day to day jackdaw

back home

reading: The Sluts by Dennis Cooper

listening: local college radio

OK, so I've actually been back home for a little under a week now. Not a single trip I had was a direct flight, so I've been on a dozen planes in the last month. I'm very, very tired of airports and flying.

My last trip was to go to a conference I presented at. It was a really fun time and I was glad to get in contact with people with similar research interests to mine, plus it was a good experience to be part of an academic roundtable for the first time. This was in Philly, which is a beautiful city--walking around was refreshing, especially since there was something interesting to explore around just about every corner.

I did get some sort of virus while traveling, which I'm over now. It did knock me out for a few days. I took a COVID test when I got home and tested negative, so it was likely some other sort of bug. I haven't gotten sick often since 2019--I still mask up most places, particularly in the classroom and in crowded spaces like concerts--so I don't catch things from others often. I forgot how annoying it is to get a cold! The cough from this bug is still lingering, but I thankfully have no need for medicine or lozenges anymore.

Because I got sick and was visiting campuses and going to a conference, I didn't get as much of an opportunity to sightsee as I typically do. Still, I did get to do some of my favorite things while traveling--like checking out local restaurants and cafes. I try to avoid chains while traveling, unless it's a chain I don't have locally. Why bother going to some fast food joint or sit-down place if they're literally supposed to be the same everywhere they're available? If I need something safe and easy to grab quickly, sure--but I'm not going to go out of my way to find the nearest McBurger spot.

Coffee places are some of my favorite places generally, and checking out stores that roast their own beans is even better. I can be a coffee snob, so fresh beans bring me a lot of joy. I think my favorite roast that I've found within the last year is from Mukilteo Coffee Roasters in Washington--their self-named roast is REALLY nice.

I didn't get a huge opportunity to seek out and bring back coffee from my trips this time, but I did get some loose-leaf tea that I hadn't found before--one flavored like lilac, and a dupe of Russian Georgian black tea. The Russian Georgian one has an interesting history--the USSR didn't want to import teas from China or India and wanted to grow their own, so they started up plantations in Georgia to create their own supply. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, many of those plantations have grown wild, but there are still some producers out there. The leaves I got were cheap enough that they were likely replication blends, rather than truly from Georgia, but it's still good--there's a slight medicinal flavor that I like a lot. T is a huge tea drinker, and though he wasn't the biggest fan of the Russian Georgian tea, he did like the lilac one just fine.

My other favorite thing to do while traveling is visiting used bookstores (or used media stores in general). Local communities tend to define the stock these places have available, so each one is going to be pretty damn different from others, even in the same city. My favorite bookstores are the ones that feel like labyrinths to navigate, and/or have cats. The local used bookstore I go to fairly regularly is a bit more clearly laid-out than others and easier to move around in, but I've still found a lot of treasures there. The book that was most important to me while coming out and transitioning (Body Alchemy by Loren Cameron) came from this local store, and it still occupies a place of honor in my collection.

This time around I brought back quite a few books--a mix of used and new, since the conference had an exhibit room with tons of amazing titles for sale. That was a dangerous room to visit! I found a copy of Jack Halberstam's latest book, as well as a history of myths of dog-headed people, another transition memoir, among plenty of others. During my last day in Philly, I also was glad to get to visit Giovanni's Room, where I found The Sluts by Dennis Cooper. He's one of those authors whose works I adore because they make me feel so uncomfortable and gross, but it's really hard to recommend his titles to people, lol.

The one disappointment I had while traveling is that virtually none of the bookstores I visited sell cool stickers with their shop's name or logo on them! I collect stickers from bookstores I visit and slap them up onto one of my bookshelves, and it's honestly one of the things I look forward to most while traveling. On the bright side, I did manage to find and bring home a lucky cat--which I also seek out, but only on travels. (It was from the airport in Chicago, but I think it still counts.)

It's now spring break, and while I don't need to go anywhere over this week, I do still have a lot of work to get done on my thesis and to catch up on assignments for classes--both classes I teach, and ones where I'm a student. It's going to be busy, but I still wanted to take this opportunity to update this blog while all this was fresh in my head.