why New Mexico rules

So it's 1:15 in New Mexico and I should be sleeping because I do need to get up at 6:30 but I had this crazy(stupid) idea to start a blog. The main impetus for this is due to the 30thSWT/PCA Conference. Yeah, i didn't know what that stood for until a few weeks ago even though I've been stoked to be here for months. Just in case you're curious, that's the Southwest Texas Popular Cultural Association Annual Conference which, for some reason that has yet to be explained to me, has been happening for a while in Albuquerque, New Mexico. And it fucking rules. If you don't believe me check it out here: www.swtxpca.org, and what I've come to understand 'popular culture' to be is a catch-all for those with doctoral dissertations or master thesis on folklore, myth/fairy-tale, Buffy, comics, media studies, The Grateful Dead (yeah, not a big fan), Beat society, gender studies, sci-fi, H.R., technology, and a hell of a lot more. When you compare any of these fan critiques to any other bland old papers, they are probably going to get an A (which is what you want your professor to get on her/his papers) but, you know, who's gonna care? The Fans! The people who want to know why HIV in gay culture is analogous to Vamiprism in the Wheadonverse, why Native American culture has been hurt by Marvel Comics, what the Star Trek cannon has to say about whitewashed imperialism, why fairy-tales get fucked over and rewritten by whitey again and again and again... There are about 450 different panels with about 3.2 presentations on each panel. I've gotten to hang out and chat with (and drink/smoke/nerd-out with) people of all ages from all over the country, from France, Belgium, Austria, Germany, and a ton of people who I had no idea where the fuck they were from. This is the kind of doctor I want to be. A doctor of totally smart, cool-ass shit.