Well, I have been back in Chicago for about a month. Laura sent me an email today saying that I should update my blog, so I decided to do that.

The ISECS conference was really interesting. Most of the eighteenth-century scholars I met were really nice, and I heard a lot of interesting papers. I went to the beach with a fun group of people on our last day in Montpellier. And I recognized quite a few people on the train ride back to Paris.

When I first arrived back in Chicago, I was overwhelmed by how loud everyone is. People talk on their cell phones about really personal things, and they don't seem to realize or care that everyone can hear them. Other social interactions have been weird, too. I went shopping with Laurie one day and she walked right up to a store employee and asked a question without any kind of greeting first, and that really freaked me out.

Then I went to New Orleans for another conference. It was exhausting.

I am enjoying my new apartment, and my new roommate. Her cats are a little wary of me, but I think we're starting to be friends. Well, maybe not friends, but they seem to have decided that I can be treated civilly.

I kind of feel like I haven't accomplished much since I have been back. I was resting on my laurels with the two conferences, because I did work pretty hard during that time. I guess I will try to keep updating the blog, since I still have friends who are spread out all over. And maybe writing about my activities will make me feel like I'm making progress on my dissertation and job applications.