A few weeks ago, it was my birthday, so I invited an apartmentful of my friends over for dinner. I cooked a few big saucepans of soup (potato and bacon, lentil and vegetable, and slow-cooked meat), and Keigo provided nachos and pizza. Plus snacks brought by others: we certainly had plenty of food.
People started arriving more promptly than I'm used to (OK, more promptly than I'm used to anyone except Camille arriving), and going back and forth to open the door, fetch people drinks, heat up the soups, etc., I was on my feet and a little rushed for the beginning of the party. But once I had encouraged people to start serving themselves soup, I was able to relax and start doing the rounds.
It was really nice to spend time with most of my closest friends here. I'm glad my birthday was on a Saturday this year: it is a day one can be more relaxed. The largest group was from Calvert House, but there were several sets of people who didn't know each other before who found they had something in common.
Once about half the guests remained, we turned to games: Spot It and Zombie Fluxx. They're good games for a larger group looking for something more casual. I really think people enjoyed the evening: I certainly did.
That same week, Leo Kadanoff died. Leo was an enormously influential professor in statistical mechanics and in the University of Chicago physics department. I was glad to be able to attend his funeral on Wednesday, where one of his daughters spoke extremely well, saying something like the following.
When Leo was in his twenties and thirties, he thought his legacy would be his scientific work: the discoveries he made, the papers he published, the awards he won - and famously didn't win [there was quite a chuckle there: I think many people, including Kenneth Wilson, believed Kadanoff deserved to share the prize in 1982].
But when he was about 45, he realised that his real legacy would be the people he left behind. The students he taught, the researchers he mentored, the colleagues he inspired, the family he loved. In other words, the people who are gathered here today to say goodbye.
I didn't know Leo for very long, but the description is accurate. He exemplified the characteristic that most stands out to me about the Chicago physics department: people here really enjoy having one another as colleagues and friends. And by that, I don't mean just his senior colleagues who he had worked alongside for many years. When I first met him at the MRSEC renewal celebration lunch in January, he was eager to make sure I felt welcome at the university. And when I mentioned that I had agreed to help with the organisation of the Computations in Science seminar series, he suggested that I should begin by giving a seminar myself. Now, one could suggest he was partly motivated by a desire to fill seminar slots, but I think there is a distinct division between those senior faculty members who think listening to students and postdocs is a valuable use of their time, and those who only want to listen to other professors.
And he came to both of the talks I've given here: not only that one at "his" seminar series, but a much more casual (not that Comp in Sci is especially formal) talk about origami at Tom's Friday bag lunch. And was very interested and asking questions: he obviously wanted to both learn from me, and see if he could contribute anything he knew.
He will be greatly missed, but as his daughter pointed out, his influence will be long felt in the people whose lives he has touched.
Back to a happy gathering: catching up with Matt and Theresa, and Allison who was visiting from St Louis. Allison is in St Louis for an extended period for work, and took advantage of her proximity to drive across to see us. It was really lovely to spend some time among Tech Catholic Community friends. We met for lunch, then explored Flossmoor a little. The first stop was an estate sale. Flossmoor is overall a relatively old and wealthy neighbourhood, so there are frequently such estate sales with desirable items to be obtained at a good price. And frequently they are in beautiful houses. This one was not so much of a find, except for someone obsessed with dolls. I looked into one room and thought "wow, the owner must have loved dolls", before walking into the room and discovering that most of them had not been visible from the doorway. Then Theresa came up from downstairs, and informed us that the owner must have loved dolls, since there was a whole display case full of them downstairs.
We didn't buy anything, but headed to a little wilderness area to walk the dog, and chat about life in general. I think Matt and Theresa knew their audience when they suggested a walk as a good afternoon activity, and we covered several miles.
Then it was time to return home and prepare dinner: my task was mostly distracting the dog and keeping him out of the kitchen! Allison shared news of what people are up to at MIT. There has been quite a changing of the guard among the grad students since our "generation", but it's nice to hear there is still a thriving community (including many people we know to greater and lesser extents: it's less than a year since I moved, and I was active in that community all the way through).
I took the train home, having bought a weekend pass...
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