It is hour thirteen of day two of week seven of summer two of Mellon-Mays research of the rest of my life. The following is a rough outline of what the future will hold.
Week Seven: continue reading from the Beribboned Bomb and selected chapters of Contesting Art (Chapters 1 and 6, MacClancy), Surrealism and Women (Sections 8 and 9, Caws, Kuenzli, Raaberg), and Representing Women (Chapter 7, Nochlin).
(see “arbitrary task” for other selections)
Week Eight: Pin myself down–that is to say, spend more time writing–elaborating on the questions in the margins of many books and sift through the post-its for clearer inquiry. Pick up books at library–Work with a primary source–”The Hearing Trumpet” and other stories by Lenora Carrington. Work hard in preparation for week nine.
Week Nine: Draft a five paragraph essay about the topic at hand–Drafting is better than not drafting and five paragraphs is more than an empty brown bag. Continue reading and postiting the world up and down. Head to New York–specifically, to the swirling structure, Ye Ol’ Guggenheim, and to the MoMA (does anybody else realize how silly that nickname is? I suppose nobody is really trying to take themselves too seriously so a proper tla [three letter acronym] is unnecessary) to do some observation and thick description of my own. Take photos. A camera is an important research tool.
Week Ten: Return from NYC, rest-and do the chronicling that I said I would do on the return trip, but ultimately didn’t do. Allow new directions to emerge if they are emerging or continue.
Week Eleven: Celebrate my birthday and begin to hyperventilate about the oncoming school year. Get a brown bag and fill it with ideas. Draft another five paragraph essay and scrawl the semblance of an outline for a summer recap paper onto a napkin or other disposable surface.
Week Twelve: Head back to campus with draft a draft of a paper or some kind of coherent compilation of something.
