Dinner & Academics

Last night we had a fabulous dinner of salmon steaks, pasta, and bread & cheese. Nick, one of the students here has a flair for cooking, offered to make a communal dinner for everyone. He went to the local grocery store (a few of us tagged along) bought everything for dinner and we divided up the bill later.

Sidebar: I've mentioned before the high cost of service-related activities like eating out, which is a by-product of people in the service industry earning a real living wage, so it's hard to complain about too terribly much. By contrast the fabulous meal cost $10 and change per person. This even included much of the beer we drank, multiple spice bottles, etc. So, activities like cooking are much more affordable, especially by comparison.

Six of us ate dinner together and 3 other students came by later in the evening. The evening was spent laughing, playing, and having a good time. I eventually left the scene around 2 a.m. and things were still in full gear when I slipped out. But, I needed to focus on the academic side of things on Sunday.

Next week we have a wwek-long conference with a methodology focus that is designed to prepare us for the research we will be conducting this summer. I need to prepare and deliver a presentation on my particular research interests and the work I want to do this summer. The presentation should take about 20 minutes with another 40 focused on intensive Q&A designed to challenge my thinking and hone my work plan for the summer ahead. Today is about organizing that presentation and putting some "spit and polish" on the whole affair. Presentations are spread across the week and I will be among the group that presents on Wednesday. So, wish me luck. I'm now off to the communal study area to get some work done.