"Random Girls Weekend in the Desert."

For a while now, the universe's policy is to only let me present papers in pleasant, small towns no one's heard of (unless you live in Warrensburg, MO, in which case, it was nice to visit you!). And Kansas City. Oh, and New Orleans. I guess this is a recent trend.

And this year, the trend continues. I got a paper accepted to the Frederick Loewe Symposium on American Music at the University of Redlands, in Redlands, CA.

However, this time, there is one key difference:






The night of Sargibso's graduation from IU, after many rounds of Sink the Biz.


















Fabulous picture from his wedding 5 and a half years ago.















I get to visit Sargibso and my brother! Redlands is only 65 miles from Los Angeles, and I get to make a whole thing out of it!
This is only a preview post since the conference isn't until March and I'm really excited about it. I applied to a lot of conferences this year, and I'm so happy that this one has accepted me. Besides getting to see everyone I know and love in L. A., I get to leave the snowy tundra of southwestern Ontario and go to warm, sunny California. My choice to apply was only somewhat strategic. I also get to present with a bunch of people who like talking about 20th century American music. Sargibso is going to go with me for the conference itself, and she gave me the title for our trip: "random girls weekend in the desert." Because that's where Redlands is.

Win and (dorky) win.