We are nearly at the halfway point of 2024, which is completely crazy but also very welcomed. It’s been a fast-moving year so far, and I’m looking forward to seeing what the rest of it has in store.
June was a crazy month for me and it feels like anything that could go wrong did go wrong. For one thing, it meant the end of my four-year perfect streak of not having COVID and, to make it even worse, a mouse infiltrated my apartment and has yet to take to any of the multitude of traps that I have meticulously set up. So that has been both keeping me on my toes and, at the very last thread of my sanity.
As you may remember from last year when I was slogging through comps, Summer is most definitely not my favourite season. At the same time, this year I am feeling slightly more optimistic (maybe that’s only because I am done comps and won’t have to spend 10–12 hours every day reading about the most headache-inducing, cerebral topics). I am currently in the finishing stages of my dissertation proposal and, as soon as that is approved by my committee I will be in full dissertation writing mode. It feels so wild to be so close to this ‘last phase’ of the program but still have so far to go (and so many words to write!) One of the newsletters I have planned for the coming months is a watered down version of my dissertation proposal which I am excited to share with you all and hopefully will give a little bit more insight into what I am actually working on. Other topics that are forthcoming include more musings on photography and representation, affect theory (more fun than I make it sound, I promise), and the weird and winding maze of cognitive distortions.
As part of this update, I also wanted to say that paid subscriptions (which I paused back in October) will be resuming on July 1st, so make sure you unsubscribe before then if that is something you no longer want to be paying for! Starting in July, I will be returning to a regular posting schedule of monthly essays on various topics. I will also be starting a new series called The Dissertation Diaries for paid subscribers, which will be a weekly installment chronicling my dissertation writing process and everything that happens in between (yes, it’s basically just a rebrand of my week in the life series (RIP) that I was doing last summer for paid subscribers). Additionally, I hope to put together quarterly roundups at the end of each quarter to kind of summarize things I have been doing, loving, reading, etc. (also for paid subs).
So, I hope this gives you a little bit more insight into where things will be going with this platform! Despite my contempt for the Summer months, I am actually feeling quite inspired and excited for what’s to come these next few weeks. Maybe it’s because I just had the world’s best nap or maybe because of the knowledge that I don’t have to endure another summer of comps prep, but I am feeling rested and ready to channel this into some (hopefully) fun content for you across this last half of the year.
all the best!!!!
— LAH