Wednesday, October 08, 2008
The Invisible Ben Returns to Europe
With all the news about the election and the coming of the financial apocalypse, you'll pardon me I trust if my blogging has declined somewhat of late. I feel less than compelled to throw in my two cents about the rapidly collapsing political state of the nation because, after all, there are already plenty of bloggers (or even authors in print media, as my most recent post noted) who do that far more conscientiously than I ever could.
While I do have opinions on these issues, my mind has been occupied of late with several other personal and professional matters. My adventure in precepting continues apace, with no major incidents of violence or profanity to report---unless you count my frustration with some of the rough drafts I received. The High Holy Days are almost over, and the full extent of my celebration consisted of dinner with my relatives and the subsequent, single-handed consumption over several days of a loaf of round challah.
Oh, and I'm going to Lisbon tomorrow night.
"Wait, what?" my invisible readership has declared all at once. How could I be going to Lisbon and not let you, the readers know? Well, consider this an example of good blogging intentions gone awry.
Here's the deal. Last winter, I devoted myself rather wholeheartedly to writing a research paper, as per departmental regulations, on the history of LCD's. My professor provided feedback as I was studying for general exams, and although she was pretty harsh with her comments, she still encouraged me to consider submitting it to a professional conference this fall. As the application deadlines drew nearer, I had to choose between a history of science conference in Pittsburgh and a history of technology conference in Lisbon.
This was what some might call a false choice, and in the end, there was very little deliberation on my part. I had already visited Pittsburgh, and while it is a beautiful city and I still occasionally hunger for a Primanti Bros. sandwich, it's no Lisbon. Not that I can really state definitively what Lisbon is, per se, but thanks to the beneficence of the admissions committee, by the middle of next week I'll have a better idea of its character. If I'm really lucky, I'll even discover a sandwich that can compare with Pittsburgh's finest. And who knows, maybe people will like the talk I've prepared on liquid crystals. That would certainly be a bonus.
My flight leaves on Thursday night and I return back on Tuesday afternoon. Until then, blogging will remain sporadic, though I hope to post some pictures while I'm there, assuming I can secure reliable Internet access.
Until then, adeus!
With all the news about the election and the coming of the financial apocalypse, you'll pardon me I trust if my blogging has declined somewhat of late. I feel less than compelled to throw in my two cents about the rapidly collapsing political state of the nation because, after all, there are already plenty of bloggers (or even authors in print media, as my most recent post noted) who do that far more conscientiously than I ever could.
While I do have opinions on these issues, my mind has been occupied of late with several other personal and professional matters. My adventure in precepting continues apace, with no major incidents of violence or profanity to report---unless you count my frustration with some of the rough drafts I received. The High Holy Days are almost over, and the full extent of my celebration consisted of dinner with my relatives and the subsequent, single-handed consumption over several days of a loaf of round challah.
Oh, and I'm going to Lisbon tomorrow night.
"Wait, what?" my invisible readership has declared all at once. How could I be going to Lisbon and not let you, the readers know? Well, consider this an example of good blogging intentions gone awry.
Here's the deal. Last winter, I devoted myself rather wholeheartedly to writing a research paper, as per departmental regulations, on the history of LCD's. My professor provided feedback as I was studying for general exams, and although she was pretty harsh with her comments, she still encouraged me to consider submitting it to a professional conference this fall. As the application deadlines drew nearer, I had to choose between a history of science conference in Pittsburgh and a history of technology conference in Lisbon.
This was what some might call a false choice, and in the end, there was very little deliberation on my part. I had already visited Pittsburgh, and while it is a beautiful city and I still occasionally hunger for a Primanti Bros. sandwich, it's no Lisbon. Not that I can really state definitively what Lisbon is, per se, but thanks to the beneficence of the admissions committee, by the middle of next week I'll have a better idea of its character. If I'm really lucky, I'll even discover a sandwich that can compare with Pittsburgh's finest. And who knows, maybe people will like the talk I've prepared on liquid crystals. That would certainly be a bonus.
My flight leaves on Thursday night and I return back on Tuesday afternoon. Until then, blogging will remain sporadic, though I hope to post some pictures while I'm there, assuming I can secure reliable Internet access.
Until then, adeus!
Comments:
Post a Comment
