So, here I am, listening to a presentation about adolescent depression. The sophisticated, successful, middle-aged researcher introducing our speaker is endearing to me, because as she walked up to the podium to prepare the PowerPoint, she jauntily tossed a coin in the air and caught it. :)
The American Psychological Association conference is quite an experience. It’s held in the convention center, which is freaking massive. In fact, it’s not big enough. Several sessions are offloaded to the conference hotels, of which there are four, which are all huge (600 - 900 rooms each). They’re all full, and several of us are staying farther away, in other hotels. I now understand why so many people I know have said they no longer even bother coming here, because “it’s just too big.”
Outside the convention center is a small group of picket-carrying protesters, distributing literature urging APA members to oppose the Association’s involvement (the extent of which I still don’t fully understand) in the “extraordinary rendition,” “creative interrogation” and torture of terrorist suspects by the U.S. My tag says “non-member” but I took some flyers anyway.
Maybe it’s just some weird perceptual bias on my part, but Boston seems to have more than its share of heavily-muscled men. Busboys, waiters, taxi drivers, concierges, store clerks, cafeteria workers, valets, etc. A disproportionate number of them have heavy pecs and huge, thickly-veined arms. Even the fat ones. As if the townies are all still midshipmen. Also, in walking through neighborhoods yesterday, I saw many Catholic shrines (is that the right word?). Front, side and back yards frequently sport statues, nestled in carefully-arranged backdrops, as if the owners were recreating cathedral niches with whatever materials are available. I’ve seen St. Francis, Peter (I think), Jesus (adult and baby), and many Marys. My favorite , in fact, is a Virgin Mary housed in an upended, half-buried bathtub. I’ll post pictures when I get back. It’s even more awesome than it sounds.
The air here smells good. It smells like the ocean (which never seems more than 100m away), or flowers, or dryer lint and detergent. The traffic is ridiculous. I walked to the aquarium after the conference yesterday, and it took me 20 minutes or so. The cars on the main road beside me didn’t move more than a single block in that time, I’m sure. The weather is lovely, so far.
I’m here on a new kind of mission: recruiting. I’m supposed to gather a list of interested parties for a faculty position we’ll have opening next Fall (2009). It’s strange, because we want someone with 10-20 more years’ experience than I have, and we’re willing to pay them twice my salary. I’m oddly unconcerned. Because of this mission, I’m suddenly social, in contrast to my regular insular, socially avoidant way of attending conferences (I’m not kidding). When I run into old acquaintances, I experience the Professional Networking Agreeableness Effect (PNAE; I just made it up). A couple of years ago, I ran into a former fellow grad student whose last conversation with me had been a shouting match. We had a pleasant chat and asked about each other’s families. This morning, I ran into a professor who insulted my professionalism and generally grilled me pretty hard during my dissertation defense, three years ago. He gave me nice tips for recruiting. Is the PNAE a good thing? I could see it both ways.
I have a disappointingly low list of “bites” for the job position. I’m working my Ohio State network, but by the time I left that place, nobody knew me except my committee, and they didn’t want to.
We shall see what I can come up with. I still haven’t tried scrod, which I was ordered to eat while I was here. Perhaps tonight. I’m wearing a suit and have a $68/day per diem for meals, so we’ll see.
Also, I miss Alex :( She should be here having fun in Boston.
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