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My biological clock still more or less on east coast time, I've been awake for a while now -- upstairs from where registration for MLA '08 will be starting in a few hours.

The inaugural post here was titled "Small World," which some of you will recognize as a nod to Small World: An Academic Romance (1984), the novel by David Lodge set at the 1979 convention. Here's a passage from Lodge's prologue (the second paragraph, coming right after a quick pastiche of Chaucer) that seems appropriate right about now:

"The modern conference resembles the pilgrimage of medieval Christendom in that it allows the participants to indulge themselves in all the pleasures and diversions of travel while appearing to be austerely bent on self-improvement. To be sure, there are certain penitential exercises to be performed -- the presentation of a paper, perhaps, and certainly listening to the papers of others. But with this excuse you journey to new and interesting places, meet new and interesting people, and form new and interesting relationships with them; exchange gossip and confidences (for your well-worn stories are fresh to them, and vice versa); eat, drink, and make merry in their company every evening; and yet, at the end of it all, return home with an enhanced reputation for seriousness of mind. Today's conferees have an additional advantage over the pilgrims of old in that their expenses are usually paid, or at least subsidised, by the institutions to which they belong, be it a government department, a commercial firm, or, most commonly perhaps, a university."

Inside Higher Ed is picking up the tab in my case. A riot of indulgence is not exactly on the agenda. We got in late last night and had room service. That's about it, though.

You might think that when the Hilton charges you a total of $32 for a small cheese pizza that it would be a pretty good cheese pizza. Not the very best you'd ever hope to eat in your life, perhaps, but definitely not the worst. Guess what? They surprise you.

Let this count as penance for the sins of the past year.