Two months ago I was in St. Louis…then Milwaukee, then Princeton, then Pittsburgh, then Princeton, then New Orleans, then Nashville, then Milwaukee, then Princeton, then Nashville, then Houston, and back to Nashville. DC and Durham were also supposed to be on that list, but car troubles prevented that. I could go into extensive detail about the past couple of months, but lets just say they involved multiple car problems, multiple conferences, multiple unexpected nights on an air mattress, but most nicely a nephew.
All this was in lead up to me moving. For those who do not already know, I have moved to Nashville for a few months. Two of my advisers from Princeton took jobs at Vanderbilt over the last couple of years, so I decided to spend some time down south before returning to Princeton for the summer. I have a desk in the department, and I am renting a room in two bedroom house about a mile from campus. I haven’t explored the city very much yet, as work has been the main focus (rightly or wrongly). As I am here longer, I am sure I will stumble upon new things, but I need to do a better job leaving the office.
The people here are quite nice, and it is interesting to see the norms of another department. (For example in talks, Princetonians are more aggressive with their questions during the talk…Vanderbilt folk are much more assertive hand raisers) It additionally is fun to have Josh and Larry (advisers) down the hall. It, however, would also be nice (and make life simpler) to have Nolan (adviser at Princeton) around too. Fortunately people have been understanding of the situation and move. As much as people sometimes gripe about Princeton, I think I like it more than most. Whether it be friends, professors, or dogs at Princeton, I miss em.
I do owe thanks to many people for putting up with / helping me in the last couple of months. In particular, Deborah and Scott get shout outs for many things from providing me a place to sleep, helping me move, drive, and just being good friends.
The funny thing is my Dad was born in Jersey and had little reason to go back until I went to Princeton. My mom, meanwhile, was born in Nashville, and, well, here I am.
