Media Consumed 2023

I really like the format I used for 2022, so I'm just gonna continue on with that for now.

250 Books | Six Cities Visited | 48 Comics | Four Concerts and the Like | Five Conferences and Festivals | 107 Movies | Four Museums and Landmarks | Twelve Readings and Talks | 0 Sports Matches | Six Theatre Productions | 848 TV Episodes

LET'S. EFFIN. GO.

Media Consumed 2022

What things have I kept count of this year?

316 Books | 21 Cities Visited | 27 Comics | Two Concerts (ish) | 6 Conferences and Festivals | 77 Movies | 21 Museums and Cultural/Historic Sites | 15 Readings and Talks | 1 Sports Match | 6 Theatre Productions | 801 TV Episodes

Could You Repeat That? CXCV: Quarantined Globetrotter Edition

Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake, Alexis Hall
Oh God. Oh help. He was doing kindness at her. Rosaline couldn't cope with people doing kindness at her. It made her feel like she'd shoplifted a lipstick. Except the lipstick was made of time and emotional energy.

Give Unto Others, Donna Leon
'I've always thought the people who want to help save the world are probably the worst people to be in charge of a charity.'

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, Lauren Willig
"Look, if it makes you feel better, I promise to do a very bad job hiding your body."

Boyfriend Material, Alexis Hall
This was why relationships sucked: they made you need shit you'd been perfectly happy not needing. And then they took them away.

Sea of Tranquility, Emily St John Mandel
There's a low-level, specific pain in having to accept that putting up with you requires a certain generosity of spirit in your loved ones.

The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever, Julia Quinn
Good God, the butler had punched him in the jaw. Stunned, Turner stroked his tender flesh. "Are you mad?"
"Not at all, my lord. I take great pride in my work."

Upright Women Wanted, Sarah Gailey
She knew that they weren't an oasis--no cool shade or sweet water was waiting for her there. But they weren't a mirage, either, and that hope felt like just enough to fit in her fists.

A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking, T Kingfisher
I wondered if having a baker save the city would have any political repercussions.

Across the Green Grass Fields, Seanan McGuire
"Civilized people don't know how to listen," said Gristle.
"All their magic goes into the places they believe it belongs."



Calculated Risks, Seanan McGuire
"It's nice how you remember dissecting cuckoos without remembering me," I said mildly. "It makes me feel very special and not at all like you're going to slit my throat as soon as I fall asleep."

Media Consumed: Quarantined Globetrotter Edition (May/June 2022)

So yeah, I went on a long-planned vacation and spent half of it quarantined in Casablanca! Which was fun in its own right, if extremely repetitive. More soon!

Books: 10
Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake, Alexis Hall
Give Unto Others, Donna Leon
The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, Lauren Willig
Boyfriend Material, Alexis Hall
Sea of Tranquility, Emily St John Mandel
The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever, Julia Quinn
Upright Women Wanted, Sarah Gailey
A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking, T Kingfisher
Across the Green Grass Fields, Seanan McGuire
Calculated Risks, Seanan McGuire


Cities Visited: 9 (five countries)
Switzerland: Zurich (airport)
Portugal: Lisbon (including airport), Evora
Spain: Seville, Cordoba, Granada, Malaga (airport)
Morocco: Casablanca (including airport), Fes
Canada: Montreal (airport)

Cities I Missed Due to Quarantine: 6
Morocco: Rabat, Marrakech (including airport)
Spain: Madrid, Toledo, Barcelona (including airport)
Germany: Munich (airport)

Movies: 5
Galaxy Quest (United Airlines)
Ghostbusters Afterlife (United Airlines)
Ron's Gone Wrong (United Airlines)
Dog (Air Canada)
Moneyball (Air Canada)

TV: 30 episodes
The Legend of Vox Machina 1.03-1.12
Nora From Queens 2.01-2.03
Obi-Wan Kenobi 1.01, 1.02
Selena + Chef 1.01-1.04
Take Out with Lisa Ling (HBO) 1.01-1.03
WandaVision 1.01-1.09


I think it's safe to say I wouldn't have read as many books, at least, if I hadn't spent six days confined to one hotel room. But still!

