MLA update

I'm at MLA and it's going well. Of my 10 writing sample/dossier requests, only 2 materialized into interviews, but they were both for job descriptions that perfectly fit my profile, and both interviews, which I had yesterday, went exceptionally well. I'm excited and thinking positively about campus visits and am relatively confident, based on how well the interviews went, that they will materialize.

I'm not live blogging the conference, but am enjoying reading the updates of Blogging the Renaissance and Flavia who are. Except for the Book Exhibit, I'm avoiding the conference as much as possible. I had enough anxiety of my own up until yesterday that I don't need to consume that which is palpably present in the air. I pitched my book proposal to a couple presses at the exhibit (got really enthusiastic feedback from one which is near the top of my list) and got a rather stagnant and immobile update from the editor on whose desk my proposal is currently sitting unread, unlikely to be read for a few more months at least. I'm undauted though and trying to focus on the other presses to whom I can submit it, and the articles and chapters I desperately need to write this semester.

Instead of hanging around the hotels or going to any panels, I've been rewarding myself after my week and a half of pre-interview bootcamp spent prepping, prepping, and prepping some more for questions that were never even asked of me. I went to see the Jasper John's exhibit Grey at the Art Institute and braved the cold today to go shopping along the so-called Magnificent Mile on Michigan Avenue--which was not magnificient enough to convince me to buy anything and really didn't have anything that caught my fancy.

And dinners. The dinners out have been fabulous. Mexican the first night, then Italian, then Mexican again last night, Asian fusion tonight, and Mexican again tomorrow night. Bring on the margaritas!