My weekend in the land of the cheeseheads was lovely, if rather exhausting. And I must say that I am quite pleased that I don�t have to start and end my day today with a long trek on the tollway. I made it as far as the grocery store, but I don�t have any further plans for leaving the house.

The conference was interesting. For those not familiar with the whole genre of the academic conference, you spend 2-4 days hearing your colleagues read papers about a tiny sliver of their work. Mostly, though, conferences are about the schmoozing that happens in between the main events.

Conferences of grad students, like the one I attended this weekend, are a bit different. For one thing, since grad students are not in positions of hiring power, schmoozing for the purpose of getting ahead is not part of the agenda. You can actually have relatively normal conversations with people you don't know, which is refreshing. Another difference is that all four sub-fields of academic music (music history, music theory, ethnomusicology and composition) were represented � in the major leagues of music conferences the divisions are kept fairly separate. Additionally, the conference was small enough that there was never more than one paper being read or piece being performed at a time. Everyone attended everyone�s papers, so we all came away with a common experience in a way that doesn�t happen at larger conferences. And most importantly, because the conference was by and for grad students, there seemed to be a lot less pressure to perform and a lot more of a sense that we�re all in a collective project. This was particularly true at this conference where a startling number of papers seemed to be tackling similar issues from different standpoints. Like any group of papers, the quality was mixed (and I�m not sure where I�d put myself in the ranking), but unlike major conferences, more people went out on a limb to try something different. I, for example, took on a new interest in film music that I probably wouldn�t have chanced at a major conference without some more feedback. Several others pushed themselves past their comfort zones in an effort to expand their interests and knowledge, most notably a Ph.D. in English Lit. who took on politics in the music of Fela Kuti and Mr. Lif.

The most entertaining paper (not so much because of the paper itself but because of its subject) was applying Lacanian philosophy to Frank Zappa�s �Dinah-Moe Humm.� I suspect Zappa is either rolling in his grave or laughing long and hard about that one. The presenter managed to mention the word �orgasm� in the first paragraph of her paper and the audience spent the subsequent 20 minutes squirming, giggling and looking at the floor like they were in junior high school. Like adolescents, we musicologists (if the paper topics this weekend are any indication) like to talk about sex a lot, but we're a bit squeamish when we have to listen. Beyond that, there was nothing of particular noteworthiness, but I met a lot of interesting people and got to know some of my fellow students a little better, which is always useful.

Meanwhile, back at the harriet household, AJ had a fun weekend without me, but ran his dad ragged. The highlight was his friend Z�s birthday party, which he is still talking about. The theme was one of Medieval knights, which had 4-year-olds slaying dragon pi�atas and questing for hidden goody bags. My favorite souvenir, however, is the shield AJ made to go with his plastic knight helmet. He was given a large white cardboard shield and he emblazoned it with a large sun (complete with sunspots) surrounded by all the planets. He drew it all in blue except for Jupiter�s great red spot, for which he found a red marker. Around his solar system he stuck on a slew of shiny foil star stickers and wrote his name in big block letters. It�s spectacular, at least from a mom�s point of view.

And now, for the duration of AJ�s nap I plan to make a fairly good sized dent in the couch. Happy Sunday.

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