2019 by the Numbers

Books Read: 190
Weirdly, Goodreads said I read 200 books, so just as last year, this may remain a mystery.
I'm listing the authors, for a bit of brevity.
Mia Marshall, Charlie N Holmberg, Paul Krueger, Caitlin Doughty, Zoraoida Corova, Nicole Ponseca & Miguel Trinidad, Valeria Luiselli, Kevin Kwan, Robert Jordan, Seanan McGuire, Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi, Nicola Griffith, Louise Penny, Elaine Castillo, Ling Ma, Ben H Winters, Megan Whalen Turner, Tommy Orange, Robin McKinley, Tana French, Carlo Sernaglia and Julia Turshen, Sarah J Maas, Suzanne Goin with Teri Gelber, Malka Older, Anita Lo, George RR Martin, Diane Morgan, Justina Ireland, Nafkote Tamirat, Jenn Lyons, Uzodinma Iweala, Tom Rachman, Anna Burns, Heidi Sopinka, Oyinkan Braithwaite, Esi Edugyan, Richard Powers, Deborah Harkness, Laurie R King, Genevieve Cogman, Emily XR Pan, Tomi Adeyemi, Kelly Thompson, Jaida Jones & Danielle Bennett, Malinda Lo, Donna Leon, Curtis C Chen et al, Sarah Perry, Dhonielle Clayton, Hannu Rajaniemi, Zen Cho, Mary Robinette Kowal, Elisabeth Cohen, Nicole Kornher-Stace, Joseph Fink, Marcela Valladolid, Elizabeth George, Jeff Parker, Caitlin Starling, Anissa Helou, Bill Willingham, Elizabeth Acevedo, Yoon Ha Lee, Brian Switek, Faith Erin Hicks, Neil Gaiman, Adam Johnson, G Willow Wilson, Blake Crouch, Holly Black, Christopher Kimball, Elizabeth McCracken, Lonely Planet, Will Hill, Naomi Novik, Sarah Porter, Pat Barker, Daniel Jose Older, Jon Ronson, Thi Bui, NK Jemisin, Fareed Zakaria, Amin Maalouf, Gabriela Camara, Rachel Khoo, SA Chakraborty, Leigh Bardugo, Mira Grant, Elisa Goldstein et al, Fonda Lee, Rachel Caine, Alastair Reynolds, Joakim Pamkvist, VE Schwab, Sarah Gailey, Edna Lewis, Margaret Owen, Erin A Chang, Charles Soule, Struan Stevenson, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Carla Lalli Music, Marie Lu, Susan Meissner, Michelle Ruiz Kell, Lisa A Nichols, Jennifer Nagel, Sady Doyle, Geraldine Brooks, Rebecca Traister, Maggie Stiefvater, Jennifer Givhan, Rakhee Yadav, Alana Kysar, Xuan Juliana Wang, LL McKinney, Philip Pullman, Harriet A Washington, Tom King et al, Ivan Orkin and Chris Ying, Mackenzi Lee, Becky Chambers, Sally Rooney, Namwali Serpell, Joseph Harris, Joel Spring Martin Morales, Neil Gaiman & P Craig Russell, Jenny Linford, VE Schwab, Laila Lalami, RF Kuang, Maria Gainza, Tea Obrecht, Claire Lombardo, Gail Simone, Rebecca Solnit, Paula Volksy, Elvia Wilk, Stacy M Perryman-Clark & Collin Lamont Craig, Sharon Kay Penman, Sally McKenny, Sue Burke, Joel Shepherd, Erik Larson, Anne Griffin, Amanda Cohen, Meghan Scott Molin.

You can read snippets from every book I've read this year here.

Cities Visited: 14
Memphis, TN
Pittsburgh, PA
Nashville, TN
Tampa, FL
East Lansing, MI
Bangkok, Thailand
Hong Kong
Baltimore, MD
Dallas, TX
Kansas City, MO
DeKalb, IL
Houston, TX
Lubbock, TX
Riverside, CA

Concerts/Performances Attended: 11
Kelly Clarkson, with Brynn Cartelli and Kelsea Ballerini supporting
Carrie Underwood, with Runaway Jane and Maddie & Tae supporting
Beale Street Music Festival (Everclear, Rodrigo y Gabriela, 6lack, Cardi B)
Amanda Palmer
Hannah Gadsby (comedy)
Hamilton (theatre)
Carly Rae Jepsen, with Phoebe Ryan supporting
Mary J Blige & Nas
Common, with Mumu Fresh supporting
Trevor Noah (comedy)
Switchfoot

Conferences Attended: 5
Association of Teachers of Technical Writing 2019 in Pittsburgh
Conference on College Composition and Communication 2019 in Pittsburgh
AP Language Reading in Tampa
Computers & Writing in East Lansing
Council of Writing Program Administrators in Baltimore

Festivals/Readings/Lectures: 5
Arkansas Literary Festival (Charles J Shields, Brantley Hargrove, Jericho Brown, Geffrey Davis, Elizabeth Minchilli, Dorie Greenspan, Arkady Martine, Marina Lostetter, Pitchaya Sudbanthad, Maurice Carlos Ruffin)
Thi Bui reading @ HSU
Emily Roberson reading @ Wordsworth Books
Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival
Hillary Clinton & Chelsea Clinton reading @ University of Houston

