i think charlottesville for break is not going to happen, even if i can conjure up a ticket. i've suddenly got an extra paper to write for donoghue, which makes for a total of three long papers due immediately after break. and a latin midterm. i do think the riddle paper for donoghue will be good though - if summarising my thesis and laying it out as the thereotical framework takes 10 pages or so i could easily do another 10 pages by applying this to one particular riddle or poem for a 20 page. once i get that out of the way and we've established a common point of theoretical reference (in this case mine, aha!) i won't ever have to come back to it and can spend the rest of the semester expanding on the "solving for pronouns" idea for the final paper by actually studying the uses and occurences of pronouns in the exeter book riddles and see if that can be used to support my prejudices. it would be a change from my usual practice and an experiment in making a language- and text-specific study of riddles instead of harebrained dinging about with taxonomies and patterns. and it will probably give me some good grounding both in old english literature and for the future dissertation. i can probably churn out a fresh 30-40 pages of that. and i've wrangled a late deadline, so that i can get the seminar papers out of the way and have some uninterrupted time to write on my pet topic. ooh. putting it out down like that makes it seem me feel so purposeful and energetic. oh what a good girl i am, she hums.