Selling Sno-Cones at the Beach

thinking about working

Back from Chicago since Saturday night. The conference was much more enjoyable than expected: known scholars were open and friendly; my own colleagues had time for me; and the sessions were, on average, not too bad. They were not filled with startling insights, but the purpose seems to be to do something relatively eye-catching, with a provocative title (or just have a provocative title for boring ol' research) and then mainly to network.

(Did I mention I hate networking? But I did it, however awkwardly, and have a fistful of biz cards to follow up on.)

The weather was warm and we had two days of light sunshine, during which we walked around and took in the unbelievable architectural spectacle that is Chicago. Makes Mpls look like a hick town and Boston like a has-been. What I really liked was 1) the craft of the buildings; and 2) the ensemble. The row of buildings lining Michigan Avenue, for example, is spectacular in detail and fit.

It reminds me that I got out of landscape architecture and then dropped out of architectural school because the focus on star buildings really bothered me. A great city can have a couple of stars, sure, but if every building is trying to be a star, there's no urbanism there, just a collection of wannabes. With architects all trying to make a name for themselves, there's little appreciation for the fill-in buildings that respect what is already there, function properly, and contribute to the urban environment without saying, "hey, look at me! Look how different and trendy I am!" (Like the Thompson Center: what an excrescence.)

I'd go back in a heartbeat, and spend maybe about a week doing architectural tours and seeing the museums and just soaking up the buzz.

Meanwhile, back to dull reality. We lazed on Sunday, and did a few errands on Monday but otherwise lazed. Today we really have to get back to biz. I have grading, the last of the grant applications, and IRB clearances to work on. I am also trying to review Polish every day in order to solidify the grammar I never "got" and to build vocabulary. Turns out that if I had really learned everything I should have, my vocabulary would be quite large - but the quizzes mainly draw on the obvious words, and so I've gotten lazy.

And, oh yeah, my dissertation. Right.

Posted by otto0114 at March 14, 2006 11:31 AM