Movies Watched: 129
Bird Box, Peppermint, Eight Grade, BelCanto, Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse, Split, Blockers, Aquaman, Mary Poppins Returns, Roma, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Vice, On the Basis of Sex, Mary Queen of Scots, Antiquities, The Wife, If Beale Street Could Talk, The Front Runner, At Eternity's Gate, The Hate U Give, Bad Times at the El Royale, Green Book, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Sorry to Bother You, Minding the Gap, Of Fathers and Sons, Nobody's Fool, Shoplifters, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Hale County This Morning This Evening, Robin Hood, Fighting with My Family, What Men Want, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Mortal Engines, Operation Finale, A Private War, Instant Family, Free Solo, Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse AU, The Mercy, The Runaways, Second Act, Gloria Bell, Bumblebee, Shazam!, Welcome to Marwen, The Kid Who Would Be King, Glass, Against the Clock, Hellboy, Avengers: Infinity War, Justice League vs the Fatal Five, Avengers: Endgame, The Quake, Miss Bala, Little, Breakthrough, Long Shot, Pokemon: Detective Pikachu, Aladdin, Fighting with My Family, Paddington, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Five Feet Apart, Captive State, Late Night, Hotel Mumbai, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Spiderman: Far From Home, Alita Battle Angel, Mission: Impossible, Batman Returns, Twenty-fifth Hour, Grave of the Fireflies, The Best of Enemies, Fantastic Four, Ratatouille, Dreamgirls, Little Woods, Toy Story 4, Men in Black: International, Yesterday, The Farewell, Always Be My Maybe, Tolkien, The Sun is Also a Star, The Hustle, Crazy Rich Asians, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Rocketman, Booksmart, Amazing Grace, The Biggest Little Farm, Dark Phoenix, Hustlers, Ad Astra, Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw, Shaft, Downton Abbey, Judy, China Love, Varda by Agnes, Well Groomed, Ernie & Joe: Crisis Cops, Nothing Fancy, Meeting Gorbachev, Pizza A Love Story, Made in Boise, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, Terminator: Dark Fate, Harriet, Avengers: Endgame, Brian Banks, Charlie's Angels, Ford v Ferrari, Queen & Slim, Black Panther, Official Secrets, Blinded By the Light, Where'd You Go Bernadette?, The Goldfinch, Dora and the Lost City of Gold, Don't Let Go (Relive), Wit, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Topkapi, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Wars: The Last Jedi

You can see all the mini-reviews here.

TV
So I once again forgot to keep count of all the episodes I watched this year, but I CAN tell you which TV shows I binged from beginning to end.

• Game of Thrones (to prep for the last season, SIGH)
• The Magicians
• Criminal Minds and its two spin-offs
• Supernatural

And I'm about four seasons into Cold Case right now. NOTHING CAN STOP ME.

So, those are the numbers for 2019. Here's to 2020!

Media Consumed in 2017

So I've had this sitting in a text file for two months. Oops.

Academic Conferences: 4
ATTW, CCCC, C&W, CWPA

Books: 194
Though my Goodreads count is only slightly over 125, so I'm giving this count a bit of sideeye. How is Goodreads measuring these things? Have I been meeting my reading challenges all along, but been misinformed by the system? Ah, well.

Comics: 90 individual issues (I count graphic novels under books)

Concerts: 8
The Lumineers, Leslie Odom Jr, George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic, Shawn Mendes (w/ Charlie Puth supporting), Fall Out Boy (w/ Jaden Smith and Blackbear opening), Bruno Mars (w/ Jorja Smith opening), Regina Spektor, Lady Gaga

Cooking Classes/Demos: 21
Craft/Floral Classes: 8
I will miss Ames and Iowa State so much. So, so, so much.

Festivals: 2
Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival 2017, Riverside Festival of Lights 2017

Lectures and Readings: 13
Chuck D, Kekla Magoon, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Lee Mun Wah, Black Light Butterflies (entymology lecture), Keisha Blaine, John Darnielle, Curtis Chin, David Anthony Durham & Benjamin Percy, Taylor Broby, Anne Curzan, Toni Phinisey-Webber (re: Little Rock Central High School), Jon Ronson

Movies: 140
Last year I only watched 14 movies, so I vowed to watch more. And...yup. Totally did. Special shout-outs to AMC's annual Oscar nominee specials and the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival.

