Well Howdy.

Tonight, I hop on a plane for my first trip of the semester. Tomorrow I give a talk at UT-Austin, then head to Waco for an AMS Session. Though I have never been to either place, I am really only looking forward to visiting Austin. However, I will have a few good friends to see since I am close enough to home to know a relatively large number of people. To look presentable, I got a haircut today from a somewhat overpriced, though competent and talkative Brazilian man on the upper west side. My life as it stands is completely dominated by work. On top of my usual load of work, this weekend I had a collaborator in town and talked in depth about some rather complex mathematics for 4 days in a row. I learned something new about the Quantum Hall Effect and some Riemannian Geometry. As a result, I am exhausted, slightly ill and nervous about making a good impression during my talk tomorrow. In any case ... wish me luck.

Oh, and Happy Birthday Emily!!!