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Got a few minutes right now to post. No pictures.
Yesterday was pretty awful in most regards. I was told by the internet schedule of papers that my presentation was Friday. It was Wednesday at 8am, which was after I rolled into town. Big fucking oops. In not surprisingly and probably amazingly connected news, I lost the HSG student director job. I suppose perhaps people were irritated that I didn't show up to the spotlight session that the group puts on.
Anyway... yesterday: Left at 5:30 am, rolled in about noon. The Travelodge we are staying at is close to the Downtown Hilton... but the wrong downtown Hilton. Fuck. It's not that bad, though as all it means is that there's a five block walk up Wabash each morning and five blocks back each night. It's a pleasant walk among buildings taller than I'm used to.
The location of that walk between the buildings of about five over-priced art-fag colleges has meant a proliferation of over-priced, cute ipod bearing chubby art-fag girls.
I'm married, not dead!
In my defense, my occasional glancing has, I would argue, been specifically brought on by a lack of Amy by my side. I'm not saying that she's like an enforcer of glances (she's not), but that I have no reason to look when she's around. I miss her TERRIBLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I attended an excellent session yesterday with Neil Smith and Don Mitchell, heavyweights of political geography, during which I realized the error of my arrival time. If not for the heat and overcrowding of the room, and the fact that I was basically hyperventilating through the whole thing panicked about my unintentional snub and the disasterous career consequences that would certainly be realized because of it, I would have enjoyed it tremendously.
Then, I went to a cigar and cognac bar with Butcher, Aron and Mary. I enjoyed a nice Guinness, after which I ventured to the HSG meeting and was soundly defeated. No bother, right? I was generally annoyed, but since my research is looking more to destroy and change hazards than to play along these days, I'm not worried.
Luckily, at the meeting I met my old advisor Dr. Schwartz. We went out (with Mary in tow) with his wife Deanna and Bill Monfredo to Pizzano's, having some great Chicago-style pizza. That evening helped at lot, and I've heard from a number of parties that my snub was no huge deal. I also apologized to the organizer. That's as much as I can do. We returned to the hotel about 11:00 pm and crashed, though I admit that the small size of the hotel room left little floor for my fat ass. I didn't sleep comfortably.
Today has been better. I started out with a panel session on the war in Iraq with Jim, Colin Flint, Derek Gregory, Alex Murphy and other mid-range critical politics names. It was a very good session. Then, I hooked up with Jeff and hit the Art Institute, less than a block from the convention hotel. Did you know that you can "donate" ANYTHING for a ticket and they will let you in? After that, good (and luckily lighter on the stomach) lunch from Chipotle with Jeff and a very good session critiquing the response to Katrina.
There, I made some professional contacts with other people just starting to think critical politics in hazards. Now, I am here in the "cyber cafe" which is just some ridiculously overstated ballroom with a bunch of tables and wi-fi. It's loud and overcrowded. Haven't found any Kent people since the hurricane session. I will try again in a few, as some sessions will be ending shortly. The All-Ohio (except Ohio State) party is tonight. And Mary owes me a couple of beers. I also hear rumors of another seance with Chicago pizza. I'm there... oh, I'm there.
I'm going to, in just a sec, get my name on the roster for another session so I can present this dead horse of a presentation. No one will likely come since it's not in the main convention book, but it will give me closure on the issue. And, it will be the end of my presentation on this particular research.
The Windy City says hello.
Posted by Your Friendly Neighborhood DJ on March 9, 2006 04:20 PM | Permalink
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