Museums & Landmarks: 13
Brunnier Art Gallery, Octagon Gallery, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Mazza Museum of Children's Literature, Living History Farms, Tennessee Riverboat Cruise (Knoxville), Women's Basketball Hall of Fame (Knoxville), Frist Center for the Visual Arts (Nashville), ESSE Museum, Witt Stephens Jr Central Arkansas Nature Center, Arkansas Art Center, Saint Louis Art Museum, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

New Restaurants: 53
Thanks to conferences (Portland, Findlay, Knoxville), a wedding reception (Chicagoland), a few concerts/road trips (Minneapolis, Nashville, St Louis, Kansas City, Dallas), moving to another state (Arkadelphia, Little Rock, Hot Springs), and a couple of extra-long visits to California!

Theatre: 26
Messiah on the Frigidaire, Akeelah and the Bee, The Vagina Monologues, Newsies, Allegiance, Our Antigone, The Bee's Tease, The Importance of Being Earnest, Good Night Desdemona Good Morning Juliet, Citizen by Claudia Rankine, Little Women, Annie, Fun Home, Other Desert Cities, Trashion Show, Tempest, Happy Days, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, HIR, Greater Tuna, I Am Emily Doe, Circle Mirror Transformation, Night of the Iguana, The Mousetrap, HSU Directing Class Showcase, Corona Dance Academy Winter 2017 recitals

TV Episodes: 632
This is the first year I've kept track of how many episodes of television I've watched. This is a big number, but it's also probably way less than I've watched in previous years--my shift to watching more movies meant, obviously, that TV was edged out a bit. Oh, and for the record, I also watched a ton of The Daily Show (I love Trevor Noah deeply), Late Night with Seth Meyers, and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, but since I generally skip the interview portions of the shows, I opted not to count those here.

And that's officially a wrap for 2017!

2016: By the Numbers

I've done quite a bit this year! My habit for the past few years has been to keep track of these things monthly, but somewhere in the middle of the summer, I lost track of things. This is about the best that I can do in reconstruction--I'll be a bit more organized in the year to come (I hope).

Academic Conferences Attended: 6
Iowa State Conference on Race and Ethnicity, Ames, IA (20160303-04)
Association of Teachers of Technical Writing, Houston, TX (20160406)
Conference on College Composition and Communication, Houston, TX (20160407-09)
Computers and Writing, Rochester, NY (20160519-22)
Council of Writing Program Administrators, Raleigh, NC (20160714-17)
International Writing Centers Association, Denver, CO (20161013-16)

Books Read:
102, according to GoodReads. A good number, except that I ambitiously set my reading challenge to 200. LOL.

Comics Read: Not Enough
Princess Leia, Saga, Black Panther (not counting graphic novels)
I need to increase my consumption here--I've got batches of comics in my Marvel/Comixology/Dark Horse accounts. I just need to read and log them more consistently.

Concerts Attended: 6
Adele (St. Paul, MN, 20160705)
Nico & Vinz (Ames, IA, 21060825)
Switchfoot & Relient K (Clive, IA, 20160921)
Grace Potter (Des Moines, IA, 20160929)
Beyonce (Nashville, TN, 20161002)
Carrie Underwood (Des Moines, IA, 20161007)

Cooking Classes/Demos: 17
Quinoa (Cooks Emporium, 20160128)
Pressure Cookers (CE, 20160220)
A Taste of Egypt (CE, 20160227)
Turkey Roulades & Lemon Cupcakes (CE, 20160305)
Risotto Croquettes (Wheatsfield Co-op, 20160329)
Versatile Goat Cheese (WC, 20160426)
Chicken Mole (CE, 20160430)
Cooking with Cast Iron (Williams-Sonoma, 20160626)
Fermented Food & Kombucha (WC, 20160809)
Spiralizer Favorites (W-S, 20160821)
Natural Fermented Pickles (CE, 20160903)
Nordic Waffles (CE, 20161008)
Thanksgiving Side Dishes (CE, 20161112)
Paella (CE, 20161119)
Seven Cheese Gougere (CE, 20161126)
Holiday Cookies (CE, 20161203)
Holiday Savory Snacks (CE, 20161210)

Craft/Movement Classes: 23
Copper hoop earrings & pendant (The Workspace, 20160114)
Felted wool mittens (TW, 20160121 + 27)
Silver & copper rings (TW, 201602)
Resin Jewelry (TW, 20160224, 20160302)
Boho Wall Hanging (TW, 20160801)
Fused Glass Pendants (TW, 20160829)
Inked Coasters (TW, 20160831)
Knitting (TW, 201609)
Mat-cutting (TW, 20161006)
Dia de los Muertos Skulls (TW, 20161008)
Crochet (TW, 201610)
Sugar Skull Embroidery (TW, 20161020)
Silk Painting (TW, 20161029)
Delsarte: Body Language and the Artist (TW, 20161105)
Delsarte: And a Torso Even More So (TW, 20161105)
Delsarte: Standing Up for Your Art (TW, 20161105)
O'Keeffe Oil Painting (Reiman Gardens, 20161107)
Fused Glass Ornaments (TW, 20161109)
Frugal Florals (RG, 20161116)
Balloon Crafts (RG, 20161117)
Miniatures (RG, 20161120)
Wreath-Making (RG, 20161130)
Etched Glass Ornaments (TW, 20161207)

