SmallRegionalMeeting
Today's Schedule:12:30am: Finish packing and go to bed.
3:45am: Wake up and get ready to leave for the train station. Pour shampoo onto toothbrush. Resolve to brush teeth with eyes open, and stop keeping the travel shampoo on the sink.
4:15am: Leave to pick up Anomie. Discover that car is broken again, and will need to be fixed. Again. Husband looks less than enthusiastic about the prospect of driving in DC this early in the morning. Or maybe at the thought of fixing the car this weekend. Either way, he's not happy. [Should people be awake before the sun is up? I think not.]
4:45am: Tear skirt on car door; meet Anomie. Be grateful that yes, I did pack a needle and thread.
5:00am: Arrive at train station; buy tickets from little kiosk thing that has lots of words on it for this early in the morning. Miss the friendly ticket people who could figure out "I would like a ticket for the 5:30 train to East Coast City and directions to the nearest beverage establishment" from "Next one. Here money. Where coffee?"
5:15am: Anomie buys life-saving diet cola from fast food place. Decide that no one should ever walk around before Starbucks opens.
5:25am: Put nice bruise and scuffmark on knee trying to carry overstuffed suitcase onto train.
5:30am: Train leaves.
5:45am: Discover five things that are difficult to do in a moving train: applying mascara, applying eyeliner, applying lipstick, putting in contact lenses, and sewing. Do them anyway.
5:50am: Stop bleeding from thumb. Manage not to poke self in the eye with needle.
6:00am: Read papers for SRM panel. Add comments. Attempt to decide whether constructivists ought to be allowed to design models. Final verdict: don't really care that much.
7:00am: Listen to Anomie's presentation outline. Realize that she is much better prepared. Think about going home.
7:30am: Arrive East Coast City. Ignore advice to call a cab. Walk to conference hotel. Look for place to buy gloves.
7:45am: Arrive hotel. Check heavy suitcase at the desk. Resolve not to pack so many books next time.
8:00am: Obtain nametag, caffeine, and bagel from conference organizers. Play "spot the grad student." Win extra points for correctly guessing which profs are still carrying backpacks. Double super points for identifying tenured faculty at ten paces.
8:45am: Find panel location. Convince organizer that yes, there is a panel scheduled for the room. Help move boxes from the conference table to the floor.
9:05am: Begin panel. Listen to papers.
9:15am: Ignore conference organizer who comes to retrieve signs.
9:50am: Give comments and remarks. As chair, refuse to let self run over as discussant.
10:05am: Open for questions. Both audience members ask / comment.
10:15am: Finish panel. Weigh option of asking more questions against option of drinking more coffee. Choose coffee.
10:45am: Sit in on Terrorism panel. Notice that handout of terror typology closely resembles fractalization diagram. Decide it isn't sufficiently self-similar.
11:00am: Wonder when geekhood first manifested itself.
11:45am: Witness much more entertaining discussant style. Briefly consider trying it at BNM. Decide that it would be too much work.
12:15pm: Realize that all panels should be 15 minutes shorter, no matter how interesting. Think about lunch.
12:45pm: Wander streets of East Coast City, looking for market that RandomStudent remembers from childhood.
1:09pm: Determine that all three people are following each other, with no one leading.
1:10pm: Check map.
1:20pm: Find market, right where map says it will be.
1:30pm: Eating place, with chicken corn soup, mashed potatoes, and real apple dumplings. Buy lunch. Think about buying breakfast for tomorrow.
1:50pm: Buy chow chow and cherry jam. Feel homesick. Think about dumplings. Feel better.
2:00pm: Walk back to hotel
2:20pm: Check into room. Collect bags from front desk. Discuss whether bag dude should be tipped; decide he shouldn't because someone piled suitcases on top of RandomStudent's laptop bag. And we're poor starving grad students.
2:30pm: Greet more TUWSNBN students in the hotel bar. Ask them what took so long.
2:40pm: Find room. Drop assorted bags and other crap on beds. Think about taking a nap.
3:00pm: Blog instead.
posted by Elizabeth @ 2:44 PM
4 Comments:
Love the ending...blogging instead of sleeping is dedication. Am glad yous got there fine and the panel went well.
Should I tell you now (or never?) that my paper is still not done and I was up all night last night? My argument sucks. Help! Panic! This is a dire warning about what happens when you change your paper at the last minute. Bloody hell.
Off to do more LS flunkieness. Would it be the height of absolute whatnot to confess I have (a) ticket for the midnight opening of HP4 film and was planning on having sent off my paper to Chair before then? Am still trying.
brilliant!
sounds like the conference went well. glad to hear it. :)
Yes, the car is broken. Yes, the first day was mostly fun. Yes, I'm presenting tomorrow.
No, I can't speak Greek, and no, I can't watch the game.
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