Networking

Last night, The Wife and I went to our new friends' home for a dinner party. There, we met another academic (a pleasant if intense young woman who just finished her Ph.D. in political science) and another lawyer who teaches at UT Law School. This lawyer does basically the same kind of work I did in California out here -- and I had been told there just wasn't any market for that. (I also got some salacious gossip about other lawyers and public officials around town.)

Networking with other people is certainly the best way to find new work, and this is no exception. I got leads on some in-house jobs that may be promising, and which are not on my job search service.

The dinner was great, too. Our host and hostess are from California also so they have the same sorts of eclectic, palate-challenging tastes that I do (and that The Wife shares, at least to a significant degree, although I like the hot spices more than she). They served a wonderfully spicy curried chicken and pesto tortellini; the hot and spicy chicken paired just about perfectly with the Arthur Earl pinot grigio we brought over as a gift. They are friendly, intellectual, and happy folks and both The Wife and I are glad to have made new friends.

And this afternoon, my parents are coming to stay, which should also be fun. I may not have time to blog at home for a while; between my parents and setting up a brand-new class to teach on Tuesday I expect I'll be pretty busy but will try and make posts from the office before getting to work or while eating lunch.