Festivals Attended: 2
Define American Festival, Des Moines, IA
Festival of Cheese, Des Moines, IA (20160730)

Lectures and Readings Attended: 7
Alisha Gordon, "The Fierce Urgency of Now" (20160121)
Reshma Saujani, "Women Who Don't Wait in Line" (20160128)
Marion Blumenthal Lazan, "My Holocaust Story" (20160208)
Cheryl Strayed (20160915)
Jennifer Knox + Iowa Bird of Mouth (20160916)
Gloria Steinem (20161011)
Margaret Atwood (20161101)

Movies Watched: 14
Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (DVD)
Jurassic World (DVD)
A Better Life (film festival)
Don't Tell Anyone (film festival)
The Muslims Are Coming! (film festival)
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies [theatre]
Cinderella (2015) [DVD]
The Grand Budapest Hotel [streaming]
Hector and the Search for Happiness (streaming)
Captain America: Civil War (theatre)
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (streaming)
Edge of Tomorrow (DVD)
Loving (theatre)
Rogue One (theatre)

Museums & Landmarks Visited: 12
Chocolate Tour of Chicago (BestTours.com, 20160507)
Strong Museum of Play, Rochester, NY (20160522)
Design Exchange, Toronto, ON (20160524)
Aga Khan Museum of Islamic Art, Toronto, ON (20160525)
Peel Art Gallery and Museum, Brampton, ON (20160527)
Niagara & Horseshoe Falls (20160528)
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY (20160529)
Contemporary Art Museum in Raleigh (20160715)
Pappajohn Sculpture Park, Des Moines, IA (20160730)
Olive & Sinclair Chocolate Factory Tour, Nashville, TN (20161001)
Corsair Distillery tour, Nashville, TN (20161002)
Broad Contemporary Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (20161227)

New Restaurants Visited: 43
The Mission Inn (Riverside)
Ninfa's (Houston)
1600 Bar + Grille (Houston)
Calabash Island Eats (Houston)
Volare (Chicago)
Doc B's Fresh Kitchen (Chicago)
Quartino's (Chicago)
Yolk (Chicago)
The Owl House (Rochester)
Senbazuru Sushi Bar (Richmond Hill)
Sushi Inn (Toronto)
Bohemia (Barrie)
Anchor Bar (Buffalo)
Table 128 (Clive)
Blue Tomato Kitchen (Des Moines)
Bubba - Southern Comforts (Des Moines)
Prime (Des Moines)
Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream (Cleveland)
Fran's Restaurant (Toronto)
Spoon River (Minneapolis)
Izzy's (Minneapolis)
Birchwood Cafe (Minneapolis)
Hell's Kitchen (Minneapolis)
Bluestem Bar (Minneapolis)
Little Octopus (Nashville)
Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream (Nashville)
Biscuit Love (Nashville)
Las Paletas (Nashville)
Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream (Nashville farmers' market)
Bolton's Spicy Chicken & Fish (Nashville)
Five Daughters Bakery (Nashville)
Franklin Juice Company (Nashville)
Green Fine Salad Co. (Denver)
Guard and Grace (Denver)
Syrup (Denver)
Prospect's Urban Kitchen & Bar (Denver)
Range (Denver)
Goldfinch (Des Moines)
Thai Kitchen (Ames)
Porto's Bakery & Cafe (Glendale)
Komodo (Los Angeles)
Cascabel (Los Angeles)
Sam's Banh Thai (Riverside)

Road Trips Taken: 8
Lafayette, IN (20160312-18); Spring Break cooking
Chicago, IL (20160506-08); bachelorette weekend
Rochester, NY/Toronto, ON/Buffalo, NY (20160518-30); conference/visiting family/wedding
Pennsylvania & Cleveland, OH (20160701-03); wedding
Lafayette, IN (20160805-07)
Toronto, ON (20160909-11); wedding
Minneapolis, MN (20160924-25); theatre
Nashville, TN (20160930-1002); concert

Sports Attendance:
Rams vs. Forty-Niners (20161224)

Theatre Performances Attended: 10
Sweeney Todd, Minneapolis, MN (20160724)
[title of show], Ames, IA (20160923)
Lady and the Trump, Minneapolis, MN (20160924)
The 39 Steps, St. Cloud, MN (20160925)
Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play, Ames, IA (20161009)
Cabaret, Ames, IA (20161113)
Ugly Lies the Bone, Des Moines, IA (20161119)
November, Ames, IA (20161127)
Cirque Dreams: Holidaze, Ames, IA (20161201)
The King & I, Los Angeles, CA (20161228)

TV Watched:
A lot. (I meant to keep track of how many episodes I watched this year, but I lost track around June. But it's a lot.)

