30.Mar.2009 5000 words and moving

Today I finished the first chapter in my PhD dissertation and now have 5000 words out of a max of 100,000. This may be a small step but they will add up! I’m now halfway in my second year but so far my grasp on reality was that I am doing research. Now that I am writing, it suddenly occurs to me that I will have an actual physical entity by 2011. It’s like realizing that I will get a Masters degree at the end of an amazing year at Reading. It was like, I just had the best year of my life, doing what I love most and enjoying amazing friendships and all the great things the UK has to offer (YES, that’s right), and you’re giving me a degree for this? Wow!
And now it suddenly occurs to me that I will have something people can read and I will get to explore all the hidden corners of Arabic typography. It’s just so cool. I finally managed to get to the chapter that I’ve been wanting to get into for years now. Is it crazy that I am so excited about my research topic? I think this is the only way to survive a PhD. I think it will be a big test, to do all that I want to do. But what else can I do? I just have to try.