"I'm In Heaven When You Smile"

Well, Tuesday went significantly better than Monday or Sunday. I actually got some work done on my Thesis, lots of folks wished me well and did their best to cheer me up, and I've been listening to Van Morrison for about 24 hours straight, with obvious pauses for class and...um...unconciousness.

Went jogging with Beth again, and again we managed a 9.30 mile. I think I've got my running schedule figured out now; all I have to do is follow it. On Monday, Wendesday, and Friday, I'll do a slower, longer run by myself (my traditional three mile run around the neighborhood and campus). On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I'll run a shorter, faster run with Beth. This way, I get in some sprinting and some distance. It also means I run five days a week, taking the weekends off because I'm always busy during my usual running times.

I still feel pretty drained, emotionally speaking. It's been tough convincing myself to do anything productive. My mind just keeps sliding back to that damn rejection letter, which I seem to have somehow hidden from myself (I know I didn't throw it away...I keep these things, so that I can remind myself that I have to prove my abilities to others so that they'll know what they were passing up. I still have the rejection letters from when I applied for my Master's). I was basically only able to work on the research stuff tonight, not actual writing. I also noticed that a good portion of my primary resources are effectively useless for the paper as I currently conceive it. Therefore, I'm probably going to change my focus a bit to reflect the stuff I actually have. The problem is that some of my best sources deal with stuff that happened before the guys that became the non-jurors actually became the non-jurors. So I'm going to broaden the focus a bit, include some of the things (such as a thing called the Trial of the Seven Bishops) that I've got lots of good information on just because. And I actually have a legitimate tie-in for the information--mostly, it'll show that the non-jurors had no love of James II, the deposed king, yet they respected his right to the throne and refused to accept William and Mary, whom the non-jurors saw as usurpers. Turns out there were about 400 of these non-jurors, including the Archbishop of Canterbury (the head of the Church of England just below the monarch), five other bishops, and then hundreds of regular clergymen. My good buddy Jeremy Collier became the third generation of bishops in the non-juror movement, it turns out, having been bestowed with his authority by a guy who was given his authority by one of the original non-juring bishops. I've also figured out how to work in some of Collier's writings. I had two excuses--one, he's one of the most prolific apologists (that is, defenders) of the non-jurors and the anti-William group; and two, I acutally have primary sources by him that are applicable and make the arguments I want to use.

Okay, that's probably enough of a history lesson for now. Tomorrow, I'll spend the entire day working on this blasted thing. And all evening. And all the next day, except for eating lunch and running with Beth (not one right after the other, though--that wouldn't be a pretty sight). And then all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, if need be. Which it probably will.

~chaos cricket

Song of the Moment: Van Morrison, "Domino"