en dessinant les branches d'une étoile

I got through it all very well...until the end. Then I lost the plot.

I flew out of YVR at 12h30, with a scheduled arrival in Toronto for 20h00. We left late but made up most of the time and landed at 20h05. W00t! The flight was fine: I got a lot of work done, listened to my iPod, and dozed a wee bit. Had 13C (right behind bulkhead), so 'twas all good.

Except my connecting flight, which was scheduled to depart YYZ at 21h20, was delayed...until 23h05. There were 2 interim flights, but I couldn't be switched because of my baggage. Erm, luggage. I found a so-so chicken burger for my tea, and puttered a bit in the lounge. Flight to Halifax left at 23h30 and we landed in YHZ at 02h30. Only to find no one who could get our plane to the gate. I dashed over to the Hertz desk to grab my keys (poor bugger was waiting only for me), got directions to where I was headed, and then waited for my bag. 10 minutes later the conveyor belt geared up...but clearly the priority tags meant nothing. 5 minutes later I was out da door.

Car's a bit big (Camry), but fine. Took a while to suss out how to adjust the seat (I hate electric seat adjusters), lights etc. On the road by 03h00.

Only to get lost. Thrice. The driving rain and lack of street lights didn't help. Hey Nova Scotia, not everyone's a local and putting signs up for the main road at intersections would help a fucking lot.

The kicker was missing my goodnight chat with querrelle, at which point I was driving between losses 2 and 3.

Finally found the uni, and the residence, but there was no one there. A nice person let me and I rang the courtesy line. Cheerful baby dyke gave me directions to her location and I toddled over. Got lost (briefly) again, then unlost. it's now 04h50. I am finishing my beverage (7-Up, how decadent), then I will be sleeping until 10 or 11.

cry for me next door neighbour

After yesterday's travel debacle (though it was only at the very end that I lost the plot...otherwise I was quite serene), I slept until just after 10h--about 5 hours of sleep in toto. Puttered, abluted, then wandered down the hill to the proper conference site. Caught the tail end of a presentation on queer youth.

Which I must say, pisses me off: this is an adult education conference. We're pretty flexible about things, but learners that are adults is perhaps the only requirement. That the presenter was the conference co-convenor isn't a coincidence. How do I know? I was one of 3 who adjudicated the peer review...and tanked this proposal because it's not adult ed. But then again this is the guy who bursts into tears every time the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is mentioned. It was moving the first time; after the 5th or 10th you can't but think "dude, get a grip, you're 50 years old for Chrissake!"

But I digress.

A friend from Vancouver who know lives in Halifax was in the session, and we toddled off to lunch as we had agreed earlier (email). She's great, her kids are great, and she'd really like to move back to Vancouver. After lunch I went to a session on Alaska Native post-secondary success: a squandered opportunity with too much white liberal guilt hand-wringing by the presenters. There was nothing that grabbed me in the next 2 sessions, so I returned to my room and finished tarting up my presentation (tomorrow 09h30).

Then it was back down the hill for the Queer Caucus meeting. Professor Sobby also arranged this event and...OMG Becky! A high school teacher/activist pushing for anti-homophobia programmes in Nova Scotia's schools. Wholly laudable...and nothing the fuck to do with adult ed. That the presenter filled the entire hour with his own blathering "uh...what else do I have to say? Uh.....well I could tell you about..." Had he stopped at the first "uh" we could have had a nice 20 minute description. Meh.

I gave my friend T. and a colleague of hers a ride downtown to the banquet. There was a loud blues band playing during cocktails..just loud enough for people saying "what?" to one another again and again. Eventually a gang of 4 (another colleague of theirs joined us) were bemoaning:

T: Fuck, I know it's important, but mingling is so tedious
R: I know, hate it
?: Totally
Me: So let's make a pact: we are a mingling free zone tonight. We will only engage with people at least one of us in the group already knows.

T, R & ?: *squee*

So we did. We still had lots of folks to chatter with, but we stayed put and entertained ourselves. The banquet was very good: broiled chicken, baked salmon, roasted veggies, caesar salad and desserts galore. querrelle rang me just after the meal was served and we had a brief, lovely chat. :) Then it was time to explore Halifax. So I drove around for 30 minutes or so, then headed back to campus. Where I am about to lower my massive hiney into bed.