I’m planning on going to the AWP conference, which is in Oregon in 2019, when March rolls around again. It’s a year away and registration doesn’t begin until July, but I’ve been postponing attendance for two years, so I’m leaving this note here to ensure that I actually attend this time. That way it’s a promise to which I can be held accountable. When July arrives and I have not registered, you must all express grievous disappointment in me. Public outrage has never motivated me to change, but it’s worth a shot.
Allah knows I’ve been meaning to attend WisCon for the past five years. (Remember this article? An early draft of it was originally written for WisCon 2013 back when I was a Master’s student.) The only time I’ve successfully gone to a conference in which I was not presenting was AAR, and that was because I was able to laze my way to San Diego, in California, my own state, and because Orbala dragged me there. I will travel internationally at a moment’s notice, but a domestic flight? Suddenly I’m too good for it because I’m the QUEEN.
More accurately, with the exception of work I rarely travel to another state unless I have some emotional attachment to it, like whether a friend lives there. But I need this conference, and that should be sufficient. One would think.
Attending the largest literary conference in North America is worth a trip.
If I may, let me encourage you to travel more without a conference or friend being an excuse. After not travelling much myself in the first half of my life, I dove into travel (mostly solo and mostly on a motorcycle) the second half. Every experience was magical; every trip expanded my view of the world. We don’t know what we don’t know and seeing new places and people opens our eyes. Travel educates us at an accelerated pace, including on subjects we didn’t pay attention to before. I hope you’ll consider it at some time in your future.
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Oh I do travel a lot internationally, just not as much domestically. Thanks!
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Nahida, where are you? You were posting daily/every other day and I got all used to it. =P
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That’s very sweet. I have been working a lot lately. I will post an exegesis of Lut’s parts in the Qur’an sometime soon. I know there are readers waiting for that, and a good friend of mine also requested a post on marriage. I sort of feel bad when I visibly expend time posting about my life.
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I sort of feel bad when I visibly expend time posting about my life.
Uh, that’s the best part.
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If we come to the conference too, can we see you?
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Sure!
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