When Bobby Met Elizabeth (Discourse Chronicle)
Comments(7) [“Are you Bobby?” asked a woman in Grounds for Thought as I turned around from looking at a rack of paperback books. I looked slightly perplexed because I expected someone with longer hair and she arrived early. I answered her and she said, “I’m Elizabeth,” as she extended a hand out to shake mine. I introduced myself and I followed-up with “Please, sit.” I never experienced a better first date in my life, but that is the end of a story that began a few months earlier…
I began looking at Bowling Green State University’s Rhetoric and Writing PhD program website after accepting an offer from them last spring. I paid particular attention to learning about my future colleagues, both professor and graduate student, hoping for a better experience compared with Texas A&M University. I found a website for Elizabeth J. Fleitz, whose online CV informed me that she published an article about comics, particularly Art Spiegelman’s In the Shadow of No Towers. I decided that I needed to meet her, but that would probably not happen until August, or so I thought.
I also began talking with Heather E. Pristash via email and she assured me that my research interests in visual rhetoric, comics, and popular culture would be welcome at BGSU, but something I did not realize was that Heather is Elizabeth’s officemate and she told her about me. Once I moved to Ohio, I joined Bowling Green’s network on Facebook, which allowed Elizabeth to seemingly friend me randomly. I replied kindly and asked her out, bringing us back to the opening scene in the coffee shop…
Once Elizabeth sat down, we began a conversation and I realized I never felt more comfortable talking with a woman in my life, which lasted five straight hours. We are still together and happy. I am meeting her grandparents today, so I thought I should get my story straight! BK]
category: Life
You left out the part where you wore a hawaiian shirt and Superman belt to our first date. And despite that, I still sat down and talked to you! 😉
I admit that a red-white hula overshirt and Superman belt was a last-minute split decision I made about wardrobe that day, but as I said before, I thought “Maybe she will like me just the way I am.” 😉
If you *really* loved her, you’d post a picture of the two of you on Facebook 😉
Maybe, but then I cannot show off the hilarious South Park avatar she made for me!
Great news to hear, Bobby — and Elizabeth! Glad you were able to overlook the Superman belt. Sometimes it’s worth it (she says, married for ten years to the supergeek).
Will we be seeing you both at PCA next spring?
LOL! Yes, Kate, we are hoping to present at PCA in March, but we need to get our abstracts written and turned in for consideration. I know Elizabeth is looking forward to seeing San Francisco as much as I am.
congrats bob.