MiniMe

Monday and Tuesday I attended some lectures on the contemporary novel, film theory, and other assorted stuff that I dig. I got to meet my two favorite theorists and idols, and like any star-gazing fan got as tongue-tied as possible and quite probably sounded more ridiculous than I remember. Since it was the middle of the day, I was one of five people there; as such, there was a lot of face time with my theorists. I was happy when they confirmed that NYU was a credible if not very prestigious choice to make for the doctorate. I kept smiling whenever they turned to me or directed a word my way, which might have freaked them out a little - or maybe it was all the personal information I knew about them that was more likely to freak them out? Whatever the case, I put on my pretty face, batted lashes, pouted, whatever it would take to get them to remember this face.

At one point, taking the train back into town with the theorists and the coordinator of the conference, I revealed that I had been taking Catalan. I didn't mention that it was because of Brad Eppes, the man who happened to be sitting next to me, that I had ever even considered studying Catalan. The coordinator of the conference laughed, looked at Brad and said, "We've got a little Brad here!" I blushed and took some serious mental notes for my resumé. Mini Brad Eppes, 2005-Present. After that, the guys started joking with me: "Remember us when you're famous!" "Don't forget the little people!" There is the smallest possible change that I died right there and the rest of my life will be lived in the shadow of that proud moment.

All in all, it was a fascinating experience. It's truly mind-blowing to meet people who you have these preconceived notions of, especially semi-famous ones. You know, it's one thing to read these intense, intellectual books about the current state of gender in Spain and identity politics, it's another thing for your favorite theorist to sheepishly admit that his favorite movie is Mary Poppins. What do you do with that information?

Blog the hell out of it.