S. Worthen | Weblog

After breakfast with Cornellians and a Brown student, I went to Jan Ziolkowski's plenary. I knew from past experience that he's an amazing speaker: funny, entertaining, erudite, and well-spoken. A third of his talk was pseudo-society-like, the rest was supported by references provided in full with a finely-printed eight-page handout. Despite my lassitude from marginally less sleep than I would have liked, he was easy to listen to. Afterwards, a chocolate-chip coated chocolate doughnut tided me through the morning session.

( A great deal of talking... )

Despite all the enthralling conversations and pleasant meetings, the real highlights of my days were moments which marked my increasing establishment in my field: I'm now on the board of directors of Avista, and was invited to give a talk during this coming academic year. Perhaps someday - even someday soon - committee work and talks may seem mundane to me. These are my first of each, and I am thrilled.