8 Days Later…

…and I’m back. I just spent the last five days of my 8 day break from Centre County at the New Media Consortium conference in Cleveland. Until I arrived, I really considered Cleveland to be a complete void. I mean, it’s the Midwest. There can’t possibly be anything there. However, the Crocker Park shopping center in West Lake (first stop) quickly changed my mind. I spent a ton of money on clothes and got to hit up Trader Joe’s…all on foot. Fantastic. The NMC closed down the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for us to have a party, I attended a gallery opening at MOCA, hung out at B-Sides in Euclid Heights with Brandon and got to tour The Cleveland Institute of Art…where I’m applying for a job tomorrow. I mean, like any city, there are ghettos and littered streets…but it’s a city. And that equals wonderful in my book.

So…the conference itself was actually a lot of fun. I attended some interesting workshops and hands-on sessions. I learned that Aperture is one of the best programs Apple has released in a long time. Hannah and I won a gong for presenting about the Studio at “Five Minutes of Fame” and then schmoozed like fiends at the reception after. Met all kinds of interesting people from literally everywhere imaginable. Yep…good stuff. A+ Will Attend AGAIN.

Now I am home. I took about 145 trips up and down the stairs tonight, glared at my landlord, cleaned my car and my home and now I’m fighting off the sleep. It’s going to be a losing battle, that I can assure you.