ReCCCCap

Nothing against St. Louis, Mo., but when–around Friday afternoon–light rain made the streets smell like sweatsock-funk, a few of us speculated that the arch really is a giant’s clipped toenail. No, no, it’s marvelous beyond that: a giant’s clipped toenail fitted with an elevator inside. Blame the odor on the pollen, on the trees being in full bloom fall-veg-detritus-rotting, or on the mighty Mississippi’s effervescence. Credit it to whatever you want and in the meantime plug your nose. No need to plug it forever; it’s fine to breathe again when you come to the ten story cross in Effingham made of blessed and corrugated aluminum sheeting.

I had a great CCCC. So many friends to catch up with, so many great conversations. Proud of how EMU students represented. Proud of the smarts and investment shown by the EM-Journal team. Proud of how Ivo Baltic and his Bobcats went toe-to-toe with basketball giant UNC on Friday evening. I damn close to wept with joy when Ohio surged late in the game and I got to see all the UNC fans next to me in Section 138 Row 22 biting their nails, holding each other’s sweaty hands, looking like they’d encountered a real bobcat in the wild.

The ticket would’ve allowed me to stick around, but I skipped the NC State-KU game and instead walked to Bridge with a few colleagues, enjoyed a sour and an IPA, hummus and tapenade, smoked paprika popcorn that was too salty but ate it anyway.

Went to more sessions than I expected to this week:

  • *Wed. evening, Master’s Degree Consortium of Writing Studies Specialists
  • *Thur., A. Digital Pedagogy Posters
  • *B.20 Technology and Histories of Composition Studies
  • D.29 Gateways into the Disciplines: Navigating Different Disciplinary Contexts to Support Writing Across Campus
  • E.Feat. Gateways to Leadership: A Reflective Roundtable on Opportunities within NCTE and CCCC
  • TSIG.1 Retired Faculty in Rhetoric/Composition/Writing Studies
  • Fri., G.Feat. Technologizing Funk/Funkin Technology: Stevie Wonder’s Talking Book as a Gateway to a Black Digital Rhetoric
  • H.13 Latour and Rhetoric: Kairos, Contingency, Techne
  • I.Feat. “This Stuff Hasn’t Changed Much in 2500 Years, Has It?”: Rhetorical Terms in an Attention Economy
  • J.03 MA Programs in Rhetoric and Writing as Sites of Transition and (Trans)Formation
  • *K.31 Think-tank for Newcomers: Developing Papers and Sessions for 2013
  • L.18 Everyone Knows This is Nowhere: Writing in the Musical Age
  • M.7 Computational Rhetoric in Theory and Practice

Stars mark the sessions where I had some sort of speaking or leadership role. I have quite a bit more to say about several of the sessions, but I also face the inevitable workswell–a sheer ccccliff–that follows from several days of being online less than usual because who can afford in-room internet: advising emails, an online course to get caught up in, a batch of deep definition essays from graduate students, an article revision due 3/30. Plus, I drove both to and from St. Louis and the Element suffered an effed windshield wiper late last night, so I feel a bit road-weary today and also need to get over to Advanced Auto Parts for a replacement blade. Maybe around the mid-late part of the week I’ll crawl back through my notes and elaborate on some of what I learned at the various sessions, or maybe not. I left St. Louis both exhausted and energized, which is in my eight or ten trips to the conference as much as one can hope for.

5 Comments

  1. Yeah, too bad about that. I ran into Jeff on Friday and he said you were probably already heading back to Macomb. Next year.

  2. Yeah, getting in early Tue for a workshop, so it was hard to stay longer. Bum leg wasn’t making it any easier. I’ll be at WPA but not C&W.

    Also, the girls and I will be in Holland MI for a week later this summer. Perhaps then?

  3. It would be good to get together in Holland. Email me the dates and we’ll do what we can to coordinate something.

    I’m done conferencing for the year. No C&W, RSA, or WPA for me. Already had my fill with WIDE-EMU (which I also helped plan and host), HASTAC, and CCCC.

  4. Done. Certainly, there’s enough to do w/o conferences.

    Is WIDE-EMU gonna happen this year? Last year I had a long-established conflict. I’d be happy to put it in the calendar now — especially since it’s easy to get to MI on the train.

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