Another K'zoo down

Another K'zoo Down

Wow. That was a different Zoo. Really fun, but exhausting. And it definitely confirmed my theory that having papers entirely finished before the conference starts is really the best way of doing things. Still, the evil back-to-back panels went well (the panels were not evil, only the scheduling). Or so I'm told. A friend asked for a copy of my paper, so I am chuffed. The other papers on my panel were very good, and I especially liked the one with the number-crunching, because it was something we haven't seen much of in the past. The roundtable was also very good, and a couple people told me after that they had found it thought-provoking. Went to a couple of interesting medieval panels, where at least there was a Carolingian question, if no actual Carolingian papers. That needs to stop. Also went to a wonderful panel on antisemitism in the 12th C, where I heard three very good papers, one of which talked about revenants and mentioned vampires and zombies. I LOVED that paper. The rest of the panels were sort of blurry. This may have had something to do with the fact that I was still working on my paper and also dealing with lame SLAC business.

Socially, this was a wonderful Zoo. I'm really sad that I missed the Babel party, which I think was the primo event, and the Bonnie Wheeler party, where I could have seen a dear friend I haven't seen since the Berks conference. But the blogger meetup was fab. I saw Rebel Lettriste, Carl Pyrdum, Dame Eleanor Hull, Medieval Woman, Steve Muhlberger, Stephen Chrisomalis, Vaulting and Vellum, Matt Gabriele, Janice Liedl, Curtana, Notorious, PhD, Girl Scholar, Dr Virago, Heu mihi, Jennifer Lynn Jordon, Dr. Moonbeam, Lisa Carnell, Prof de Breeze (I think), owlfish, and a few people I never got to meet. It was great fun, and I spent much of the conference with some of these folks -- and some I didn't get to see nearly enough of. One of my favorite things was realizing how many real life friends and collaborative colleagues I've met through blogging. And just how many of them I felt like I knew when I saw them, because we have been talking to each other now for years. Now if only Mug Shots would serve decent pastries...

I also got to spend some, but again, not nearly enough, time with with my Beach U peeps. It was so very nice to see them, and again, to be reminded of just how very lucky I have been in my life. So many of the people I saw have somehow or other been instrumental in making me the person and the scholar I am, and having them in my life makes me want to keep up whatever good work I am doing, and fix the things I probably should. I also ran into other online friends, and missed some others. I never managed to see Jeffrey Jerome Cohen at the dance, and Scott Nokes was only there for a drive-by. Never did see Mike Drout. Many people asked where the hell Cranky Professor was, too.

I was also able to spend some time with a wonderful postgrad who convinced me to come to a conference at St Andrews this summer, and a dear friend with whom I always enjoy spending time. Plus, a bunch of us went out on Saturday night for dinner and talked slash and fanfic and sf/f for hours. Saw other colleagues I see only rarely, and one with whom I may try to plan a panel for next time. I should do it if only because he's an amazing dancer. In fact, at one point I was dancing with him and two other people who often work on things Carolingian, and two of them were really good and fun dancers. So basically, a very good conference.

And right now, I'm sitting in the lobby of the K'zoo Radisson, procrastinating on the marking. And just plain exhausted. Won't get home to Dabbaville till something like 1:00 in the morning. Ugh