is this good news?

Oh no! Just as I'm freaking out about writing this paper due tomorrow, I find out I have to write another paper over the summer. I just got confirmation that my abstract has been accepted for the SACRPH conference in October. I was previously brilliant and thought I'd have the paper for this class to use for that conference ('cause it was supposed to be about the same thing). Unfortunately, I've gone astray. I'm going to have to do a lot of work over the summer to shape it up (to take it from some sort of theoretical drivel to a history rooted in some serious research). But you know what, this is good for me. If I can't write this paper over the summer on my own time, I probably have no business being a professor.

This means I get to go to Portland, Maine. Oh how that's going to be a tough journey to make for an extended weekend. Could there be any farther city (within the U.S.) from Los Angeles?