How to Plan for Conferences

For the Presentation:

1. If you've got an Apple, make sure to bring a dongle (AKA that thing that connects your laptop to a projector). Actually, bring one even if you don't have an Apple device. Ten minutes before panels begin, start calling out your rental rates.
   
   
2. If you're doing a presentation with sound, bring some speakers with you. Some easy-travel ones can be found at a decent price. For a cheaper price, you can get more awkward ones that you can bang around a bit.
   
   
3. Print out your outline (or whatever) before you leave wherever your workday printer lives. Don't rely on the hotel business center or the university printing lab. At the midnight before your presentation, they will both be either out of paper or out of toner. TRUST ME, I know.
   
   
4. Do you have a flash drive? Do you have two flash drives? Bring 'em.
   
   
5. Test your presentation materials in three different locations. If it's a video/slideshow/electronic thing, that means three different computers. If you're reading or consulting notes, then run through it in front of actual human people. Not only does this minimize technological problems during the presentation itself, it allows you to check your running time, and also discover which words you are bad at pronouncing.
   
   
6. Seriously, assume every single thing will go wrong, technologically. Mentally accept that you may have to freestyle for 10-15 minutes because an electromagnetic pulse has crashed all of civilization, but people still desperately want to hear your thoughts on pedagogy.
   
   
7. If you're in a panel with folks you know, don't forget to set a time limit for each piece. If you're in a panel with strangers, plan for about 10-12 minutes. Yes, your ideas are complex, but you also only have an hour or so. If there's plenty of time after everybody has given their talk, great! More time for Q&A.
   
   
8. Make sure you identify yourself, even if you were already introduced by the panel chair. And let people know that you are happy to share your materials if they want to follow up with you. Because, hey, you should be.

For Convention Center/Conference Room Survival:

1. It is either going to be too cold or too hot in the convention rooms. Plan your outfits as layers, not ensembles. (I have a shawl that I keep wadded up in the bottom of my purse.)
   
   
2. Always have an alternate plan. If you think that one panel in a smallish room sounds can't miss? Chances are fifty other people did, too.
   
   
3. Go to at least one panel where you know nothing about the topic.
   
   
4. Bring granola bars, because you might sleep in and miss breakfast. Or you might have panels you want to attend during lunch, and restaurants in convention centers are expensive. If you can manage it, I'd recommend dried fruit and/or a bunch of slightly-ripe bananas.
   
   
5. Bring a refillable water bottle, and if you're a caffeine addict, a traveling mug. They'll usually have water available, and if you also have access to coffee? You will want to fill up rather than wrangling flimsy disposable cups.
   
   
6. Bring a small paperback book, or a couple of text-heavy magazines. Yeah, conferences are for learning and networking, but doing it 24/7 will burn you out. If you have a spare ten minutes, sit in a quiet space and disconnect.
   
   
7. Bring a small bottle of the painkiller of your choice, and a handful of cough drops. Even if you don't need them, somebody will. (If you REALLY want to impress people: pack of Kleenex, a few bandaids, nail scissors, and tweezers.)
   
   
8. If you have business cards, have them handy--even if you're not a very networky person, somebody might ask you for contact information. You have smart things to say! People want access! (If you don't have business cards, I recommend Moo.com--they're a little pricier than Vistaprint, but you can do more fun things with graphics.)
   
   
9. Have mints or gum for after lunch (unless you have the energy to run back to your hotel room to brush your teeth). Also, check your teeth for spinach, etc. If you don't carry around a mirror, your phone probably has a camera you can use to the same effect.
   
   
10. Usually you can count on hotels and convention vendors to provide you with pens and notepaper, but bring a couple of your preferred pens, too. You won't regret it.
    
    
11. Carry your phone/laptop/tablet charger around with you. At all times. When you enter a new room, scope out the available outlets. You may need them, and you'll need to get to them discreetly.

For Your Tourist/Foodie Times:

1. Check out the menus of the restaurants within/closest to the conference site. Check when they're open, as well. If you get caught up in a conversation with an old friend or a new colleague, you can then easily suggest a place to continue without having to worry about dietary restrictions or getting lost or busting your budget.
   
   
2. If you like checking out local landmarks or doing touristy things, the convention center or conference planners probably have a list of suggestions, as well as how to get to them. You will probably have to miss out on 2-3 hours of conference time (there's no quick popping down the block).
   
