University of Illinois Press

We’ve all had “the dream,” right? We arrive at the classroom to take final exams but haven’t yet studied for the test.  At some point during my time in the music business this dream took on a new look. It was 2.5 hours until show time, we were three hours away from the gig, and still hadn’t packed the van. Then, last week, it morphed into something horrifying. I arrived at an academic conference but couldn’t find the booth. When I found our booth, everyone around me was already set up, the trade floor was open, and my books were still packed in cardboard boxes. Anyone else afraid to sleep?