I did it! I managed to write down a preliminary research plan. Nothing major, but at least it’s something. How helpful that methodology book on historical research has been – there have been so many good pieces of advice that I’ve taken to heart. Even though it’s so different from linguistics, the practical matters are very much alike.

But I’ll never suggest to my professor that I could write something and submit it to him every week, like the book suggested.  It wouldn’t work like that, especially since my professor thinks that it’s not up to him to keep pushing a doctoral student.

Sometimes I wish he was willing to discuss things in more detail, because it’s very helpful even when it’s about something very trivial. There’s simply something about saying things aloud that helps to sort out your thoughts so easily. Well, there are always others more willing to talk.

To keep up the “art” postings then. Once I did some ceramics as well. I don’t like the limitations of ceramic art, though it may have something to do with the limits of my own imagination.

Here’s a head of a horse. S/he is creamy orange and has white spots on its cheeks.

Ahh. I love orange so much. I like the autumn because the leaves of trees are often bright orange. It’s such a feast for my eyes, especially this time because it’s been so sunny.

Doesn’t s/he look really happy? Maybe it’s a he because he’s got that flehmen response on his lips.

I painted last weekend, after a long dry spell. I finished two and left four unfinished. I made the first three very quickly because I just liked to play around with the colours. Then I finally calmed down and really tried to learn something new.

I shouldn’t keep myself from painting for so long. Usually I just feel like there’s something more worthwhile I could be doing, rather than painting. But it’s really all the same -  if I want to paint but won’t, I can’t focus very well on doing anything else anyway.

It’s like what the model of one of my paintings said once: he had to make time for writing poetry because he couldn’t live without it. I’m not that passionate about painting, it’s not like I couldn’t live without it, but maybe I should “make time” for it more often.

Of course it takes a lot of my time, ranging from two to six hours on one painting, but staring at the same pages of a book for hours takes time too. In addition, it’s completely useless, unlike painting.

Besides, I usually start late in the evening, so all I’m doing is deprive myself of sleep. I might go to bed by 3 am, but I can never get sleep immediately because my mind is still wrapped up in the painting process.

Yes. I shouldn’t have a bad conscience about it. Paint more. More often. Yup. It’s a deal.