have to be done on her project to publish it and she works on something different now. When she emailed back about her data, she emailed my boss and did not copy me. I worried that it would be an awkward conversation.

But, it was not! She had looked at the data, thought about my figures, and said it was a very thorough analysis and a good story. She is a very intelligent and hard-working woman. That was a relief.

And now I must finish my paper. And I hate starting sentences with 'and'.

Sometimes I get into the groove at home and get work done. Tomorrow is the one-monthiversary of my car's AC dying, and it is supposed to be in the 90s, so I think hitting the town's coffee shop will be the best bet to GIT 'ER DONE, as they say.