A very late post for me. It�s been a long day filled with neuroses, coffee, anxiety, more caffeinated beverages, and much coughing, I am home, having given my first paper in public in several years. I guess that means I�m really back in the saddle.

The morning did not start well. As I went to find something presentable in which to do some presenting, I discovered that none of my dress clothes fit. I couldn�t even get my pants to stay on. Normally I would be happy with this state of affairs, but somehow I hadn�t seen it coming. I�ve got five days of conference to attend in two weeks, a conference where I�ll both be presenting and job hunting, and I literally have nothing to wear. Fortunately, this was just school, so, after about an hour and a half of throwing things out of my closet in disgust while AJ danced around the room, I ended up in a pair of cords instead of dress pants. But tomorrow, we shop!

I spent much of my train ride in my usual upper level single seat trying to edit a friend�s paper while trying not to a) think about my presentation and b) not to stare at the poor guy downstairs who had not had the foresight to sit upstairs and instead had the misfortune of having an overly zealous insurance salesman sitting next to him and showing him brochures for the entire ride. He looked like he wanted to disappear inside his trenchcoat. After a ridiculously long layover downtown between trains, I finally arrived on campus nearly 4 hours after I left home. Students were standing around in all kinds of positions. The socialists were hawking papers in front of the C. Hall. I passed a Muslim student, outside the building next door, shoes neatly placed next to his backpack as he prayed eastward. A cacophony of sounds emerged from the practice rooms � Handel�s �Let the Bright Seraphim, scratchy violin scales, a keyboard playing �Night in Tunisia.� It was a wonderful soundscape of activity.

The paper session was not well advertised and therefore not well attended. Only one student who wasn�t presenting showed up, but five four faculty members, including my advisor and the two who ask the hardest questions were there. The student papers were divided into sessions based the conference at which they were presenting. I was paired with a paper that couldn�t have been more different than mine � a Medievalist doing a careful study of manuscripts and analysis of a motet to determine that a particular composer whom you�ve probably never heard of worked in a particular place that you�ve probably never heard of at a particular time. I admire such scholarship, for it takes a slow and careful approach. Which is exactly why it�s not for me. My paper went fairly well. I came in under time. I did not have a coughing fit. I was not overly nervous, although I did talk too fast (That�s like saying I breathed. Of course I talked too fast. I always talk too fast). Other than the speed, my delivery was praised, as were a few aspects of my paper. The questions asked afterwards were all ones I had expected and prepared for and the suggestions for changes made were pretty much all to add stuff back in that I had cut in the first place. Overall, I was pleased, although I�m really getting sick of this paper already and really want it to be done.

I may be postless tomorrow, as I�ll be gone most of the day. AJ and I plan to do some damage to our library card before playgroup tomorrow morning and I head downtown again tomorrow afternoon to do some damage to my credit card and attend my book group meeting. Alas, I�ve barely started the book (Edward P. Jones� The Known World). But the company and food will be good and after today, I�m looking forward to a non-working evening.

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