Santa Barbara winds

When I finally got back to my apartment and crawled into bed, the thought running through my head was, "Well that was weird."

The short version: I was scheduled to be in Santa Barbara for 36 hours, 15 of which I spent doing UCSB crazies. All in all, it went very well, but I was/am totally wiped out.

The considerably longer version: Friday was the longest leap day ever, and not just because I gained 3 hours. Got up to team-teach the 271 class. It was fun talking about dramaturgy and our experience, being as laid back as we wanted. Sadly, when I got home, I realised I delivered that whole lecture with my fly down. *sigh*

But I couldn't dwell on that since time was at a premium. I had to juggle packing (no fashion panic allowed), with prepping my lecture and finishing my film paper. However, it did give me an excuse to skip the Spring lunchbag. Got to bust out my new rolly suitcase.

Drove to Columbus, which is like an hour an a half away. Unpacked my laptop to discover that I had totally forgotten to pack my power cord. Doh! I finished my paper, which I was happy to be done with. I HATE that class. Emailed it to Smokin' Fairy and got on the plane. Sat next to a very skinny Mormon who seemed to take up alot of my seat. I munched on my puppy chow and listened to the iPod. Turbulence was so crazy, it actually woke me up from my plane nap. Took a puddle jumper from Phoenix to SBA. It was really frustrating trying to find non-meat airport food, but I did find a bean burrito. Got into a breezy Santa Barbara around 9.30, waited for the shuttle and read my cyborg theory. Stayed up till midnight prepping my presentation.

My vampire hours helped me out with my CA schedule. But nothing could really help with the non-stop schedule. Didn't even get a chance to down my coffee or grab a muffin since there were already UCSB people waiting in the lobby. There were several rounds of introductions, divided into two cars, where I managed to spill my coffee all over the grad students new robot car.

Mini-conference: really interesting. Got to hear a variety of different topics from different people (current and prospective grads, faculty, etc). My tango presentation went over really well. Not hardcore academic, but engaging and fun. Especially after a super-dull presentation just before me. Got some great feedback which has me rethinking parts of my thesis (in a good way).

The scenery: OK. We had lunch by the lagoon. Yup, I said lagoon. It was beautiful, sunny. It is very hard to be schmoozed by faculty and still eat a sandwich at the same time. Didn't really get a chance to talk to some of the current grads to get the scoop. After the mini-conference, we all were toured around campus, but is beautiful and conveniently laid out. Saw my first coral tree, and had a chance to talk to the other prospectives. We split up again to drive around Santa Barbara (and get some caffeine), which Superguy, my new UCSB BFF, ordered with all of his Starbucks expertise.

There was another little reception, with awesome food and fresh pineapple. More chatting. Then Idiot's Delight, which was pretty, if plotless. We were taken back to the hotel around 11PM, and the lot of us did some debriefing in the lobby.

It is so weird to be courted, instead of trying to sell myself to them. I have decided that one guy needs to not come so that Superguy can. I liked UCSB very much, and it has alot to offer. But so does Wisconsin. I'm not really ready to make a decision, but how wonderful to have such a great decision to make.

watchin' some SVU