Travelicious

I just got back this afternoon from the College English Association conference in Pittsburgh. I wasn't there long -- got in Friday night and left Sunday morning -- so I didn't get to see much, in terms of panels or the city. I think my presentation went well, though. It felt really rushed; there were four people on my panel, so we each only had 15 minutes, and I felt like I was just FLYING through mine. But I think it was a decent presentation. This summer, I'll try to work it up into a full-fledged article. 

And, even though I was only there for one full day, I got to have dinner with a few old friends who I haven't seen in quite a while. I haven't seen Melissa and Jason since 2001, I think, so that was really fantastic. And I haven't seen Laura since I left New Hampshire in July. I remembered, suddenly, that second joy of conferences--seeing people I don't get to see often enough. 

Sadly, I didn't get to see much of Pittsburgh. I basically got to see enough to know that I wanted to see more. So I'll have to go back. 

But I'm amazed at how tired I am. I slept enough, but travel just wipes me out. I got a serendipitous ride back with a graduate student who I didn't know was at the conference, so I actually got back an hour earlier than I had planned (and didn't have to take the Road Runner). I've taken a shower, eaten some dinner, got caught up on emails (only 32 of them), and finalized my lesson plans for tomorrow. I need to read about 7 articles, but I don't think I can do it tonight. I think it has to wait until tomorrow night. Because it's almost 9:00 and I'm beat.

But I also have to get my paper together for the conference in New Orleans. I leave in a week and a half. Lots of work to be done over the next 10 days. Lots of traveling lately. It's part of the job that I think we often forget about. Hard to forget when you feel like you've been on planes too much lately.