Whither Euphrony?

Some of you may have noticed that I have been mostly absent from the blogging scene the last few days. Okay, maybe one person noticed? Well, there has been a reason for this. In recent weeks, I have been rather busy at work, with a few projects at major junctures and trying to prepare a paper to present of the Society of Rheology Annual Conference. (What-ology? "rheology noun: a science dealing with the deformation and flow of matter" We answer the question of why silly putty will bounce when you drop it but flow into a puddle when you leave it on the table for a few minutes.) So, last Friday I flew up to Portland, Maine for the start of a long week of learning.

I actually started the conference off with a short course (all day Saturday and Sunday) and the formal conference runs from 8-6 Monday through Thursday, with events every evening. I presented my paper Tuesday afternoon, so it's all downhill from there. You can equate this experience to cramming a full course load of advanced graduate classes for one semester into one fast-paced week. My head is swollen (not from ego) and may explode at any time now.

Portland, itself, is very nice. The weather is about what we get in the dead of winter in Houston (high of 60, low of 40) with the exception that every day has been clear and sunny (so far). You might be interested to know that Portland is the home of Rear Admiral John Martin Feeney, who served in World War II. But, he is much better know for his career after the Navy, where he took the name John Ford and won six little statuettes called "Oscars". The picture to the left is a statue erected in his honor in Portland.

The conference is over tomorrow, and Mrs. Euphrony is (trying) to fly up tonight to meet me here. After several last-minute flight changes, she should get here around 11 pm and we will have a four-day weekend here in lovely Maine to enjoy the leaves, the apples, the chowder, the lobster, and Little Euphrony being with the grandparents.

Sometime soon, I'll be a regular blogger again. No hurry, though.

Tags: Portland, Maine, John Ford, Rheology, Houston, Euphrony, Conference