a vacation at home

Things have been very busy lately. But this weekend was a break from all that.

Each year I organize a student conference, which passed on Friday. Like last year, I have vowed that this year will be my last year organizing it. Unlike last year, I think the person that stepped up to learn how to organize it will actually want to do it again next year. Instead of doing things, I tried to take more of a delegation-style of management so other people did the work, thereby learning how to do it next time (without me). Still I had to prepare a presentation. I submitted the abstract for it only four days beforehand and still didn't have results at the time. I guess that's the beauty of a local student conference: preliminary results (i.e. two data points without error bars) are okay and deemed to be interesting...

Afterward, we had a departmental party which rolled into a birthday party at my house. We had copious amounts of sangria (served in a drawer), home-made meat balls and tiramisu from PG, delicious cakes from Anna, and a wonderful collection of friends to share it all with. Those who left while the buses were still running, while leaving earlier than any wished, made smart decisions because nobody scored a taxi. We had some rather freaky weather Friday night, with snow turning to hail turning to freezing rain and everybody was looking for taxis. One person got through at 1:30 and was told the taxi company would call when they were ready to pick them up. At 2:30 she got through to another company that told her the same thing. At 3:30 the 9 people that were still at our apartment decided to walk home. I did my best to try to assure people they could stay, and when they did decide to leave, I offered them as much rain gear as I could muster to help them stay dry. No taxi company ever called back. I hope they all survived their walks home.

I am now enjoying the spoils of having gone around the sun once again. I am eagerly reading A book about Pirates! that I received from Dan and Amanda. I am not sure how they found this book since Amazon says its release date is September 2007. But if anybody needs an absolutely silly book to read, may I recommend you start at the beginning of the story, and not expect fine literature. Next on my list is the first comic book I will ever read, which was delivered to me by Sween and his lovely wife (who you must read about when you visit his site). Seriously, I have never read a comic book. Perhaps this will be the dawning of a new era in my life. From the same man that introduced me to, um, the importance of monkeys, I guess. But the chance to read a comic book that has been called literature is kind of exciting. Plus I'll be able to say "I thought the book was better". I am also excited to finally have a copy of Baraka, from Mike and his Lovely Wife. I remember seeing this movie in the theatres and being blown away. I've probably rented it 5 or 6 times in the last 10 years. The word Baraka means blessing in several languages and the film is a series of images put to music that are meant to celbrate and humanity, our planet, and the interaction between the two. Its a stunning cinematographic piece and if you haven't seen it, it's worth renting.

On Saturday, which was my actual birthday, Allie and I agreed we were going to both do absolutely nothing all day. We didn't even take a day like that over our Christmas holiday, and I can't really remember the last time we both agreed to do nothing. We eventually rolled out of bed and got out the door around the crack of noon. Despite the weather the night before, it was a beatiful day. Temperatures were around 5 degrees and the streets and sidewalks were clear. We walked downtown, and had brunch at a restaurant called Deco. Then we perused random shops, mostly window shopping. (I picked up a orange long-sleeve shirt from MEC for SAR and that's it I think.) By about 4 or 4:30, we decided to head home but thought we aught to pick up a movie first. We had chosen two films neither of us had seen: Miller's Crossing and Syriana. But then while in line at the check-out, we saw they were selling the box set for the second season of Lost. After a short discussion, we decided to go and get the first season of Lost. Neither of us had really seen any episodes but have had many people tell us that we would love it. For the rest of the weekend we lay on the couch, watched Lost, and ate leftovers from the party.

It's kind of sad when you realize that you can't remember the last time you really did nothing for a whole day, let along two. But it was a much needed mental break.

...And we now return to our regularly-scheduled, daily fugue.