"don't pay attention to the man behind the curtain (read: office door)"

at this point it is a race against time. unlike most races of sportsmanlike conduct, however, i don't think i will be very scrupulous anymore.

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i have a deadline for my graduation requirements: may 27th.

i don't expect that the very last day will be available; if other matriculating grad students are anything like me, they will be in similar, dire straits!

i've received comments and corrections from 60 pages of my thesis. while working on those, i am waiting on similar feedback for 62 more pages.

i never thought i could write that much;
now i wish i didn't.

i also have two conferences between now and then. for one of them, i have "home court" advantage; it will be the late advisor's memorial conference.

in other words: if i must, then i can disappear for a while and work, return to the conference for official duties ..

(like other michigan grad students, i am helping out with some errands for the conference)

.. and then vanish again.

so, caveat emptor: if you are attending next week's conference in ann arbor, then apart from monday, thursday afternoon, and friday, i might not be there.

if i promised that i'd see you here and chat, next week ..
.. well, i never thought i'd say this, but i do take appointments.

seriously.

in fact, i think i'm having lunch and talking p-harmonic mappings with one of you readers, next thursday. for some reason, i knew in advance that my life would not be my own, even after my defense \: