— पांच हजार आठ सौ बासठ —
My flight out to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul Airport is scheduled for takeoff tomorrow morning at 8:00. My plan had been to leave on transit around 5:15 a.m. in order to get to the airport by 6:00. Shobhit may give me a ride instead, in which case we wouldn't have to leave until maybe 5:30 or so. Either way, I'm looking at getting up tomorrow morning at about 3:30, or 4:00 at the latest. Yuck! I mean, whatever. I did the same thing when I took basically the same flight out on the way to Co+nvergence in 2023. And I can sleep on the plane.
My approach to this trip is quite different this year than it had been in 2023. Two years ago, Co+nvergence was a three-day conference, Wednesday through Friday, with Tuesday being the travel day for arrival. Then, upon checkout on Saturday morning, Shobhit had flown in to meet up with me; we did the Minnesota State Capitol tour; and then we shifted over to the Minneapolis side together and stayed another three nights in a different hotel. In the early stages of planning for 2025, I had even more ambitious ideas, of not only extending my stay but traveling to the Canadian border at the north of Minnesota to visit my Aunt Cyndi in Baudette. That eventualy got scrapped completely after several conversations with Shobhit, the decision to go to World Pride Amsterdam next year and back to Australia in 2027, and the realization of how tightly I would need to budget in the meantime. Making this Minnesota trip that ambitious—and thus far more expensive—just wasn't sensible.
As it is now, I won't have to spend hardly anything. Frank and Amanda and I may have dinner together tomorrow night, and Frank has already told me he should be able to expense it. All meals on Thursday and Friday are covered by the conference. This year, the conference is two days rather than three, which means three nights covered at the hotel. And so, without needing to book any extra nights at a hotel that I would have to cover on my own, I am leaving early tomorrow and then returning late on Saturday, so I can spend some time seeing some sights in Minneapolis proper that I did not have time for in 2023—most notably Minnehaha Falls, which Ivan has recommended to me several times. I plan to do that on Saturday—it's conveniently not far at all from the airport. Tomorrow, I plan to check in at the hotel in Saint Paul (or at least drop off my bag); catch an express bus over to Minneapolis; and most importantly, check out the Central Library that I never thought to get a look at in 2023—that was still slightly before I developed this new hobby of collecting visits to major city central libraries. (I'll need to do the same in Saint Paul, which has its own, much older Central Library.) Beyond that, I will roam around the skyway system that fascinates me so much, until Frank and Amanda arrive two or three hours after me.
I've got a very organized approach and feel pretty confident I can make it all work. Tomorrow and Saturday are both simultaneously travel days and sightseeing days; tomorrow and Friday are both going to be jam packed with conference activities. Amanda kind of indicated yesterday she would be bringing her work laptop, and I'm just like: fuck that! When will I have time to work? I didn't bring my work laptop two years ago either. I will, however, bring my personal MacBook, so I can process photos as I go as always.
— पांच हजार आठ सौ बासठ —
— पांच हजार आठ सौ बासठ —
So what of last night, then? It was Naked Night at the bar we go to for that, and we kind of went back and forth through the evening as to whether we would go. Shobhit clearly felt disinclined, but kept saying he'd go if I wanted to. In the end, I decided against it: it's always crowded, and I didn't want to risk catching a cold from being in a crowded enclosed space only a couple of days before I'll be traveling. If it weren't for that, I might have still decided to go.
Besides, they do an extra one on the fifth Saturday of any month that has five Saturdays. I even rescheduled a dinner with Karen on the 30th to the 6th because of this. So we better go to that one.
Otherwise, I did laundry. I'm taking exclusively shorts (okay, also shirts and underwear) to the Twin Cities, as it's going to be very hot and humid. There's also a fair chance of thunderstorms and rain, though, so I should make a note to bring a raincoat, something I don't usually do. Anyway, I wanted all the shorts I want to bring to be clean. I'm getting more and more eager to get more pairs of shorts, particularly the kind with soft fabric and an elastic waist that precludes wearing a belt. I have like eight pairs of shorts I can get away with wearing to work, but most of them are either perilously close to too tight or necessitate a belt—the elastic waist ones are my favorite, they are so incredibly comfortable, and I only have two of those. I'd love to find the same version of pants somewhere. I should try and find some thrift stores in Minneapolis tomorrow maybe, even though I haven't budgeted for any spending money.
Anyway. I made chai. Shobhit made eggplant squash, and homemade naan using his sourdough starter. He sure loves that. I have no complaints either. We watched the season finale of
The Gilded Age, and Sunday's episode of
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. Then we watched
The Player on HBO Max, a top-tier Robert Altman movie from 1992. It kept me up a bit later than I should have allowed, but whatever. I put laundry away and packed my clothes for the trip, enough for four outfits even though I only need three. You never know, I might get shoved into a mud puddle and need to change.
— पांच हजार आठ सौ बासठ —
[posted 12:35pm]
