Oh hello there. I accidentally took a little week off of blogging to cap off this impressive semester of stuttering out maybe a blog a week. But just in case you were wondering, I did indeed pass my comp exams and proceeded to take this smug picture in the back alley beside the trash cans, as one does.My  reveling lasted about the length of the world’s fastest happy hour, followed by a drive to Pittsburgh where we took in some games and I photographed a wedding. Don’t worry, you will certainly not be spared the onslaught of those photos at a later date. That weekend was followed by a frantic two days of laundry, grading, editing, and packing, before I hoped on a plane for a long weekend in the greatest place on earth.Beauty. Perfection. Vaguely the shape of a fried chicken leg. Home to some of the best people, scenery, and eating there is.  I mean, just look at it:It’s like a postcard. And mud.

I didn’t just come to town to bask in the greatness that is the Bluegrass State, though that is a totally legitimate reason enough for a trip. But alas, basking is the stuff of summer vacation, and we still have a couple weeks of the semester left. I came with a couple colleagues to take part in a conference for foreign language academics. If you are thinking it’s a nerd fest, you are right.  I’ll spare you the details of the paper I presented (“Acting Out the Absolution: Contemporary Theatre as Eucharist”), and instead thrill you with other highlights of our wild weekend in Kentucky. Things like walking all over downtown Lexington and appreciating this beautiful city…… and getting haircuts. No visit to home is complete without getting my hairs did with Barbara, world’s best hair stylist. That cutie in the red coat above? She’s one of my coworkers who had Barbara cut off around 14 inches so she could rock that cute bob. Nothing as drastic for me, but only because I’m a huge hair chicken. All of you who boldly whack off your hair into cute pixie cuts and face framing lobs – I salute you.   Luckily, I was able to eat Whole30 style while I was in town… Yeah…. right. Feasting is an integral part of visits to Kentucky and MUST NOT be missed. I hit up some of my favorites, like Great Bagel, Atomic Cafe, Alfalfa, and National Provisions (shown below), as well as tried out some new places like Limestone Blue (shown above). Those pancakes above? Stuffed with Nutella. This evening, it’s back to DC and the busyness of the last couple weeks of school. Hopefully, with the studying of exams over and this conference paper behind me, I’ll ease back into slightly more regular blogging, peskily inserting my words in your inbox to the tune of a couple times a week. But then again, I do have a semester of neglected tv shows to catch up on… so no promises. Last time I checked in with my friends over at Pope and Associates, things were pretty dire, and I couldn’t even begin to tell you what Disney characters are washing up in Storybrooke these days. Obviously, I’ve got work to do.

Happy Monday!