Two Thoughts

I'm cheating right now because I'm not supposed to be on the internet. I'm supposed to be writing my papers. But these thoughts just keep bugging me and I want to stick them someplace so that I can come back to them later. Also, I suspect that the reason they are in my brain right now, begging to be thought about, is some form of sneaky procrastination. And then when I don't have papers to procrastinate they will promptly leave. This way I'll have them for later.

1. What kind of scholar am I? What kinds of questions are interesting/important to me? What is my academic constellation of ideas/stakes?

2. Writing is hard. I had something cool about this earlier today and now it's gone. Maybe it'll come back... oh well! I'm sure it'll return as I still have things to procrastinate.

PCAACA

Following our tradition, Brooke, Alexis and I went to the Pop Culture Conference (feel free to join our yearly party; next year St. Louis and a baseball game). This year it was in New Orleans and we had a great time. New Orleans is a crazy city--kind of Disney Land + prostitutes and voodoo and bourbon. We hung out with our professor and walked around the french quarter, ate some beignets (lots of powdered sugar), saw some great street performances, ate some great food, and generally enjoyed ourselves. Oh, and we presented papers and didn't even really get attacked this year during the Q&A (which was a first--it almost didn't feel right). And we attended some panels. And one of the presenters in our panel *almost* wore a Frankenstein mask while reading his paper.

We really missed Lizzy G and Sarah--next year, girls!

Here are some picture highlights:

Some pretty sweet street performers.

Me, Alexis, and Brooke at the Mississippi R.

Trying on masks

Us and Cutchins at the graveyard--they bury everybody above ground.

Cuties!

say hello to my little friend

I thought I'd get a little fresh air this evening. South Carolina is lovely in the spring. So, I opened the front door, minding my own business, and there he was. I changed my mind and went back in.

I think I've mentioned before that little green frogs chill around my front door. They freak me out. I was happy, though, to see this little guy today because I've been wanting to get photographic evidence. It took some courage to take these pics (hovering inside with the door cracked just enough to take it)--I was afraid he would jump at me. But, happily, he stayed put for the full photo shoot.



And don't even think that my fears are unfounded. One rainy day Melanie and Aimee and I were heading out to get some dinner. We were in the car when I realized that I had forgotten my wallet inside. My way back in the house was blocked by one of these guys (not this one, though, since he seems pretty tame). I opened the door really quickly, found my wallet, and was rushing back to the car when the frog JUMPED AT ME! Worst case scenerio! I screamed really loud and leaped off the porch. My roomies, watching from the car, were laughing too hard to defend me.