LY #115 Conventional This and That

Kake at the lecture she didn't actually use

Kake falling for the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

Here are some observations of the convention at Anaheim.

It was held in a resort area.  This was great for folks with kids and others like myself who really wanted to go to Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure.  It wasn't so great for graduate students traveling on a budget.  There were no real grocery stores within walking distance.  Food at the Hilton was overpriced. 

Ah, food at the Hilton.  The convention lunch was terrific -- a small Romaine heart with tomato and grapes, a main dish of very nice salmon over a risotto and a totally scrumptious dessert of chocolate moose with raspberries and a raspberry drizzle.  Someone sent pictures of the dessert to her Instagram site but I forget who.

On the other hand, I had one of the worst breakfasts ever at the Hilton -- $20 for coffee, two eggs, 2 slices bacon, and a handful of Sysco systems reconstituted potato forms overcooked in burnt grease.  Yuck. 

The keynote speaker, George Lakoff, was a smart man who kept talking about how smart he was and quoting himself but what was more annoying was his unquestioned assumption that everyone at the convention was a liberal.  His presentation was more like an off the cuff lecture than a keynote speech.  He also made a Jewish joke. He also went over time, even though he was given an hour.

This convention seemed to have many more people of color than I remember of conventions past.  I appreciated the growth of "diversity."  The service staff of the hotel, as of almost all hotels in which past conventions have taken place, was largely made up of people of color.  It always seemed somewhat amusing to me to hear white middle class (usually) male leftie academics spouting off about race, class, gender while being waited on by servers of a different color, sex, and class.

The Hilton bar only had three single malt whiskies and none of them from Islay or the Islands.

Some folks expressed trouble believing that I would really retire and assumed they'd see me next year in Spokane:  "You don't have to retire from WSCA just because you stop teaching."  Well, I made it a point to register for the convention as a non-member.  And the funny thing was that it cost me $10 to be a non-member (and NOT get the journal) than it would have cost me to register as a member.  But you know what?  I really don't want the journal.  It's a good one and sometimes a great one but it's still an academic journal and not The New Yorker.

I did not attend one panel that had everyone on it who was supposed to be there.  This absenteeism would not have happened "back in the day."  My buddy Alexis thinks this started happening after the downturn in 2008.  Not enough money now.  And perhaps the newer generation just doesn't think that it's important to be where you say you're going to be.  Or maybe convention papers don't count anymore.