Greetings from San Francisco!

Took a walk today to see the fireworks at the end of Pier 39. I embarked on the journey on Embarcadero Street. Here's the iconic San Francisco clock tower. San Francisco Bay is on the other side of the building. On my side, a band was playing Jimi Hendrix style rock. Maybe I should have requested "All Along the Clock Tower." (Yes, I know I wrote the title incorrectly.)

:)

Excitement and Emptiness

You've heard the moral of the story multiple times. The guy or gal achieves success and then realizes that it is doesn't mean anything unless there's someone with whom to share it. When I hear it, I think, "Already been said. Say something original." Yet, it's a truth worth repeating. Here I am in San Francisco, in a nice downtown hotel, ready to present my research to an international audience, surrounded by good food and a scenic bay. Yet, the experience is like the impressive atrium at the hotel: exciting but empty. It doesn't mean much if I don't have my wife or kids to share it. The moral is familiar, but it's true!

Flying Fish Freed by Screenwriters

The second leg of my trip to San Francisco trip was in the classic Boeing 747. Although, it felt more claustrophobic than classic. My fellow sardines and I scrunched our shoulders to minimize bodily contact and sensed some of the irony of feeling so stuffy in the midst of the freedom of flight.. Opening the window shade and turning on the air vent helped reduce the feeling of containment a bit. It wasn't until the in-flight film started, though, that my mind was set free. I no longer felt bound, bored, and uncomfortable. Appropriately, the movie itself was about how a group of screenwriters took a stand for freedom in the 1950s. The movie is called Trumbo (2015) and it gave me new appreciation for the value of the professionals who are are often demeaned as superfluous sources of entertainment.

In-Flight Dadertainment

I'm headed to San Francisco for the 14th biannual meeting of the International Conference on Perception and Cognition (ICMPC14). As the flight for the first leg of the trip was landing in Chicago, a little girl in the seat behind me started crying. Her dad sprang into action, offering all kinds of distractions. He told stories about relatives, airplanes, and Chicago. The girl stopped crying when he showed her pictures. Next, he made up and sang at least 10 verses of "Wheels On The Plane Go Round and Round." By the time he finished, she was giggling. He obliged her for the 20 minutes it took to get on the ground. I couldn't help but smile. Good dad :)