Sobriquet 62.2

Cincinnati, OH

Part 1: Somewhere Outside of Akron

I am writing this on a bus en route to Cincinnati, where I will be attending tomorrow evening's AFC wild card game between the Bengals and Jets. Besides the obvious draw of the football game, I had hoped to use the bus trip to get some work done for my dissertation, reasoning that a dozen hours on board a bus would provide me with a relatively quiet, distraction-free stretch of time during which I could get in some serious reading. And, while I have been able to get some reading done, I have been struggling to focus because the bus driver for the longest leg of the trip -- Buffalo to Cincinnati via Erie, Akron, and Columbus -- has been screening movies the entire time. Now, I appreciate his genuine attempt at making a long bus ride more enjoyable for his passengers, but I wish listening to (if not watching) Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Night at the Museum II, and Casino Royale (so far) were not mandatory. I mean, we're constantly told that we should keep cell phone conversations to a minimum and to "make sure that the volume on any personal electronic devices should be kept low enough to ensure that no one other than the user will be disturbed" by hearing it. And, for the most part, people follow these rules. This was, in fact, a tendency I was hoping to make use of on my bus trips in order to get work done away from the distractions of my home that have, in recent weeks, slowed my dissertation progress considerably. Needless to say, the irony of an employee and the company disregarding an institutional policy is not lost on me. So, I will continue trying to read just as some of my fellow passengers attempt to sleep with explosions and assorted other special effects rumbling in the background and predictable dialogues wash over, through, and into our respective consciousnesses. Perhaps I will write a bit more later on. Hopefully, I'll be able to report having made a bit more progress despite the difficulties I am having focusing with Judy Dench's voice shouting in my ears...

Part 2: Columbus

Well, the bus driver kindly turned the volume down on the in-cabin stereo system, so it has been a bit easier for me to read. Now, if only the old guy smoking pot in the bus's bathroom could've waited a couple of hours and didn't stink up the entire cabin, this could've actually turned out to be a halfway decent place to get some work done. Seriously, that shit stinks something fierce.

Casino Royale has just ended. I dread the next film... I spied a few possibilities in the driver's collection that could be really, really painful.

And, thanks to a vote among other passengers (I abstained), Airforce One is slated to blare from here to the Queen City. For what it's worth, we'll be spared Wild, Wild West . . .

Part 3: Cincinnati

Since there's hardly any wifi at the hotel, I'll keep this brief and just say that, while I did not get quite as much reading done as I had hoped, I did make some significant progress and will read a bit more before bed.

The Queen City, by the way, is beautiful.

For tomorrow: Read.