ahh, the oft-neglected index.

for some unknown reason, i've found myself in the position of having to index two things at once, my previous indexing experience being precisely nothing. one is a cookbook, which should be pretty straightforward (recipes, subrecipes, ingredients, some techniques -- easy, right?), but the other is our departmental press's anthology for its tenth anniversary celebrations. i've been indexing for two nights straight, and i'm only on page 23. of 381.

i've discovered this since i first started: indexing is hard. deciding what to include, what not to include, how to define subheadings, etc.? non-trivial.

i've always had a great appreciation for good indexes -- and cursed poor ones, of course. i'm growing increasingly apprehensive that the one i'm currently constructing will be one of the latter.

***

my sweetie and i convocated yesterday. heard the president of the university give one of the most hypocritical speeches ever. everything she said, i interpreted ironically, and i was constantly wishing i'd brought a bucket of peanuts to throw at her.

but i've neatly wrapped up that chapter of my life. in addition to donning the ridiculous gown with its ridiculous hood and ridiculous mortarboard, i met up with my old supervisor and finished the training him to use the template i'd made for the redesigned departmental newsletter. now i can invoice him and put that behind me as well.

people say 'congratulations' when i tell them i've convocated, but i don't feel proud of the accomplishment at all. it's a degree i wish i'd never pursued.

books are so much nicer than lasers.