Hints of beginnings (aka maybe there's hope that I'll graduate after all)

On the bus, I sat to the grad student who I most frequently share an office with.* He'd been out late the night before celebrating with a friend who completed the job market process. Obviously this gets the two of us talking about our current state of "I-have-no-idea-what-next-year-is-going-to-be-like-itis."

But I'm getting an inkling that our advisor is beginning to start what I think of next year....now. (I guess it makes sense. One market ending means the next one's beginning. It's time to recruit the high school juniors to college and all.)

Other Grad Student: I wonder if he's going to have us all go out for dinner at the conference.
Me: Nah. I never see him at conferences.
OGS: He tried to organize something that one time. Of course, it didn't work out.
Me: I think I was behind that.
OGS: That sounds about right.

That afternoon got an e-mail from my advisor inviting me and a handful of his other past and present students to dinner at the conference.

Oh.

* Actually, not my officemate. Funny phrase for a reason.

I was going to write a longer post

and talk about who I hang out with at conferences

instead of my advisor.

Or, often, other people from my program.

But I finished my oatmeal and should go catch the bus again this morning.  

Not going in the proposal, no matter how many times I write it

This will be my first conference presentation and I have no idea what I'm doing. And I’m unreasonably nervous about it.

Definitely true. (At least in part. I guess I have some idea what I'm doing. Maybe?) Probably suspected. But, geez, you don't put that in the formal thing.

Still needed to get it out there somewhere though.