is the word 'diary' better than the word 'blog'? probably not.
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Aurora Borealis!
So I'm in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada right now, which is apparently WAY NORTH and VERY FAR AWAY from Philadelphia, because it took So. Very. Long. to get here. It didn't help, of course, that on my first flight I was surrounded by a whole high school full of Model U.N. students who would. not. stop. talking. So painful, that combination of cockiness and testing ideas and teasing and self-loathing and sad, sad, barely hidden anxiety about being popular, all loudly exploding all around me while I'm trying to WORK!
Turns out, I was sitting next to another philosophy professor? Who also goes to SPEP every year? So strange. The guy on the other side from me (did I mention I was in the middle seat, and this is only my first flight?) was a nice guy from near Quakerbubble, whose son plays soccer at some other college that competes against Quakerbubble. He told me a lot about how he wished scientists would spend more time trying to prove what really happens with phenomena like crying statues and such, because he is religious and thinks it would help the world if people knew God exists.
You know who I am, people. Can you imagine the restraint, the self-cruelty I exercised upon myself NOT to discourse at him about how the Will To Truth is what causes the Death of God in the first place? I gently suggested that faith might not be helped or hindered by scientific evidence of any kind. But he was nice enough, and has done extensive reading and research and travel to miracle sites, and had good stories. When he got up to go to the restroom my fellow philosophy professor said, "I was very curious to see how you were going to handle that." I said, "Well, in general I think it is good to have a quest that keeps you interested and questing throughout your life, even if it isn't MY quest." He said, "well done," and we each returned to our books.
Anyway, we sat on the tarmac with the Model U.N. Club for like 180000 hours but I still managed to make my connection. It was one of those tiny planes so they took my carry-on bag away from me, and then when we landed in Canadia they wouldn't give it back to me. I had to wait in the customs area for a Very Long Time. The CHECKED baggage got there faster. All the while I was waiting I also knew that the Chair of the department that is interviewing me was waiting to pick me up in the waiting area, and meanwhile it's like midnight Alberta-time which is 2am for me. TIRED. STRESSED. Considering the terrible possibility of NOT getting my luggage, and not having ANYTHING with me, no clothes, no toiletries, etc., because why would I need that stuff in my computer bag if I hadn't checked any luggage? Anyway, it finally showed up. All is well.
But then, in the car, on the way to the hotel, I SAW THE NORTHERN LIGHTS. AND THEY ARE AWESOME. I do mean awesome, as in they filled me with wonder and made me tear up a little. It was difficult to manage all this, the tiredness, and the semi-weeping, and the having to have pleasant coherent conversation with the Chair. I said, I see the northern lights! Department Chair's all, no, you can't see them from here, a bit north of the city they are spectacular. I'm like, but what's that green stuff? And he's all, wow, there they are! And there they were! Wow. I felt like that gave me license to stare out the window without speaking for awhile. But at some point I realized it had been too long so I asked him about living in the area.
I was so excited about the aurora borealis plus tired plus exhausticated that I sent a text message to Gus to tell him how great the lights are, thinking that it was two hours earlier in Philly, when of course it was two hours LATER, and, well, hopefully he remembered to turn his cellphone ring off, so I did not wake him up with my nonsense. The end.
2:48 a.m. - January 29, 2007
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