I got a gal in Kalamazoo Part Deux

I am currently sitting in a coffee shop outside of campus. I believe that Kate had lunched here earlier in the day. I am happy as a freakin' clam. I can smoke. I have Internet. I have a quiet place. I have coffee. I can have ice cream if I want it or sweets or anything my little ol' heart desires. Just lovely. Plus, it's a bonus that since the car is rented in my name then I can come and go as I please. What luxury!

So, paper went well and it's over and done with. I was paired with two MA students who were giving papers definitely related to topic, but they were just youngsters. I don't say this in a very negative way because I believe both are non-medievalists (at least one a Victorian scholar -- hey, if I was to give a paper on Victorian lit, then I would imagine I'd be in the same boat). The panel was also well-attended which is nice. Not too big but actually filled out the small room. It's never fun just to give one's papers to fellow panelists.

I haven't been to too many sessions because of all the work I brought with me. Good news on one level -- I finished editing one paper (not mine) and the author seemed rather happy with the result. This good because it was a massive revision and I was asked to edit with a rather heavy hand, especially since English is not the author's first language. Now, I should be working on my paper for this same journal. *sigh* Will it ever all be done?

And I'm still not getting good sleep. I have discovered coffee with a shot of espresso (they call this the "sinking ship" -- oh dear!).

In another hour I will go to the open bar reception for UConn people and will meet back up with Kate and probably a bunch of other people who I want to see. That's at least a very nice thing at this conference. I know a lot of people here and we are both (usually) mutually happy to see each other. I even gave a ride to the coffee shop to another UConn person and she is sitting on the other side working as well. I am happy to enable happy workspace!

Happy, happy, joy, joy to you all. Will post more soon.

Feeling Groovy

Thanks to a gift certificate from my sister, I treated myself to a massage tonight. My new best friend, Christina, must have worked on my shoulders the entire time. How did I think that fifty minutes was going to get rid of what has been literally riding my back for months now? Still, I feel pretty groovy. I'm definitely tempted to book another one with her.

My presentation lays untouched for the moment. I'm waiting for screams from Australia to happen any moment now but doesn't seem to be the case as of yet. I also have a stack of midterms to grade, and I had a panic attack that midterm grades were due tomorrow (thank all that is bright and beautiful that it was not the case). I was also very annoyed by annoying events all day (ironic that they do that, right?). I kept chanting...I will be relaxed very soon.....

Best Laid Plans, etc. etc

After a full day and then half-falling asleep in front of the Lehrer New Hour (what is it about their soothing PBS voices?), I hit my second wind. I decide to pop back on the computer to do some work. You know that trick you do with yourself when the last thing you want to do is work. Oh, I'll just write a little paragraph. Just a smidgen of a thought to get this project rolling again. Then, I find myself with seven pages open and I'm writing people all over the place. The QOE gave me a link about setting up a subscription process for my blog. Viola! 'tis to the right of this post.

However, you know you are getting old when you sit there and say "hmmm, what do they mean by 'feed' anyway. What is this funky moon language??"

Hours have flown by. And now Project Runway is coming on. I would have put in one of my Netflix movies to multi-task (MUST get all the movies I can for a month) but everything I have is subtitled. That really puts a damper on multi-tasking.

And if I can't find someone to go with me to see No Country for Old Men, I am going to scream. Anyone want to catch the 930 show?? It's only playing at that time and that's a sign that it probably won't be back next week.

I miss all my movie buddies. It used to be that I had friends who would go see any kind of crap with me. Moira would see anything -- the blockbusters and the arthouse (though she had a secret penchant for disaster movies). Jill would see arthouse but it couldn't be gory and I would tolerate romantic comedies at times (so, arthouse romance). I could always count on Kate and Gene to see the science fiction stuff. And my friend, Abel, whom I have not talked to in years (I do blame 911 and the fact that I was a jerk the last time I saw him) would see almost any crappy show (we went to see a matinee of Barb Wire and it was like going into a porno theater. It was just the two of us and men, sitting by themselves scattered throughout). Sometimes I can drag Ken to see something but only if he really wants to see it (and if it's really, really popular, he doesn't want to see it. GAR!).

I also used to go to the movies by myself. When I lived in London, I think I hit all the theatres in that town, watching all sort of obscure stuff (and once, while watching Grosse Point Blank, a guy two seats down thought that by touching my leg with his sock clad feet that I would fall in love with him.). But the idea of going to a movie theater by myself that late is just not as appealing to me as it once was.

Aren't I a sad sack??

Fun with Grading/Saving the Writing Soul

The title is a misnomer since the last thing I want to do is talk about grading. There is just far too much of it this time of year. I was hurriedly finishing one set of exams just so I can be prepared for the research papers tomorrow. I just know that some of them will break my heart. It makes me feel like that with one more week or one more session or one five minute discussion, I could save their writing soul. But I'm preaching to the choir, right? I do have some literature that I could pass out.

Speaking of writing, I helped my niece write her paper on Macbeth last week. Of course "help" is relative since all I did was ask her helpful, guiding questions. I related this story to my students, and they were outraged. "couldn't you just tell her the answer!" they cried. Alas, no. Still, I was heartened that my niece did seem to understand the play. We take solace from where we can find it.

Yet another point about writing -- I had my interview with the DH editor, who has been in the business for a long time and was quite a talker. The discussion did descend, at times, into fan talk, and I definitely got the picture that he was used to speaking to fan culture (for instance, I had read some of these quotes before -- gasp! not like we don't repeat ourselves, yes?). I think I got some good stuff and some good directions for the essay. Although I started with a disclaimer ("I'm just simple manga farmer from the sticks"), my prep for the interview helped. He seemed a bit abashed that I knew of some of the manga magazines that he had worked on and that had not lasted very long. He was also extremely helpful in explaining some misconceptions I had about the business. Now, I really need to research.

A Horse to Bet On

Can I just say that the people at Dark Horse Comics are the best? I'm writing an essay for a book on manga in the U.S., and I put out an inquiry to DH on Monday. Within minutes, I get a response from the PR dept and then today I wrote to an editor there who phoned me within minutes of receiving my e-mail. I was terrified that he wanted to conduct the interview then and there, but thankfully we set up one for next Monday. I would have done it this week, but I'm meeting with students all day, everyday until then (why do I even assign a research paper when Wikipedia is around?). So, I'm super psyched.

Also received good news that my abstract was accepted to K'zoo next year. Looks like two trips in the Spring -- on to PCA in San Fran and then the great state of Michigan in May. Woohoo. I'm hoping a wombat will be my roommate? (There's the title of my memoirs!)

Another Wacky Saturday

Napped a bit this afternoon then finished up a proofread job that I should have done a while ago. It was rather interesting about coin collecting. I always learn something new from working on books I would never normally pick up . Of course, the chapter on how to keep your collection safe from those evil "estate taxes" just confirmed that I was never intended to be this book's audience.

Ah, but my blog has now become embiggened. Kate has blogged about my blog and even posted a pic for moi. I still need to link up to all my friends, who are doing much more interesting things than me (napping, reading about coins), as soon as I can figure out how to put them up in a neater fashion. Tonight, as befits a wacky Saturday, I'm doing some research and some writing and listening to the Art of Noise.