Debbie (Olin prof) was driving into Cambridge for a book reading right after the workshop at Olin, so I went with her and we had a good conversation about institutional change and the timescales therein, and the tradeoffs one makes (or doesn't) when figuring out how to shape a career to maximize both happiness and impact. (That should be pretty easy for me, since making a difference makes me happy.)
Afterwards, I spent some time walking around Harvard Square as it turned into dusk. There were street musicians on every block, and the gentle rush of many different sorts of people over the cobblestones and past the stores and signs was comfortingly familiar. I sat on the low wall right outside the train station and watched the world go by a bit. Perfect weather - warm, with a bit of breeze. Slightly humid. Someone had left sidewalk chalk by a wall covered with random chalk scrawls, so I grabbed a chunk and transcribed some of "Sea Fever" onto it, then caught the train back home, walking to Eliot in the dark.
Mostly did reading tonight - input on all I have to catch up on. I'm blinking now and starting to slow down considerably while typing, as it's been a long day (but a good one) so I'm going to take a nap and then wake up and write the output that I need to write, hopefully with more coherency, conciseness, and much higher speed.