You Can't Spell "Blah" without "BERKELEY"*

Just got back from NACURH 2006 Conference at UC Berkeley. Boo-urns. Thank goodness I was with a bunch of great people from Marquette, otherwise I might just have intentionally walked into oncoming traffic. Worst. Conference. Ever. While that might not seem like a good time for my last "official Marquette experience," I still enjoyed it. What would I have done without a delightful group of cynical, hilarious, fun people, who enjoyed quoting Mean Girls and watching MTV's Parental Control ("I'm Miss USA Internation?) as much as I did? Most likely cry myself to sleep. Which wouldn't have been terrible, since I didn't get much sleep anyway.

Uber-meta-sarcastic rant? Starting.... now! Boy am I glad they had more vegan options than meat options ("We proudly serve Tyson chicken" my ass!). I'm also glad I could count the number of conference volunteers I saw (outside of ceremonies) on one hand. Whew - good thing every program I went to felt like a roundtable. Of course, that didn't really matter, since I was in business meetings almost the entire time. On the bright side, luckily, it only took 4 and a half hours to vote in some name-changes. What a relief. As usual, we topped off the conference with a wonderful meal at the banquet: mmmm... cold chicken and weeds! What will I miss most of all? That would have to be the Transportation Chair, David Sohn, who was shouting at delegations, and even grabbed one of our delegates by the arm. Luckily, he was armed with the twin swords of "professionalism" and "courtesy."

Well, that's the end of that chapter. I came home Monday afternoon, and promptly realized that Elizabeth and I had no planning or packing completed for our European tour - and we leave for Chicago on Tuesday night . Eeeeek! So, we made some quick lists, fired off some shopping extravaganzas, made numerous phone calls, and I think we may actually be ready. We even had time for a haircut and eyebrow wax (for the record, I got the haircut, Liz got the eyebrow wax). We are still not prepared, but we figure we can plan stuff out by the seat of our pants (if only they were tear-away) and on the long plane and/or train rides. Of course, we are confident that we will charm the wealthy locals with our delightful mannerisms, as well as our coordinated shandals and backpacks. They're going to hate us, aren't they? Either way, it should be a blast! Two weeks of a "liquid diet" across the pond? Count me in. Don't worry, I shall have stories galore. See you June 23!



*I am well aware that yes, in fact, you can.