It was ten or eleven degrees centigrade below zero (14°F) a few days ago, but today it’s +16°C (61°F) and feels like spring. Apparently this will change very soon. I’d been warned about Chicago’s brutally cold winters, but hadn’t realised the city was quite this mercurial.

We’re enjoying being visiting scholars in Chicago so far. We have an apartment in Bucktown for the month, which is splendid, and have been walking a lot and using the “L” (the electrical trains that run above the streets) and buses, which is great after a week or so of little walking beyond getting in and out of cars. The University of Illinois campus was quite devoid of students last week, but I expect that will change. I was also surprised to find that the English department is housed in a skyskraper. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a university with skyskrapers before. The cool thing is that the offices (on the 19th floor) have far more interesting views than most university offices. Scott and I are both giving talks with Joe Tabbi this Friday, and we’re also participating in Steve Jones’ grad seminar on Monday the 28th. We spent a bit of time at the MLA over the Christmas break, meeting up with electronic literature colleagues. And we’re writing. Me, I’m revising a paper on self-portraiture online in blogs and elsewhere, and I’m also, I think, starting a new paper, of which bits will no doubt crop up on the blog over the next days and weeks.