Sitting around

I’m sitting around in my Tulsa hotel room. Leaving not only means that I have to get dressed and go out into the heat but also that I have to go back to the daily to-dos.

The problem with long road trips is that there are very long spaces for thinking and the ideas that were percolating throughout the conference get insistent in the bubbling out of the percolating and making a mess of the kitchen kind of way.

I was relatively happy doing ReadWriteThink work, but conferences make me question things. So many things came up that I want to research and write about—but when? Nothing counts. In fact some things need disclaimers to make sure no one confuses private rambling with official work for NCTE. The thing is that I don’t care so much that it counts, but I don’t have time to work on things other than work recently. I can’t even get my house cleaned up. How on earth would I find time to do that research project I talked briefly with Cindy about? I need to be an independently wealthy scholar.

Instead, I’m going to have to put on pants, as Oklahoma and Missouri are not clothing-optional states, and get myself on the road.