Dear Research Diary,

Today was so stressful!!! I had planned to divide my time in the library (once again a full day) in half..the first half dedicated to my italian politics paper (which is meant to be short but sweet) and then during my shift in the library I would do some work on my thesis. HOWEVER when it came time to work, I was like a library SLAVE, doing endless end of semester statistics and then stalking all the students for this huge study the library is doing on how students use their study space! I mean, I'm not complaining because obviously they pay me to work, but usually when I have nothing to do, the library is dead, and today, when I had something planned, I had to do an unprecedented amount of work in the library! until 11 pm!! Such is life....

Dear Research Diary,

Another full library day. I can't believe I had to wait until NOON for it to open!! Finished my second english paper (the Grapes of Wrath....not sure if I can ever read you again) (just kidding, great book). Unfortunately there are way too many approaching deadlines for me to have spent time on my thesis today. This is clear proof that I need to organize my time better!!! I don't want to be in this sort of situation when my thesis deadline approaches!

Dear Research Diary,

Today was a crazy day. I had to wake up so early to go to this questura which was like an hour away, and then when we got there, there were a million immigrants with huge families trying to get their documents. When we finally got fingerprinted, the main guy was chain smoking cigarettes in this small room... in one of the biggest immigration office buildings in all of Italy, strange, but not surprising.

When I got back to Trastevere I stuffed my mouth with pizza and went straight to the library, where I remained until it closed. I had to get my first english paper out of the way, and start my second one. It went very well, but I had only a brief moment dedicated to thesis research. I tried to see what I could find on the internet about the ukrainian avant-garde, and found a few publications, exhibitions..... and took note of them. Tomorrow living in the library continues.

Oh yeah, and Livia told me about the trip to GNAM. She told me I should definitely go, and she'd help me if I had any questions. She's definitely a life saver!

Tomorrow everyone is going to the GNAM but I CAN'T because OF COURSE the trip to library which will probably be of most use to me coincides with my Questura appointment to get fingerprinted on the outskirts of Rome!!!! Which I only found out about THIS WEEK grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Dear Research Diary,

It is now December, so it's time to be very serious about my thesis!!!!

Dear Research Diary,

Today was pretty cool. In Prof. Smyth's class we looked at some cool northern painters. It's always pretty funny to see the reactions of non art historians to Bosch. We got our papers back, and Prof. Smyth said she enjoyed my comparison of two portraits (Ghirlandaio + Vermeer). At the art history meeting we had at lunch time (YAY free pizza!) she even told me that perhaps I should consider doing some more research and expanding my paper in the future! I've never really thought about taking a simple paper from school to a higher scholarly level, but why not! I enjoyed writing it.

Next was Prof. Yawn's class, where we finalized some decisions, such as when our end of the semester cupcake mini party will take place. She also met with us individually to briefly discuss our research. I was glad she approved the direction in which I am headed, but she warned me that there is a lot to be done, and I could surely encounter difficulties working with a topic that's not so accessible here in Italy, so a lot of care and planning is required.

Today I had to finish up some banal work for many classes so I had little time to advance my research : ( but in the next days more time will be dedicated to this!!!!!

Oh PS: Prof Gianni had to cancel our meeting. I really need to speak to her about all of this!! I hope SOON!

Dear Research Diary,

I am back from Morocco. My trip was great. I saw a lot of things, and although none of them were directly pertinent to my thesis topic, it was refreshing to look at objects from a world about which I know little, and to do this purely for my enjoyment (usually visual). After days of a chaos of musicians, snake charmers, and sneaky tricksters, I am back to continue my quest for a solid thesis topic.

Today I briefly chatted with my Italian politics prof, who I know is quite knowledgeable in Ukraine, as I have travelled there with his class some semesters ago. Also he is published on this topic. Anyway, I told him that I'm working on this and he was rather overjoyed, and pointed me in the direction of 3 very good books on the history of Ukraine, as well as the online Encyclopedia of Ukraine, which he claims has many entries on Ukraine's history of art.

Of course after our chat I went to the library. I found two of the three books. They are veryyy large, and proved to be unhelpful in the subject of art, but of course I will be using them to contextualize my research historically. The online encyclopedia is sooooooo primitive and not so easy to use, but has good bibliographies on many ukrainian artists, with adequate bibliographies (once you finally find what you are looking for).

Tomorrow I have a meeting with Prof. Gianni. I am looking forward to it and know she will be helpful.