it's the medieval conversion conference here at harvard this week! cristina is speaking at it! i've been talking about it to one or two other first year medievalists yesterday, and we agree it's a most unaccommodating of the department not to let its own students in by the backdoor and look the other way. most of the usual english department conferences are free, you see, and while other schools have been in session for a while now, this is our first week of classes. mentally and financially it is not the best of time for any of us second years. (can you believe one of my course packs is $400?! 400 for a pile of photocopies!!!) but i do like it when they say, on the conference website: "registration is $100 for established scholars, $50 for students and the under-employed." the under-employed! very sympathetic that, but also rather canny. i'll see if i can find a way to crash. i wonder if anyone needs a powerpoint girl, but that's not bloody likely at an english conference (powerpoint is so - singapore civil service!) but it is a medieval conference so images are always relevant and important - maybe i could volunteer to be the slide project click-click girl if they let me go free. aha. better talk to someone quickly then. *click, click, wheels in motion*