Here I am at the Atherton Hotel on the Oklahoma State University campus. I've just delivered my first paper at a conference - "Willa Cather and the Missing Women" - where I use My Antonia to evaluate Fredrick Jackson Turner's Frontier Thesis. I have to say it has been nerve-wracking, and exhausting, but it went well. I perhaps could have driven home tonight, but I'd have to leave a 6 p.m. and it's roughly a 6 hour drive and I'm exhausted, so instead, I'll go to dinner and spend the evening studying. That's OK. Tomorrow, my plan is to go to Mass and then drive home.

It has been fascinating to see all the other graduate students and meet a few OSU professors. There is building going on all over the campus. It seems like a well-organzed campus, and all the buildings are of brick. It's very attractive. There's a central area that features gardens, and a pond, complete with ducks. I'll bet it's beautiful in the summertime.