Not at MLA

I did not go to MLA this year. Except for the fact that it means that the four US schools I applied to for jobs all blanked me, I'm pretty darn happy about that. I've been to MLA twice already, when it was in New York in 2002 and last year in DC. I'm almost certainly going to go next year (interviews or not). But I don't like MLA--too crowded, too claustrophobic, and too stressful. And unlike all the American scholars, it's not a chance for me to meet up with friends and colleagues. That's what the SAA and the Learned's are for, my two favorite conferences where all the Shakespeareans and the Canucks hang out. I'm happy that I didn't have to go to MLA because instead I got to spend a very nice week in my home province celebrating xmas (which I don't like to celebrate but which was fine nonetheless) with my birth mother for the very first time--and getting a chance to blog through the airport's free wireless connection on my way back to mon pays.

On the other hand, I have been eagerly reading lots of blogs about people who are at MLA and enjoying them immensely: Blogging the Renaissance, Flavia, and In Favor of Thinking have all be providing MLA reports, and I've enjoyed reading them all immensely. I can't think of a better way to experience MLA than virtually. Get the scoop, not the stress! So I'd just like to say a big thanks to all three of them!

Holy crap! I'm even more happy not to be at MLA now. I just got upgraded to first-class for free for the first time in my life! New Year's drinks are on Air Canada! :-)