It's the most stressful time of the year, as the song goes. I've got six pages of Latin descriptions of 4th-century syncopation that I want to translate, papers to write, a course to plan, etc. I've been feeling really stressed the past two days or so, and my chest is even feeling a bit constricted, though that might be due to the sickness I brought home with me after break. It's a little worrying, but in two weeks or so it will all be done! That's actually probably too much time, because I feel like I need to be done soon: I don't actually think I'll have any trouble getting things done on time.

Anyway, break was really nice. Thanksgiving itself was spent up in West Lafayette, at my Aunt Nancy's new house. She has a beautiful backyard, especially for a scientist of her bent:


And here's the wonderful family:


Unfortunately, I didn't have the presence of mind to take any pictures of the Kern family that we spent Saturday with, but it was all a lot of fun, and I did a nice job of not thinking about work almost the whole time.

The Society for Music Theory conference was also really nice. Baltimore turned out to be a very interesting place to be, and if it didn't feel inherently safe even in the nice area of town, there were certainly tons of police out.

The conference hotel in the background:


The view across the harbor:


The first monument ever erected to George Washington: