Mental midget

.. that's what I felt like the past day or so.

I went to UIC (Univ. of Illinois at Chicago, for those out-of-towners) last night and this morning to attend a conference that is in the name of my late father (he was a professor at the university for 20 years).

(By the way, last night we went out to Redlight, a kick-ass restaurant (at least IMHO) off of Randolph street in downtown Chi-town...)

I tell you what, these people are damn smart. Or at least they act like it. The lectures blew me away. I now know more than I probably ever should about gynecology (yes, my dad was a OB/GYN at the university) (And yes, I've heard every joke possible in reference to that).

Actually, I really don't know that much about it. I understood the pictures... which were somewhat disturbing. But the words they were using.. I may as well been attending a conference in Nepal. It also made me realize how smart I ain't. I mean, yea I made it through four years of college, but these people... some of them have been in school for 8 years and are still going! Like Einstein said of most humans, maybe I am only using 10% of my brain? (OK, it's a myth, but still, a good one for motivation...).

I know for a fact I have been quite the procrastinator in keeping up with my IT skills. I do enough and learn enough just to get by. It's partly my fault, and partly the crappy work environment I am in. But going to these lectures opened up my eyes, slightly, to how much smarter I could be if I just applied myself.

So will I apply myself? We'll see. I'm not starting right now... hell, it's 3:48PM on a Friday, I'm really not in the mood to get my learn on, if ya know what I mean. But I did keep the copy of the lectures they gave me, and the cover has my dad's name on it. I think if I keep it here at work as a reminder of how smart my dad was, and how smart these people are, it may be enough to want me to learn more.

Now, y'all have a great weekend, hear?