A few months ago I registered for the World of Dylan Conference to be held at the University of Tulsa from May 30 - June 2.  I have been a Dylan fan since 1965 and have written extensively about him in this journal.  Many of his songs have moved and stimulated me over the years.  Over the years I have had online contact with several Dylan fans and hope to meet some of them at this conference.  I am especially looking forward to seeing Roger McGuinn for the third time in the last year. There is already a Twitter tag (#DylanWorld19) and a Facebook Page for the conference.  I have already made a few new Facebook friends with people in that group.  I am looking forward to the conference, but am anxious over a few things:

• Traveling - will there be plane delays?  I will have to change planes in Chicago as there is no direct flight from NYC to Tulsa.  On my last vacation, our flight from Phoenix was canceled and we had to wait 11 hours for the next available flight to JFK airport.
• Will the people at the meeting be friendly?  Very often online "relationships" change when people meet face to face.
• Most important, will the meeting be too "academic"?  There will be many presentations by Professors of English whose talks may be "over my head".   Will the speakers pick apart Dylan's lyrics? I had subscribed to a Dylan journal where I felt one needed a doctorate in English literature to understand it.  I appreciated Dylan's lyrics on how it affects me personally.