North Carolina

Yesterday I drove down to North Carolina for the week, to meet with my advisors, collaborators, and friends. And to attend three holiday parties. Why not get some free food while I'm at it, after all? The drive to NC was long but uneventful. The most exciting part of my drive occurred in DC in which I had my possibly dorkiest moment ever, listening to cspan radio. I didn't even know cspan radio existed. But it does. And I was able to listen to about an hour and a half (until I drove out of range) of Thursday's congressional hearings with the Detroit automakers. It was really fascinating! What I found particularly interesting was the fact that, despite news reports that seem to lump the three companies in the same boat, they are really quite distinct. I already knew that Ford was doing better than GM & Chrysler. They are only asking for access to money in case they need it, not a direct infusion of cash. I didn't know, though, that Chrysler is a) just waiting for someone to buy them up or merge with them--the bailout would just make them "more marriageable" as one senator put it and b) they are owned by private equity, which could invest in them, but doesn't. Kind of makes the idea of giving them money unappealing, no? GM is the real worry, as they employ so many people and do desperately need cash. I also found out that the automakers spend less than 10% of their money on labor (so the unions claim--rightly, it seems--that they cannot be blamed for the shortage of money), and that an economist named Moody estimates that they automakers will need more money eventually, putting the estimated price at somewhere between 75 and 125 billion. Interesting stuff!

Back to my day...When I arrived in Chapel Hill, I immediately headed to the gym (six hours in a car makes this a necessity). It was a gratifying experience, as I watch unranked Michigan beat sixth ranked Duke in basketball. Since I am no longer living in Chapel Hill, I worried that my basketball interest would wane. But no, I hung around the gym stretching until I saw the final frown on Coach K's face.

After this, I headed to my temporary "home" in Chapel Hill to shower and change, and then drove to the department Holiday party, bearing wine. The party was well-attended, and much more enjoyable than I expected. Good job, Sociability Committee (formerly Social Committee, until someone took issue with the adjective "social", saying, "Humans are always social by nature, so it should really be called the sociability committee." Huh?) Anyway, after the Holiday party, I went with Vanesa and her sister, Mel, a friend of Mel's, Anne, and Yingchun to a lesbian bar in Durham called Steel Blue. Sounds like a lady cop dive. But, actually, it was a decent enough club (for Durham--let's be real).

And yet...this place did the same thing that the other lesbian club in Durham does--at some point in the night, the club plays a certain song, and 3/4ths of the people get up, go to the dance floor, and start line dancing. Seriously. And it's not even a country song! They play a vaguely hip hop-sounding song. But apparently everyone knows that it is a cue to get up and start shuffling awkwardly, side-to-side. Ohhhh, southern gay bars. How I haven't missed you.