suffer for knowledge

My roommate's boyfriend just asked me, "Why, if things are so bad there in the refugee camp, do you want to study there?" [Every time he's here, he asks me about Dayton, the camp, all that - he's fascinated, or very polite.]

"Because somebody needs to. And it may as well be me. You have to suffer a little for knowledge."

He's also a newly-minted PhD, and asked some good questions about research design and the like. The more I have to talk things through, the better - it's good for me. The way I just explained it to him, it was too big, too much - but it's not really, so I just have to figure out how to word it right.

The roommate just wants to know if I'm still marrying Dayton - since she's planning her wedding for April, she's a little consumed by thoughts of marriages.

Marriages and PhDs and moving to the other side of the world - yup, I've got a full plate for 2006. Speaking of full plates - I just found a conference in La Jolla and it looks like they'll pay for participants' accommodations and meals and I just have to show up! I like! My "sick" days are starting to add up ...