I met my goal for this week...finishing section 1.1 of my dissertation, entitled "Evidence for early life on Earth". It's just a brief summary of our current knowledge of microfossils, stromatolites, and biomarkers before I get into the nitty gritty of the rocks I'm studying (sections 1.2 and 1.3). This intro chapter is going to take me a little while because I am referencing about 10 papers per paragraph, most of which I'm reading or re-reading to make sure I get it right. Next week I have to cram and get my GSRP renewal proposal written. That shouldn't take too long, but it's one of those things that requires all sorts of people's signatures.