gwendolyn faith is not a crayon.

Lemon Ricotta Cookies and Jacques Torres’ Chocolate Chip Cookies, aptly described by one blogger as “the only chocolate chip cookies I ever need to know how to make for the rest of my life,” for my thesis committee members.

I emailed my thesis proposal to my committee four days ahead of schedule. Fingers crossed my committee members like what they read! (Everything academic looks better Instagram’d, y’all.)

I joined eHarmony for the sake of research. Research on identity performance through brands as symbols on online dating sites, to be specific.

What impression management techniques do young adults employ on online dating sites? How do their impression management techniques vary by ideal audience? How do their impression management techniques vary by intent? How do brands function as symbols of personality traits that attract mates or deter rivals? Are certain personality traits associated with mentioning brands?

Because I don’t want to limit my pool of profiles too narrowly, I didn’t even create a profile that describes me or my preferences. Since the eHarmony algorithm delivers only the profiles of site users who seem compatible, I selected wide parameters whenever possible instead of being picky.

I won’t be contacting anyone, and I didn’t even include a profile picture. (I’m not a paying member, so my options are limited, anyway.)

And despite all my forethought, eHarmony has still not identified compatible matches for me. Grrrreat.

oh really, sleep cycle?!

I’ve felt exhausted and overwhelmed all week lifetime, but I found a burst of energy when my thesis committee chair gave me the go-ahead to schedule my thesis proposal meeting. I’ll soon have an actual hard-and-fast deadline to finish my proposal, which should send me into a stress-induced tailspin — but instead I’m feeling confident and relaxed because maybe, just maybe, I’ve actually got my life in order.

Yeah, maybe not.

Encouraging words from my thesis seminar professor — but will my committee chair agree? Stay tuned for the next episode, “Gwen Revises the First Draft of Her Thesis Proposal Over Spring Break.” (Could my life as a TV show be any more boring?)

The first draft of my thesis proposal. Although I’m sure my committee chair will ask me to make a lot of changes, I’ll be crossing my (manicured) fingers I don’t have to do a complete overhaul!

I don’t know if I’ll actually study compensatory consumption, narrative identity theory and/or style blogs, but I do know I’ve discovered an infallible, sure-fire way to identify a research topic.

I’m posting a photograph of Myrtle Beach because:

• A. I’d rather be at the beach than in a snowstorm one-inch dusting of snow snowstorm; or
• B. If I were in a sunny beach town instead of a snowy college town, I could safely drive to a coffee shop, where I’m a much more focused and productive writer than I am at home, to finish my research proposal; or
• C. Melanie and I have been invited to present our conference paper at the 2012 American Academy of Advertising Conference in March in Myrtle Beach; or
• D. All of the above.

The answer is D, but let’s focus on the most exciting piece of news: Melanie and I have been invited to present our conference paper, “Cause Exhaustion in Cause-Related Marketing: Are Causes Losing Their Emotional Potency?,” at the 2012 American Academy of Advertising Conference in March in Myrtle Beach! It’s the news I need to power through my own thesis research proposal, which I’m unfortunately writing at home instead of at a coffee shop.

And she like that, she submits her literature review.

Well, not just like that. Twenty-six pages, 58 sources and over 50 hours of work in the past two weeks made that baby.

In the spring, I’ll have to double my lit review to use in my thesis. It’ll be like making writing twins.