Saturday, October 27, 2007
Back From Chicago
I'm back, in plenty of time for tonight's Halloween party and Angelo and Josh's. Adrian is finishing up his costume right now, and I need to shower and shave and slip into mine before leaving in a couple hours.
The trip was...eh. Nothing too special at the conference. Friday I just watched, and I met up with a couple folks from my past professorial life, but not folks I'm close to. I did meet a professor from Singapore and I'm going to try kissing his ass to get his department to bring me over for some guest lectures. I await the comments on me kissing Singaporean ass (sometimes I swear I make it too easy). The papers I heard presented yesterday were nothing special, though there was one on China and Taiwan that may be useful for my office, so I guess I justified the trip.
This morning I chaired a panel discussion that went pretty well...if anything, I took up too much time that the audience wanted to use for questions and answers...there were many more questions than I expected so it would have been better if I'd shut up earlier. After that I was off to another panel where I was presenting my paper, discussing some research I'd undertaken for my job (research that my office has been uninterested in, because it's only about the future of our organization, certainly nothing important). That went OK, though there was only a little interest in my paper...actually, the audience for this discussion was about 1/4 the size of the earlier panel, which was too bad. After that I made a mad dash for the airport and got there about 20 minutes before the plane boarded...I'd upgraded to first class so at least I could stretch my legs and not feel squished.
The one bright spot of the weekend was dinner last night with Seen Meng, who is from Malaysia. He came here to earn his PhD in economics, and decided to stay here for work once he was done. He visited home in KL this summer after graduating...in fact, it turns out we were in KL at the same time last month. It was fun to compare notes on the city and the culture there...he and I saw many things the same way, which made me feel very Malaysian. Anyway, he took time out from his busy schedule (he has a big professional exam on Monday that he's preparing for) to have dinner, and I'm glad he did because that was the best part of the trip.
Well, that, and running into the Thai boxing team in the hotel lobby. And no, of COURSE I didn't change my route just to walk with them a couple extra minutes. Well, maybe I did.
The trip was...eh. Nothing too special at the conference. Friday I just watched, and I met up with a couple folks from my past professorial life, but not folks I'm close to. I did meet a professor from Singapore and I'm going to try kissing his ass to get his department to bring me over for some guest lectures. I await the comments on me kissing Singaporean ass (sometimes I swear I make it too easy). The papers I heard presented yesterday were nothing special, though there was one on China and Taiwan that may be useful for my office, so I guess I justified the trip.
This morning I chaired a panel discussion that went pretty well...if anything, I took up too much time that the audience wanted to use for questions and answers...there were many more questions than I expected so it would have been better if I'd shut up earlier. After that I was off to another panel where I was presenting my paper, discussing some research I'd undertaken for my job (research that my office has been uninterested in, because it's only about the future of our organization, certainly nothing important). That went OK, though there was only a little interest in my paper...actually, the audience for this discussion was about 1/4 the size of the earlier panel, which was too bad. After that I made a mad dash for the airport and got there about 20 minutes before the plane boarded...I'd upgraded to first class so at least I could stretch my legs and not feel squished.
The one bright spot of the weekend was dinner last night with Seen Meng, who is from Malaysia. He came here to earn his PhD in economics, and decided to stay here for work once he was done. He visited home in KL this summer after graduating...in fact, it turns out we were in KL at the same time last month. It was fun to compare notes on the city and the culture there...he and I saw many things the same way, which made me feel very Malaysian. Anyway, he took time out from his busy schedule (he has a big professional exam on Monday that he's preparing for) to have dinner, and I'm glad he did because that was the best part of the trip.
Well, that, and running into the Thai boxing team in the hotel lobby. And no, of COURSE I didn't change my route just to walk with them a couple extra minutes. Well, maybe I did.
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Halloween! Oh... How I loved it! It's gonna be a treat or trick day! Or "treat or threat", should we say? (Well, I remember this one child who was knocking the door of a house of an old man. The old man opened the door and told the kid off, telling the little chap that he had got nothing to offer. He closed the door after that. Just then, an adult of about 30 years in age approached the house, and knocked the door, but this time, the old man shouted from behind closed doors that he had got nothing to offer. The young man yelled at him, telling him that he would threaten to burn down the house if he refused to offer anything, even sweets. You know what? Instead of burning down the house he created havoc at the old man's house and dumped heaps of garbage at his doorstep. Having done that, the young man shouted "It's treat or threat, old man!").
Anyway, I read that you have visited Malaysia? If so, welcome!
Anyway, I read that you have visited Malaysia? If so, welcome!
QR: they looked like the kind of guys who might not want someone taking their photo. and they also looked like the kinds of guys who could beat the hell out of you if they wanted to. so I just stared and smiled.
David: thank you for stopping by! I am avoiding the little trick or treaters this year by going out with friends instead.
David: thank you for stopping by! I am avoiding the little trick or treaters this year by going out with friends instead.
It looks like someone had a fun - and productive - weekend in Chicago! It's always nice to share the product of your research with others. I'd be interested to know what your research dealt with.
I hope your ass kissing works out! Wouldn't it be nice to give some guest lectures in Singapore? :-P
I hope you had a fun Halloween weekend! Will there be pictures of your costume? :-)
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I hope your ass kissing works out! Wouldn't it be nice to give some guest lectures in Singapore? :-P
I hope you had a fun Halloween weekend! Will there be pictures of your costume? :-)
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