"The Stupids"

There's not been much time for blogging lately because all my brain cells have been devoted to doing more writing than I've done in a long time. I had to write a paper proposal and then a panel proposal for a conference next year in England this morning. I'm still working on the blog paper and I have a book review to finish by June 1. And tomorrow, a houseguest.

The houseguest is my best friend from my Masters days in London, Ontario. She's arriving for the "Congress." The Congress is short for the Congress of Humanities and Social Sciences, an umbrella group in Canada for all disciplines and "societies" in the country that belong to, essentially, the Arts. Each year at this time all these groups have their national conferences. For instance, the paper I'm writing about blogs will be part of a plenary session for hte Canadian Women's Studies Association--a panel that is being organized by the Disco Lassie.

The "Congress" is a new name though. Up until a couple of years ago, it was called the "Learned Societies" conference. It was generally acknowledged, by participants and commentators alike, that this was apretty pretentious name. As a result, everyone called it "The Stupids." The name has kind of stuck, the change notwithstanding. This year Canadian academics are making their yearly pilgrimmage to Halifax (the conference is held at a difference uniersity every year--this year it's Dalhousie).

Luckily, Dalhousie is just up the street from me, which means I haven't had to pay a fortune to attend the conference. But proximity may have its drawbacks. Last year the conference was Toronto and I (ahem) had a great time. Here's hoping the Congress arrives with its fair share of interesting participants and festivities. The writing spree may well require some post-presentation partying!