Book Tour to Joplin, MO (Days 2-3)

Tuesday, September 29, 2026
5:33am Wake up. Facebook. Temp 63F.
6am Double check that you can't take the flight to Chicago from the Joplin airport instead of driving an hour south to Northwest Arkansas (layover too short to make the connection to Pittsburgh).
6:15am Workout.
7am Breakfast. 
8am Do some remote patient care. Temp 64F.
11:45am Cross the parking lot to the Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen for chicken pot pie for lunch. Temp 84F.
12:30pm Catch ride to campus. 
12:55pm Meet with the University president.
1:20pm Driving tour of downtown Joplin. Yes, THAT Joplin, MO, site of the costliest tornado in US history that killed 161 people and left a mile-wide swath of destruction through the center of town in 2011.
1:45pm Stop at The SalTea Sloth for fancy iced tea. Temp 83F.
2:05pm Arrive at Joplin Mineral & History Museum.

Grease monkey cans!

Above: rocks that glow in black light.

Below: "If It Can't Be Grown, It Must Be Mined" -- including something take goes in the filling of Twinkies (?!)

Above left: Junge Baking Company display case.

Above right: One of a series of Godey's Lady's Book plates that tell the story of a nun. In this one, "She decides to die in spite of Dr. Bottles." (Dear reader, she did not die--at least, not then.)

Above: antique furniture; below: hand-made paper dolls.

The National Cookie Cutter Historical Museum is just an alcove with changing exhibits, but it reminded me of nothing so much as the Salt & Pepper Shaker Museum in Gatlinburg, TN.

Above: someone's private collection of tricycles and pedal cars, on loan; below: period image of "The Goat," which is reportedly the first motorized fire-fighting vehicle in the country (1906).

Above: Bonnie & Clyde 1) were fashionable and photogenic and 2) had a shoot-out in Joplin in 1933.

Finally, there was a whole room devoted to Route 66, which runs through Joplin on its way to Tulsa, through Phoenix, eventually to Los Angeles/Santa Monica.

3:45pm Stop at hotel to pre-pack and grab lecture materials. Temp 85F.
4:20pm Find a comfy spot in the honors and global student lounge to review lecture.
6pm Give public book talk to 61 people. (Recording still pending.)

7:28pm Head to dinner at Wilder's Steakhouse with 3 historians, 1 literature scholar, and a biology instructor.
9:39pm Close down the restaurant. Temp 74F.
10:11pm Lights out. Temp 73F.

Wednesday, September 30, 2026
1:02am Too hot.
2:04am Too cold.
3:12am Not yet.
4:15am Alarm.
4:30am Check out and wait for ride to airport while "Country Roads" unironically plays on the hotel speakers. Temp 74F. 
5:58am Clear security. Stop by the Crystal Bridges mini art gallery. Temp 70F.

Above: Irwin Hoffman (1901-1989), Lace Makers, Puerto Rico (1944)

Below: Jean Bales (1946-2004), Untitled (1970s-80s)

6:38am Take window seat 15F. Process photos for my blog and do patient work.

8:40am Touch down at O'Hare. Raining. Hello, Block I in the terminal! Temp 64F.

9:26am Assume window seat 11F. Discover there is no wifi so you can't prep charts for afternoon clinic. 😤 Play Tetris and then pivot to outlining another article due by the end of the year.
10:am Finally take off from Chicago.
12:37pm Land in Pittsburgh. Pick up bag and eat leftovers in car while driving to clinic. Temp 72F.
2pm See patients.
4:42pm Leave clinic ASAP to get a snack before writing notes and signing paperwork. Temp 76F.
7:15pm Reunite with Dear Husband over dinner at the local watering hole. Temp 70F.

10:15pm Time to drop into bed! Temp 65F.

Book Tour to Joplin, MO (Day 1)

Monday, September 28, 2026
6:22am Wake up. Quick work out, shower, and breakfast. Temp 64F.
7:45am Sit down at laptop and discover what I forgot to pack: my webcam for patient video visits today.
11:20am Ride to Missouri South State University campus. Temp 76F.
12pm Talk to the interdisciplinary undergraduate research class about researching the dissertation, writing the book, and how my scholarship affects my clinical practice. 
1:32pm Sit down to lunch in the cafeteria. 

"If I'm remembered 100 years from now, I hope it will not be for looks but for books." ~Dolly Parton

2:10pm Find a window seat in the library. Temp 81F.

3:42pm Take a walk around the "quad" while eating an apple.

Above: Since 2012, Roary the Lion has been the mascot for MSSU's 12 sports teams.

Below: The freedom flagpole was dedicated on September 11, 2002.

5pm Wrap up working and meet old med-school colleague for a tour of the fancy-schmancy new health sciences building with multiple simulation labs, dissection rooms, and 3-D printing shop. Temp 82F.

I spy, with my little eye, a book-talk poster amidst the other announcements.

6pm Dinner at RibCrib.
8pm Comfy on the couch in my hotel room to catch up with blogging. 
10pm Bed. Temp 69F.

