It happens almost every semester: when I'm in the middle of working on a big project, racing to meet a deadline, and I collapse into bed after 12 straight hours of intellectual jamming, I meet my paper in my dreams.
Up above there are some concept maps I created using bubbl.us for Eileen's seminar project, which asks us to review a research area in the field. These maps invaded my mind and last night (or early this morning, depending on your orientation) and relentlessly played havoc with my attempts at sleep. I came down with an unfortunate end of the semester cold so my nose was stuffy, and each time I sniffed, one balloon would magnify while several others shrank, and I would be traveling down the pathways of a purple or red or blue map, slipping and floating through the names and concepts, sometimes feeling like I knew where I was going, only to find I was hopelessly lost in the yellow map or caught up in the middle of the pink one.
At around 7am, I had had enough. I threw back the covers and made myself a big breakfast. Watched the news in an attempt to divert my mind away from maps and the slippery concepts that the maps, while often useful and always aesthetically pleasing, can't ever seem to quite capture. 2 pieces of toast, a dippy egg, some apple cinnamon oatmeal and a cup of hot chocolate later, I was comfortably dozing on the couch, gratefully thinking not of concept maps but of the poor bastards along the east coast that will be getting something to the tune of a foot of snow today. Funny it's going to miss us here... ah well, I know we'll get ours.
And now that I'm at least passably rested, here I go, back to the land of colored maps and swirling ideas to resume my race to the deadline. At least this time I'm reasonably awake.
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