Symposium Comes Off Swimmingly

The symposium was yesterday. It was great. Only one glitch--one of my panelists cancelled last minute due to a health emergency--but everything else proceeded smoothly. It was well attended, the speakers were excellent, people were engaged, etc. I was very pleased. Grandma Betty and my aunt Ann came; it was really fun to have them there and I was able to introduce them to some of my favorite professors and classmates.

Remember the Con Law professor who used to call on me all the time first year? Am not sure if I ever succeeded in convincing him that I have half a brain, and even if I did I was exposed yesterday as a total poser. I was leaning against a railing apparently listening intently to one of the speakers--as it happened, one of the best speakers I had scheduled for the day. Despite appearing to be completely absorbed in the talk, my brain was doing this: "Who has the cordless microphone right now ... How can I get those people to quiet down downstairs ... The Judge needs more water ... someone should refill that pitcher ... I should make that peanut tofu stir-fry this weekend ... I hope Laura got Prof. B returned to the airport on time ... Oh man, that fat guy is invading grandma's personal space ... " The Con Law prof--who also happens to be our Law Review advisor--sidled up next to me as I engaged in this mental listmaking/fretting. After about fifteen minutes, he turned to me and whispered: "What is he talking about right now?" Eff! Was this a test? I just looked at him and said, "I have no idea." He smiled and (condescendingly? possibly empathetically) patted me on the back.

After wrapping up the symposium stuff, I went to Ann's for a nice dinner with my grandparents and sweet little cousins. It felt great to be wrapped up in such a warm and welcoming place with family. I went home and felt like I could sleep for days.

A handful of my panelists are still in town so I'm sitting here at the coffeeshop with my phone next to me in case I need to respond to any emergencies. It should be a relaxing weekend, with most of the symposium stuff behind me. Going to a baby shower for sister Kate this afternoon. Tomorrow Shad and I are going to see The Decemberists at First Ave with a friend from work. Other than this, I plan to sit around and read. I'm still plodding my way through Zadie Smith's On Beauty. I'm reading two other books at the same time, so that might explain the slow progress, but I'm just not getting into it. It's not propelling me forward. But I'm a book-finisher and an optimist so I'll keep working through it and hope it gets better.