   
3. Whether you have meals provided, or if you are doing the "find something nearby" food plan, resign yourself to the fact that you will likely be presented with food you aren't super-excited about. As long as you're not allergic to it, you will survive it (or survive by going a bit food-light, depending on the situation). Make a deal with yourself: pick one meal where you won't compromise. (Breakfast if you're a morning person, or dinner if you make reservations in advance.) Because, sure, you hate those weird sticky danishes that you always get stuck with at the continental breakfast, but BY GOD, you are having yourself some hash and French toast tomorrow.

2014 in Numbers

So in 2014, lots of important stuff happened. The top three: I finished my dissertation and successfully defended it, I moved to Iowa State to begin as Assistant Director of the Writing and Media Center, and I was awarded my Ph.D. in English: Rhetoric and Composition. Along the way, I survived the job market gauntlet, had lots of emotions, and did some crazy traveling.

I also consumed a lot of media, which is detailed below. As mentioned in my previous post, I read 101 books. I usually keep track of comics I've read, games I've played, and TV I've watched, too, but that sort of got away from me this summer. Ah, well. Let's just say it was a lot and leave it at that.

Concerts: 9

• HEAVning of Whimsy (talent show) [03 April 2014]
• Buddy [19 September 2014]
• Meiko [19 September 2014]
• Butch Walker [18 October 2014]
• Ryan Adams [18 October 2014]
• Jenny Scheinman [21 October 2014]
• Ani DiFranco [21 October 2014]
• Leslie DiNicola [14 November 2014]
• Anna Nalick [14 November 2014]

Conferences and Conventions: 7

• 129th Modern Language Association Convention, Chicago [9-12 January 2014]
• Association of Teachers of Technical Writing, Indianapolis [19 March 2014]
• Conference on College Composition and Communication, Indianapolis [20-23 March 2014]
• Advance Placement Scoring in Louisville, KY [9-15 June 2014]
• Council of Writing Program Administrators Conference, Normal, IL [17-19 July 2014]
• International Writing Centers Association/National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing, Orlando, FL [30 October - 01 November, 2014]
• National Council of Teachers of English 2014, Washington, DC [20-23 November 2014]

Festivals: 1

• International Food & Wine Festival @ Epcot Center [01 November 2014]

Lectures and Readings: 9

• Laverne Cox, hosted by Purdue's LGBTQ Center [26 March 2014]
• Zadie Smith at Purdue's Literary Awards [17 April 2014]
• Kelsey Timmerman, "WHERE Am I Wearing?" [02 September 2014]
• Michio Kaku, "How Science Will Revolutionize Business, Medicine, Jobs, and Life" [19 September 2014]
• "The Symbolism of the Sand Mandala," Monks of the Drepung Loseling Monastery [23 September 2014]
• Juan Battle, "Closets are for Clothes: Being LGBT in Black America" [29 September 2014]
• Jane Smiley, "Writing About Iowa: A Conversation with Jane Smiley" [06 October 2014]
• Sanjaya Rajaram, "In the Footsteps of Normal Borlaug: The Golden Years of Wheat Production" [13 October 2014]
• Sam Taylor, "Politically Engaged Poetry for the 21st Century" [06 November 2014]

MOOCs Completed: 2

• Moralities of Everyday Life, Paul Bloom, Yale, Coursera
• The Art of Poetry, Robert Pinsky, Boston University, EdX

Movies: 28

• Pacific Rim (DVD)
• Her (theatre)
• Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (theatre)
• Vampire Academy (theatre)
• Much Ado About Nothing (DVD)
• Veronica Mars (streaming & theatre)
• Captain America 2: Winter Soldier (theatre)
• Edge of Tomorrow (theatre)
• Divergent (theatre, twice)
• Megashark vs. Octopus (DVD)
• Frozen (DVD)
• Godzilla (theatre)
• X-Men: Days of the Future Past (theatre, twice)
• Guardians of the Galaxy (theatre, thrice)
• Don Jon (streaming)
• The LEGO Movie (streaming)
• Rise of the Planet of the Apes (DVD)
• Lucy (theatre)
• The Giver (theatre)
• Snowpiercer (streaming)
• The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (theatre, twice)
• Annie (theatre)

Theatre: 4

• Hamlet, The Acting Company [29 March 2014]
• Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead, The Acting Company [30 March 2014]
• West Side Story, Troika Entertainment [24 April 2014]
• "An Evening with Colin and Brad," Colin Mochrie & Brad Sherwood [26 October 2014]

Not a bad year.

AP Reading 2014: Louisville, Day One

So far, so good. The drive from Lafayette to Louisville is a pretty simple one: just stay on I-65 until you get to Kentucky. I arrived around 4 PM or so, and then spent the next 20 minutes circling the block around the hotel because I couldn't find their parking. I ended up in the public museum- and convention center-parking, which handily turned out to be adjacent to my hotel, anyway. Hooray! I checked in and found my room (my assigned roommate hadn't arrived yet), spectacular view and all.


