I owe you a blog post. It has been too long. My blog appears unkempt, more or less keeping pace with my bedroom.

I blame the thesis; nothing seems to exist beyond it. My mother called me today asking if I was going to send out graduation announcements.  I had to admit I had no idea when my graduation was. “May, right?”

So what are we missing?

• I owe you a review on that comic book based on Missed Connections. (good so far!)
• You might be wondering how my interview with craigslist founder Craig Newmark went. (great, but in none of the ways I anticipated.)
• I certainly owe my advisor more thesis writing. (umm…)

However, for the next couple of weeks, the dominant question is “Where will I be living next fall?” I am flying around the country visiting schools, and attempting to figure out (typically in 48 hours or less) where I would like to spend the next four years (roughly 34,944 hours, for you math types) of my life.

Where am I going?

Tomorrow I head to UC Irvine to check out the Information and Computer Sciences program. I have been invited to study with Yunan Chen whose focus is in HCI, ubiquitous computing, and clinical informatics. We have already spent some time talking about some upcoming projects, including one in digital health records. I will also be spending some time with Drs. Gillian Hayes and Paul Dourish (we are having breakfast; I love that idea), and am excited to catch-up (in person) with like-minded friends Lilly Irani and Janet Vertesi, and hopefully meet a couple more.

Later in the week I fly to Michigan State University for the program in Media and Information Studies. The are a number of remarkable professors here, including Joseph Walther, Nicole Ellison, Cliff Lampe, and Charles Steinfield. A lot of the research is in the areas of mediated communication, and the social side of online technologies. Of course, it will be great to see CCT-alumni Jessica Vitak as well (w00t!)

After MSU, there is a brief “break” in the schedule. I am going to an art opening at the Swimming Pool Project Space in Chicago featuring a promising young artist 😉 (Congrats Steve). And then I am up in Boston the following week presenting at the American Comparative Literature Association conference (details on the panel I am co-chairing here).

Finally, in early April, I will be visiting the iSchool at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. At UIUC my advisor would be Lori Kendall whose research focuses on social aspects of computing, and particularly identity online (sounds familiar, no?). I just finished making my way through her article about LiveJournal which speaks to issues of identity management and impression management. Of course it is a large school, and I am interested to meet other professors such as Caroline Haythornthwaite, and a whole slew of others that, if listed, would make me sound like a crazed-fanboy.

Yeah, so which school are you leaning towards?

This is the question that everyone keeps asking me, and honestly I don’t know. “Fine, fine. So what is your top choice?” Again, no idea. Looking at these three programs I am struck at the breadth of their spread, as well as the unique ways in which they would allow me to pursue my research interests. Mostly it is a “go and see” affair, and I have to trust that sometime before April 15th (the deadline for my decision) the right choice will be clear. Stay tuned for that.

In the meantime, I think Irvine might have the best mascot.