ISTR Conference

I can at least say that I've been busy for a while, which is a nice change since I finished classes. I volunteered to work at the Irish Society of Theatre Research Conference this week from thursday to Saturday. I'm really glad I did it. I wish this had been at the end of last semester, not this one, because I got a chance to get to know other students and professors whose faces I knew but never had the opportunity to meet. My adviser and theatre prof Melissa was running the whole thing so I havent had a chance to meet with her about my dissertation. That will start next week now that she's done with the conference. I also got the chance to meet one of my playwrights, Marina Carr. It was just a "hi nice to meet you" but still, cool for me. Other than the time that she was the keynote speaker, she wasnt around the rest of the conference which is a bummer for me because I would have liked to talk to her more. The other students werent as impressed since she is their advanced playwriting prof, so they know her.
It was also nice because, even tho I didnt get to sit in on any of the panels, I got a few extra treats for volunteering. I did pay to become a member of the ISTR, even tho I'm not sure what that really means. I went to the book showcase and bought a book that was presented by my external examiner. See, we have 3 people who will grade our dissertations. Melissa will grade mine, as she is my adviser, and another professor inside Trinity. Then the final say on my grade will be the external examiner, who, in this case, is a prof at University College Dublin. I figure referencing a book that he promoted can't hurt! :)
Since yesterday was the final day of the conference, we had our big banquet dinner at the end. The nicest thing was that since I was a volunteer, I did not have to pay for my dinner! And it was quite lovely. I had goat cheese pastry rolls (sooo good), a steak, and raspberry cheesecake. Good meal! Then afterwards Tara and I met up with her boyfriend and one of his friends and we went to a pub called The Church, since the building was a former church. You could see the huge organ on the 2nd level and it had stained glass windows. And we found a table that was in the old confessional! Haha! The two Irish boys were doing different accents all night long and thought it was really funny when I did my redneck accent. They thought it was pretty hot. I thought it sounded like a dumb uneducated hick! Cultural difference I guess... After that we hit up Eddie Rockets for late night eating and since it was quite late I had to catch a cab home but that was fine.

Today seems like a bleak and dreary day. Ever since that volcano nonsense, Dublin has actually been pretty nice and clear. Blue skies, sun... very odd. Never any notice of ash or dark clouds... But now, after the planes have started running again, now we get the blah weather. Such is Dublin i guess.

Since this will probably be an indoor day for me, I've gone iTunes crazy and rented several movies. I rented a classic: Three Men and a Baby; I rented a movie from the show I used to watch in college: Mystery Science Theater 3000 - its so random and the sarcasm is what I love. I rented Brothers, since I saw the trailers for it when I was home at Christmas and wanted to see it. It's also directed by famed Irish director Jim Sheridan. Then for the scary night, I've got the horror film The Collector waiting for me