Status report: I’m tired and despondent. The revisions to Chapters 1 and 3 are finished, except for the introductions, but I’ll need to write the general introduction first and make sure those are consistent with it. I’m working on Chapter 2. I’ve revised the introduction and half of the first section. By tonight, I’ll have the entire first section done. Then two more sections to go. Those will take a bit more time, because I need to add some footnotes. Once I have Chapter 2 done, all I’ll need to do is write the general introduction, for which I already have nine pages of notes. And then I’ll put the whole thing together, go over it all one more time, and it will be done. At that point I’ll only revise what I’m told to. The whole thing should be ready to go to the committee on September 1st.

I write all this to remind myself of how far I’ve come, how much I’ve already accomplished. How little, in the grand scheme of things, still needs to be completed. I need that sort of encouragement, because the day to day of it is grueling. It’s hot, I’m despondent as I’ve said, and there isn’t a lot I can do that’s fun or interesting. At least I’ll have the trips to New York and Asheville to look forward to.

I honestly don’t know what to write about today, except perhaps fabric. Yes, fabric. Yesterday, I bought that Victorian chair, and during a break from revising, I went to the fabric store to get a sense for what sort of upholstery fabric I might want on it. Because, as you know, it needs to be reupholstered.

So I looked at a couple of my old favorites, like Waverly’s Norfolk Rose:

And Waverly’s Fairhaven.

These pictures are taken with my cell phone, and they’re darker than the actual fabric, which has a cream background.  I was thinking of the Waverly patterns because they’re fresh and feminine, which is what I want on this chair. The chair itself is visually heavy, so I want a fabric that’s light. And I was thinking of roses because there are two carved roses on top of the back rest, and I thought the visual echo might be interesting.

Then, while I was looking at fabric patterns online, I saw this:

It’s the same pattern as the pillows I bought several weeks ago, pink and red geraniums on a taupe background. I fell in love with it when I saw the pillows, and I still love it. So I put one of the pillows on the chair to see what it would look like:

The pattern is probably too big, isn’t it? So I don’t know. I like it better than the Waverly, but I’ll have to talk to the upholsterer and see what he or she says. (Also, it’s quite expensive, about $32 per yard. But it’s worth paying for upholstery fabric, because you’re going to live with it for a while.  Also, no visual pun on roses, but that’s all right.)

So at least that distracted me for about an hour from the dissertation.

It’s hot and I’m having no fun at all right now. And I think, my life needs to change, and it needs to change soon. Or I’ll jump off the roof. (No, that’s not a serious threat. I don’t think I’d look very attractive splattered on the driveway. I’m much more likely to look out the window toward Camelot, get into my boat, and float down the river. That’s more my style.)

It’s such a small thing to keep one going, a chair to reupholster. But some days, that’s the sort of thing that gets me through.