Huge shout-out to the librarians at MSSU! They have gone out of their way to make the library welcoming, fun, comforting, and entertaining. There's a lot of art, some displays (middle-school students had re-designed famous album covers), and a Library of Things students can check out. Also the Lion Co-op, which is a food and toiletries pantry for anyone on campus who needs them.

German Studies in Phoenix, AZ

Thursday, September 24, 2026

4:59am Open eyes. Curse being awake so early. Decide to embrace consciousness despite the dark. Facebook for half an hour. Temp 49F.

5:32am Get out of bed and spend the best 15 minutes of the day brushing and petting Rosamunda.

6am Run two 10-minute miles and do strength training to a Last Week Tonight episode. Lie on yoga mat to recover. Water the plants.

6:45am Shower and dress.

7:25am Pack toiletries and electronics. Make breakfast. Tidy around the house.

8am Wake up Dear Husband to kiss him goodbye. Review packing list and decide you have probably forgotten something, unsure what yet. 

9am Catch parking lot shuttle to the Pittsburgh International Airport terminal.

10:11am By the time you take your window seat on the plane (17F), have two conversations inspired by the University of Pittsburgh Med-Peds logo on your jacket. Temp 54F.

11:22am Touch down in Detroit. 

11:50am Settle for a salad from Potbelly's.

12:01pm Get distracted by the medical history displays from University of Michigan, which is celebrating its 175th anniversary.

12:32pm Take window seat 40F and eat lunch. Temp 67F.

?pm Attempt to finish reading pre-circulated papers for your seminar but take a nap instead. Snack.

1:40pm Touch down in Phoenix. Temp 80F. Pick up bag and grab a Lyft to the hotel. 

2:45pm Struggle to connect to wifi. Reboot computer. Work.

3:55pm Find my book at the Johns Hopkins University Press table!

4pm Business meeting.

5pm Reception.

6pm Check email. 

7pm Dinner at a South American restaurant with an old friend!

8:30pm Start required electronic health record module.

9pm Give up on staying awake. Temp 81F.

Friday, September 25, 2026

4:13am Give up on staying asleep. Finish module. Do other computer tasks. Temp 81F.

6:40am Now that the hotel restaurant is open for breakfast, shower and dress. Discover that exfoliating hand wash is too harsh and excoriate face in multiple places.

7:45am Decide that none of the first morning sessions are relevant enough to attend. Return to room to help a med student with an abstract on the history of psychiatry and edit/conditionally accept an article manuscript on physicians with disabilities.

10:10am Discussion session on body studies in German history, art, and literature. 

12:15pm Burgers and fries with colleagues from other institutions. Temp 91F.

1:45pm Panel on the internment of civilians during WWI and WWII.

3:45pm Grab-bag panel on German body studies. Temp 95F. (Glass-walled room that didn't appear to be air-conditioned. 🥵)

6pm Redeem drink ticket and then peace-out of the reception in favor of computer work from the lobby whilst slightly buzzed.

7:30pm Awards banquet. 2 friends won awards!

10pm Fall asleep. Temp 85F.

Saturday, September 26, 2026

4:15am Wake up to a full moon put the hotel window. Facebook, computer work, and watch the sun rise until breakfast. Temp 77F. 

7am Omelet for breakfast with a Swiss scholar of smell and the senses.

8am Session on interdisciplinarity on the occasion of the 50th birthday of the German Studies Association (word clouds showing changes in conference keywords below). Temp 79F.

10:10am Present paper.

12pm Group lunch. Temp 97F.

1:49pm Slide into undergraduate student paper panel a little late. Make significant progress on cross-stitch.

3:45pm Skip last panel of the day to swim and read by the pool. Temp 99F.

5:30pm Practice book talk: 46 minutes.

6:30pm Recruit a couple of grad students to Body Studies Network at the reception.

7pm Dinner with one old and one new colleague. Temp 90F.

9pm Edit book talk and slides.

10pm Sleep. Temp 86F.

Sunday, September 27, 2026

4:33am Wake up and roll over.

5:27am Wake up again and Facebook. Temp 79F.

6am Get up and go to gym. Rue not having done this every day. 

7am Hastily shower, dress, and pack.

7:42am Early to first session of the day. Temp 80F.

8am Eat breakfast during roundtable about Hannah Arendt and totalitarianism. Note to self: read the introduction to The Human Condition (1958) and the last 50-60pp of On the Origins of Totalitarianism.

10:10am Last session of our seminar together. 

12:12pm Take Lyft to airport. Buy 1/2-lb box of cactus candy. Watch Cleveland Bengals lose to Pittsburgh Steelers on the waiting lounge television. Temp 95F.

1:15pm Squeeze into seat 15F. Read a chapter, outline an article, lose at Candy Crush. 

5:52pm Land in Tulsa. Meet the professor who is my chauffeur for this trip. Drive 2 hours to Joplin, MO. Temp 79F.

8:09pm Settle into hotel room. Practice book talk (50 minutes). Temp 71F.

10pm Turn off Sunday Night Football. Temp 71F.