Quick Catch UP

Since our last post several events have occurred which merit discussion: 1)Michigan State lost very badly in the national championship game, 2) Emily successfully defended her comp exam and is now one bureaucratic step away from being ABD (All But Dissertation) for her PhD in Psychology, 3) I spent most of last week in New Orleans at the National Popular Culture Association Conference (around 2500 academics presenting their research on pop culture in four days), and 4) Lizzie can officially roll over. Busy times. Discussion follows below (as one of the benefits of this post's organizational scheme, you may conveniently skip any topics which did not pique your interest):

1) I won't talk much about Michigan State's dismal performance in the Championship Game. I think MSU overachieved to reach that game (they're a very young team) and UNC was obviously the better team on the court. Hopefully MSU will be even better next year with all of their players a year older and more experienced. I actually had UNC beating MSU in the championship game in my bracket, so I won all the groups I was in.

2) Emily defended her comp and passed without any revisions required. Which is freaking fantastic. I don't know how she did it. She had a baby in December, and defended her comp in April. And I know for a fact that she has not had a full night's sleep in between. I lucked into a pretty amazing lady in the ol' marriage lottery.

3) To celebrate Emily finishing her comp exam, I flew out to New Orleans the next day. I've been to the Pop Culture Association Conference every year since I started my Master's Degree. This conference is fantastic. At any given time there are academic papers being presented on superheroes, Twilight, Red Sox fans, The Beatles, etc. This year alone I saw great papers on the home video revolution, the shifting portrayal of violence in Captain America comics from WWII to today, screwball comedy in television sitcoms, and the role of the audience/camera in The Office. That's just a sampling, I saw a bunch of papers. There is a thriving Comics Studies area at the conference, which is where I've presented my papers. My paper this year was on The Death of Superman, a storyline from 1992-93, which I analyzed in relationship with America seeking a new identity following the end of the Cold War. While in New Orleans I was able to go out to eat at a restaurant owned by Food Network personality Emeril (that was very tasty grub) and a restaurant that the Food Network declared to have the best fired chicken in America (I can't speak for all restaurants in the nation, but it was definitely the best fried chicken I've ever had (if you can't tell, we're fans of the Food Network)).

4) Of course the fact that I was gone from Tuesday morning until Saturday evening meant that Emily had Lizzie to herself for most of the week. That was stressful at times, but Emily handled it better than I would have (I'd still be curled in a fetal position in the corner). While Lizzie had rolled over once or twice before I left, she developed her talent more while I was away. And now I'll post a few photos of Lizzie: