A remarkably high page rank in google [See figure A]:

[Figure A]

ATTW 2007 Ross Pudaloff Richard Grusin laundry detergent Session A5

Thanks to the WSU English Department's overwhelming generosity, we had the fortune of being able to travel via luxury charter bus to ATTW / CCCC 2007 in New York City. Fortunately, thanks to Grayhound, we were not unnecessarily burdened by our luggage during our stay.

4 hours prior to Session A5, we arrived at 4 am in our lavish hotel room with spacious communial showers and authentic arctic water piped directly from the Alps (cross-ventilated by a permanently open bathroom window). Laundry detergent was conveniently located in a store 5 blocks South of the hotel; this early morning stroll afforded us a rare glimpse of Manhattan nightlife. Even without a map, we were able to navigate through the unlit streets via strategically located piles of garbage ("remember, our hotel is south of the mattress and 1 block west of the dirty needles").

After we emerged from the piles of garbage and theorized our hotel shower [it's an "or" gate with zero potential for practical application], we discovered that NY has implemented a brilliant new fitness plan specifically designed for tourists. After a vigorous workout on the Nordic Track, ie 6th avenue, we arrived at the Hilton for Session A5.

The ease and comfort of our travel hoodies, combined with our total lack of data, really took the pressure off of our panel. For example Hilary presented her abstract ("my slideshow is at a rest stop"), sans data, and quietly exempted herself from paying the registration fee. While the CCCers pretended not to notice our distinctive style, their bemused expressions belied the fact that we were mistaken for characters on the Simpsons: in that sense, we were treated like celebrities. Francie loved our conference room so much that she designated it as a satellite of her 12th floor WSU office and permanent new home for her iMac.

Thanks to ATTW 2007 Ross Pudaloff Richard Grusin Laundry Detergent Session A5, our travel log enjoys a remarkably high page rank in Google. Thanks for the line on the CV.

Sincerely,

Hilary Anne Ward

What actually happened:

"We're here!" I said to Jessica at 3:40 a.m.

"Yay!" Said Jessica with tired enthusiasm.

And then we proceeded to the baggage claim area (scary music).

Crap!

If I told you that all the minor complications were just leading up to what actually happened in NY, would you beleive me?

GOD DAMN IT!

blah blah blah blah blah.

drunk.

Done: Slides 17-24.

GAAARG

Hilary chose a desolate terminal in the back of the PK library and closed out her webmail. "Good, she said. Now I can finally work on my conference paper".

Hilary opened up a blank document but then remembered to send a quick text message about postponing dinner.

The phone in the adjacent terminal beeped immediately. Hilary quietly stretched up to peer over the cubicle wall and a corresponding pair of tigery eyes peered back.

"Silence your phone!" Hilary said brightly. "Can't you see I'm trying to work?"

"Then maybe you should stop "texting" me", the girl retorted.

"Yeah? Maybe you should stop emphasizing "text" with scare quotes", said Hilary, returning to her document.

Three minutes later a black-and-white-picture of an orchestra playing vaccuums and floor waxers fluttered over the cubicle wall. But Hilary's cursor had not moved.

....

Sure! Just one minor detail: Can you drive a stick shift, Hilary?

Oh, absolutely!

Good. Reassure me by explaining how.

We-ell, you just put the key in the ignition and ... pull ... the old ... switcheroo.

Right. Describe the "switcheroo".

travel

Our plane tickets fell through so we're taking a greyhound bus a la Spike Lee's Get On The Bus, as though that movie did not suck the first time. On the bright side, I've changed my name tag to "Hilary X".

My biggest fear: Suriving for 13 hrs on granola bars and carrot sticks.

so far,

The best thing about my ATTW slideshow is the clip from Jackass 2.

the travel situation sucks

but at least it sucks for free.

blah blah blah travel. Why can't it be easy?

research update

Unless someone else has been working on my ATTW paper, it is not exactly getting done.

travelgate update -- even more funding

Super Bob finds more travel dollars behind the microwave [see below]. Note Bob - Francie correspondence for added cuteness, which becomes cuteness cubed with me and Jessica on the CC line. Too bad these fantasies never work out irl.

Wait, what fantasies?

>-----Original Message-----
>From: ROBERT J BURGOYNE [mailto:ad5148@wayne.edu]
>Sent: Monday, March 05, 2007 1:32 PM
>To: ae8683@wayne.edu
>Cc: hilaryanne@wayne.edu, j.rivait@wayne.edu
>Subject: Grad Student support
>
>Dear Frances,
>
>I will approve $100 apiece for the grad students in tech writing who will be
>presenting papers at the conference you describe. Please talk to Kathy to
>find out what the procedure will be. The larger question should be taken
up
>later.
>
>Best, Bob

travelgate update

Anyway, who says that nagging doesn't work? I, personally, did some champion nagging this weekend, the kind of nagging that veers into stalking.

And what did we get? Travel funding. Oh you will see how far I am willing to go, said Francie to Ross, to make the nagging stop. That's a paraphrase.

New - the Travelgate protest / fundraiser:

Now with angry mob props, handcuffs and "frisking".

Big props to Martijn Dekker for outlining the interrelationship of computers and autistic culture. And thanks for the pronounciation guide so that I can give you due credit for your historical research during my presentation -- this was a rare find.

notes toward ATTW presentation

Good term for my presentation : the "broader autism phenotype" (Attwood).

"Pathways to diagnosis" (Attwood cites the Yale study) is an interesting network concept.

Ie, opening line of my talk:
"The Yale study's highly publicized findings pose this question: do we attribute the autism epidemic to better diagnosis or increased prevalence of the broader autism phenotype? However, no research as explored the possibility that autism is transmitted via the Worldwide Web". Har!

It's strange that Attwood doesn't specifically name the WWW as a pathway to diagnosis.

Oooh. And this would be the theoretical frame:
Much of what we know about medical discourse separates medical discourse into two diverging categories: the professionals and the quacks (cite Faber, Koerber and Tebeaux -- use funny diagram of professional w/tie and funny-looking quack, use my hat, which I won't wear to the conference, as the model for the quack). What we lack is a good model for how these 2 discourses intertwine.

HFA as an example par excellence.

Step 1: APA - affiliated message boards and forums, or MB and forums est. by parents of children diagnosed with autism.

Interesting features: References to DSM -IV criteria, medical-model + psychosocial support.

(Note: Dr. Phil has an AS / HFA message board. No shit!)

Step 2: Individuals w/ AS HFA post in "parents asking adults with AS / HFA sections". Medical model + psychosocial support.

Step 3: And then an interesting thing happened: writers w AS / HFA argue for depathologization.

These writers directly critique and parody the medical model.

Step 4: Professionals (Baron-Cohen, Attwood, etc) argue for depathologization of the broader autism phenotype in medical journals, citing the www writing of adults with AS / HFA (folk psychology, folk physics).

Note loop : Diagnosis is step 0 and step .... n.

HEY! I could email Barb Kirby and get notes from the old message board, woot!