Y HALO THAR, RIVER

Then I set out to find the Kentucky International Convention Center so I could register and get our free dinner, and ended up walking seven blocks down the wrong street. Luckily, it was also Museum Row or something, because I passed tons of galleries and public art before I had to turn back.


The Louisville Slugger Museum, featuring a giant baseball bat, natch.


Oh, just a faux-Michaelangelo's David, hangin' out.

The convention center was actually just two blocks down from the hotel--I had been there once before, for CCCC a few years ago. Four years ago? Maybe. I got my name badge, a backpack, and a water bottle, which is fancier swag than I expected. Then on to the free dinner, which is the set-up for all our free meals. Cavernous room, food catered with a gigantic group in mind, lots of tables and people sitting sort of awkwardly with strangers. All our free meals will be like this, which isn't so bad. There was prime rib to go along with our salad, corn, chicken casserole and rolls. (There was a separate buffet for vegetarians and vegans.) I ended up sitting at a table next to three people who knew each other, and had been doing this for a while. Word on the street is, Lang is moving to Kansas City next year. The Lit people at my table are hoping to get grouped with the French next year, 'cause it's fun to hear them talking in French.

This is the fun hierarchy of introductions at AP Scoring summer camp: Are you Lang or Lit? What test did you get? What question are you doing? What's your assigned table? (Rumor has it that Lang Operational Question #2 is rhetorical analysis. I'm Q1, though--some people look up their question beforehand, but I guess I'll get to be surprised.)

I finished dinner around 6, so I headed out and wandered down a couple of streets nearby, looking for interesting things. After stopping at one restaurant and not being addressed by anybody (it was super busy there), then two other places that were totally closed, I looked to the left and saw an office-type building and a sign for Milkwood, a restaurant downstairs. I walked in, and the two host ladies brightened at me. "I'm just wandering around looking for a place to drink," I told them, and they directed me right to the bar.

Allison, the bartender, talked to me about local brews and when I asked her about a particular dessert, she shook her head and told me the best one was the sorghum & grits ice cream. So I got that, and IT WAS AMAZING.


NOM NOM NOM

Housemade ice cream (sorghum flavor, I assume), scooped over coconut crumble, topped with coffee syrup, fresh berries, and charred croissant slices. It is, I swear to you, one of the best desserts I have ever had. Allison was also super friendly, talking with me and a couple of other folks at the bar about the kitchen and all. I ended up buying an autographed copy of Smoke and Pickles, which was authored by the founding chef, Edward Lee. But seriously, y'all. This little restaurant is amazing. I am going to go there again, maybe twice.

Anyway, after I was done with my ice cream, I headed back to the hotel. My roommate, a lovely older lady named Joan, arrived around 7:30 PM or so--she'd driven up from Atlanta with a couple of friends. We divvied up territory very congenially, and then did our unpacking. I read the preface to the cookbook (it's excellent writing), and Joan asked me if I wanted to go explore the hotel with her. Since I'd done a fair amount of walking already, I declined. Plus, blogging to do!

I discovered the room has free wireless--I thought I'd have to pay for it--so blogging was in order. I had been thinking I'd go find a place to sit and read a while, but it turns out I get HBO in this hotel room. I think I'll watch some of the terror before my roommate comes back from her exploration.

T-Mobil Hotspots: Convenience or Temptation?

I am sitting in Airport Munich, waiting for my departure info to pop up on the monitor. Since I'm just in Geneva for the weekend, I opted to bring a small carry-on duffel instead of check a small suitcase. This has limited my mobility somewhat.

In other news, the airport in Wrocław (AKA Mikołaj Kopernik airport) is two hours away from my town, and my flight was at 0715, so I (and my host/volunteer chauffeur) woke before 0300 in order to arrive in a timely fashion. I have been awake for more than six hours. WHAT. And for some reason, I can never sleep on planes, so I spent the flight from Poland to Germany staring at the European Wall Street Journal, trying to understand corporate news via osmosis.

While waiting in line at the duty-free shop, I listened to an American woman express surprise that the cashier expected her to have her boarding pass on hand. "I didn't think I'd need a ticket just to buy a Sprite," she exclaimed. Which...what? I mean, for the purchase, perhaps I understand her confusion, but isn't always having your boarding pass while in an airport standard procedure nowadays? Strange.

I packed two boxes of chocolate and a lamb made out of sugar, as a gift to my cousins/hosts in Geneva. I am fully aware of the irony in bringing chocolate to Switzerland, but I take comfort in knowing the lamb was manufactured in Poland.

NEED MOAR COFFEE.