Things have been better lately. I haven't done any meaningful work on my dissertation since mid-February, and while this is bad, it has meant that I've had more time for myself and for my home life, which has made me a much happier person than I was before I decided to take a break. I expect to get back on track with my research very soon, especially since the relatively* sunny and warm weather we've had lately has helped motivate me. Last week, I found a really cool study spot in one of the MIT libraries, which should help even further by giving me a quiet environment in which to work. Bonus: I can't get into the MIT network with my laptop, since I'm not a student, which means that my procrastination opportunities in this space will be drastically reduced. Who knew I'd ever be excited by the lack of internet access?

In other news, I planted the seeds for my brother and for our own garden. I built the grow light rig myself, but I think I hung the lamps too far away from the seeds - the soil is growing some sort of mold that I assume is due to over-damp soil. There's not much I can do about it, short of bringing the seedlings out into the sunshine, and it's too cold for that yet. But in the meantime, I've enlarged the garden, digging out some massive boulders in the process. I have to say, that sucked, but the plot is now big enough for all that I want to grow, and the soil condition is excellent, so it was worth it. Hopefully this summer and fall, we will literally reap the benefits of all this prep work in the form of fresh, tasty veggies.

*"relatively" is a very important word, here.