Somewhere, a place for me...

This was the first Veterans Day weekend in a number of years that I did not spend on "retreat" in Winslow, AZ at the La Posada hotel. With its front door on the historic Route 66, and the its back door on the intercontinental rail line, the hotel is being restored to its halcyon state. After first visiting for work in January 2002, I have visited almost every fall to enjoy the changing-foliage drive up, in-room fireplace, no phones, sunken garden, gourmet restaurant, train shaken anonymity. Not this year.

Consolation prize
No, this year, pending comprehensive exams and diminished grad student income have kept me from the annual escape. Instead, I am sorting, reading, outlining, cursing, synthesizing and attempting to (re)learn everything-there-is-to-know about Communication theory, qualitative research methods, whiteness, communication & identity, and intergroup dialogue. Tomorrow's forecast: sunny, and more of the same. Long range forecast: Ditto.

FYI, here's what the HIGHLIGHTS (i.e., non-cumulative) of seven years of doctoral work looks like spread in your living and dining rooms:



(House usually looks like as shown here.) More books and stacks of articles to come, by the pound!

All this so I can retort, "That's DOCTOR Shift Manager, thank you very much."