Ten tenure cases were decided this year, and College legislation
demands that all tenure cases be resolved before the release
of any information. I was flying back from a research-related
trip that day, and called Charles from the Logan Express. "Is
there ANY NEWS?" I scream. Charles said that he had been waiting
by the phone all day but that there was no word from the Deans'
Office. Cake and wine were set up in the helproom from about
3:00 onward, but no news came until five minutes before 5:00pm,
at which point Charles walks in with his hand extended and
says, "How would you like to be an associate professor?"
Here I am with Joan, who retired but came back to wait with me
until the bitter end.
| Lydia |
 |
|
Lydia had always suffered from minor problems: acne, overactive
sebaceous glands, a flea colony on her rump, an aural hemotoma,
of all things. In November Lydia started losing weight precipitously
even though she was always ravenously hungry all the time. Tests
had ruled out hyperthyroidism. When I found her sitting in the litter
pan, I sped her to Angel Memorial, where they found that, at a little
over three pounds, she was dehydrated, nutrient-deprived and close
to death. They managed to stabilize her, but after $5000 in care
and tests, they were unable to ascertain the cause of her illness.
I managed to keep her alive for another few weeks by a regimen of
prednisone, but she started bleeding from her bladder and lost
control of her hind legs. I finally had to let her go. She was my
best friend!
|
| Trapeze |
 |
|
Tiffany decides to spend her birthday as a trapeze artist
in the Jordan's Furniture Trapeze Academy. She took
about 100 tries before getting it right. Here I am with
my toes not quite pointed; it took me quite a number
of times before landing on my feet instead of my
head. Of course DJ was a perfect natural
at the sport. My abs hurt for about a month. |
| First Fencing Rating |
 |
|
My life goal was to get an E rating in fencing. Having fenced for
a few years with Zoran, I was given to Vaho Iagorashvili for training.
Within three weeks I was at my first fencing tournament, at which I
came in seventh. Two tournaments later in Worcester, I tied for
third and obtained
my E rating at an unclassified tournament. Pictured next to me
is Peter Paulousky who helped me get out of a speeding ticket
in the following year.
|
| Epic Advisorial Moment |
 |
|
Shortly before Frank Quinn's birthday conference, I realized that
there would be four advisorial generations at this meeting. I brought
my camera and had this epic photograph taken with Shmuel Weinberger,
Sylvain Cappell and William Browder. Of course they all gave
splendid talks. I sat and took notes, and dozed a bit.
|
| Birthday |
 |
|
Here I celebrate my 37th birthday. I remember being mad at DJ
that day but that's nothing new. DJ was nevertheless nice to me,
buying a pinata and a cake and inviting a few friends over for
festivities. Ismar used some soccer move to bust out the candy
from the pinata. We decided that he had a bit of kung-fu mafia
boss in him. You can see him peeking from behind DJ's extended
arm.
|
| China |
 |
|
During the beginning of the academic year, I ditched my
students to fly to Fuzhou to find my long-lost relatives.
My trip went through San Francisco and Beijing. I met my
parents at the Chang-le airport, after which I met about
a thousand of my fifth cousins. We hiked up the mountain
on which my great-great-grandfather is buried. Then we
spent the rest of the time eating and carousing with my
granduncles. After returning to the United States, I was
so jetlagged that I almost slept through class, arriving
ten minutes late with my shoelaces untied.
|
| England |
 |
|
A former member of the Christ Church Cathedral Choir, I rejoined
the group on their choir tour to England. This picture is taken
at Westminster Abbey, where quite honestly the space was cramped
and the congregation was all tourists! We also sang at Bath Abbey.
An unfortunate element of the trip was the onset of bad back pain.
In fact one night in Bath I broke down in tears in the lobby.
Madeleine Hussey said the magic words: "I have Xanax!" I re-established
a few ties in Houston after this trip. In England I also met up
with Thomas MacDonald and Sealing.
|
| Houston |
 |
|
I braved the sultry summer days of Houston to prepare for
the choir tour in August. Our program consisted of pieces
by Sowerby (yuck), Britten and Rheinberger. I do miss Houston
quite a bit. Here is a picture of my favorite pseudo-plantation-style
house in the Rice University area. I drove by our neighborhood
on Kipling and found a large two-story club-style house built
in the lot next to 1806. Bill and Eric are still queens of the
territory. I presume that Mr Atwood is still his nasty self. |
| New Generation |
 |
|
Zachary was born in June to my brother and his wife. He is a
pretty cute baby, somewhat temperamental. People tell me that
grandchildren trump everything, but time has revealed that
our family is an exception. Zachary learned to talk pretty
quickly, pointing to the trashcan and says "DIRTY" and points
to the stove and says "DANGER". How hilarious is that.
|
| End of Boba |
 |
|
After Jessica Lee and Alefiya Calcuttawala graduated in 2005,
Team Boba was down to three members. Crippled by our dwindling numbers,
we stumbled along, usually getting boba at Collins Cafe, which
quite surprisingly was the best place for it in the Metro Boston
area. Then came the inevitable day when Becca and Miranda graduated
as well. Here we are after dinner with their parents at Shanghai
Gate, drinking our last boba at Super 88 in Allston.
|
| Leather |
 |
|
My research trip to Chicago was met with a singular problem: all the
hotels in the Loop were prohibitively expensive and I was running
out of funds from my travel budget. Luckily my visit coincided
with the International Male Leather conference, this year held
at the Palmer House. Although the Palmer House was booked, I
stayed at the Renaissance Hotel for $189 using the International
Male Leather conference rate. This clause showed up on my bill,
which I then had to submit for reimbursement. |
| Tahoe |
 |
|
DJ and I went to California to spend the Christmas holidays. Eager
to flee Los Angeles, we stole the car and drove up to San Francisco,
where we met up with Tiffany and her then boyfriend whose name
I cannot remember. We all went to Tahoe and took a snowboarding
class. Most of that day I was on my ass with my legs contorted in
all sorts of nasty positions. It is a major miracle that I did
not break anything. I do not think that snow sports are for me.
| |
