Home, and trying to catch up
You know how, after you go on vacation, you get home, and then you need a vacation to recover from your vacation?
That's why I woke up early this morning, and then again this afternoon.
Now I'm at the computer, trying to catch up. The first thing I found was that the new server is doing nice things to my incoming SFScope e-mail, sorting and categorizing. The only problem is that it won't give me the e-mail from the other sfscope.com address. Funny, that. To the outside world, the site looks precisely the same as it did last week, which was the idea of the move. Unfortunately, I've just discovered a hiccup in the new system, which won't allow me to post a new article. We're working to get it fixed ASAP, but it does mean it'll take me just that much longer to get new news posted. Stay tuned.
On the previous hand (that is, the five-day sojourn to Pittsburgh), it was great! After the miserable traffic getting there, and the wonderful signing at Joseph-Beth (see previous entry), we made it safely to the Omni William Penn (which is a gorgeous, nearly 100-year-old hotel), and to the convention. To go into detail on the hundreds of wonderful people I spent time with (whether it was several hours, or only a few seconds) would be too long to write, and I wouldn't do it all justice. But that's the key to a Mensa Gathering: seeing and talking with lots of fascinating people, some of whom I've known for years (and see either frequently or rarely), others of whom I've only just met this weekend. I was surprised to see, and get to spend some time with, several science fiction authors (remember, this wasn't a sf convention), including Diane Turnshek, William Tenn, Paul Shuch, Bill Keith, and Fran Cartier.
My two talks were extremely well received. It was a great ego boost for me (not that my ego needs boosting, but still…). On Friday, I gave a talk entitled "Stupid Authors Tricks" which was all about how to make sure you, as a writer, do NOT get published. The room was packed, and the audience laughed at all the right points. I had a great time. On Saturday, the talk was "A Random Verbal Walk Through the Presidency" (it was pretty much the keynote talk I gave at Central New Jersey Mensa's convention in March). And again, the audience seemed very appreciative and very into the subject. Both times, I spent nearly as much time talking with people after the talk (and signing books) as I had spent "on stage". It's such a kick for me, public speaking like that, and this time, the founders of my fan club (aka Mom, Dad, and Kit) videotaped both of them. I haven't seen the tapes, but it's time to find a lecture agent to see if I can get some more speaking gigs. Suggestions welcome.
I only saw a few speakers who weren't me (too often, I was talking with people until well after the talk I wanted to hear had started, or was nearly finished), so I can't really recap them.
All in all, I got way too little sleep, and had lots of fun and intellectual stimulation. If you get the chance to attend a Mensa Annual Gathering, I recommend you take it.
On the way home, I realized I'd been in a hotel, in a city, all week, and was coming back to the city, and that next weekend, I'll again be in a hotel all the time (I'll be at Readercon), and that I really needed a dose of trees, grass, and country. So we pulled off the highway somewhere in Pennsylvania (well, yeah, 80% of the trip was in PA), and just wandered through the countryside for about an hour. I stopped on one road by a big fenced-in field, and got out of the car. As I walked to the fence, the five horses hanging out on the other side of the field galloped over to greet me. It was a great pause on a long road-trip through the country: a chance to be in the country.
Now I'm back in New York, and looking at like three weeks of work that has to be done by Thursday. Add in an out-of-town funeral we'll be attending Tuesday-Wednesday, and I'm thinking "swamped". Oh well, that's life.
That's why I woke up early this morning, and then again this afternoon.
Now I'm at the computer, trying to catch up. The first thing I found was that the new server is doing nice things to my incoming SFScope e-mail, sorting and categorizing. The only problem is that it won't give me the e-mail from the other sfscope.com address. Funny, that. To the outside world, the site looks precisely the same as it did last week, which was the idea of the move. Unfortunately, I've just discovered a hiccup in the new system, which won't allow me to post a new article. We're working to get it fixed ASAP, but it does mean it'll take me just that much longer to get new news posted. Stay tuned.
On the previous hand (that is, the five-day sojourn to Pittsburgh), it was great! After the miserable traffic getting there, and the wonderful signing at Joseph-Beth (see previous entry), we made it safely to the Omni William Penn (which is a gorgeous, nearly 100-year-old hotel), and to the convention. To go into detail on the hundreds of wonderful people I spent time with (whether it was several hours, or only a few seconds) would be too long to write, and I wouldn't do it all justice. But that's the key to a Mensa Gathering: seeing and talking with lots of fascinating people, some of whom I've known for years (and see either frequently or rarely), others of whom I've only just met this weekend. I was surprised to see, and get to spend some time with, several science fiction authors (remember, this wasn't a sf convention), including Diane Turnshek, William Tenn, Paul Shuch, Bill Keith, and Fran Cartier.
My two talks were extremely well received. It was a great ego boost for me (not that my ego needs boosting, but still…). On Friday, I gave a talk entitled "Stupid Authors Tricks" which was all about how to make sure you, as a writer, do NOT get published. The room was packed, and the audience laughed at all the right points. I had a great time. On Saturday, the talk was "A Random Verbal Walk Through the Presidency" (it was pretty much the keynote talk I gave at Central New Jersey Mensa's convention in March). And again, the audience seemed very appreciative and very into the subject. Both times, I spent nearly as much time talking with people after the talk (and signing books) as I had spent "on stage". It's such a kick for me, public speaking like that, and this time, the founders of my fan club (aka Mom, Dad, and Kit) videotaped both of them. I haven't seen the tapes, but it's time to find a lecture agent to see if I can get some more speaking gigs. Suggestions welcome.
I only saw a few speakers who weren't me (too often, I was talking with people until well after the talk I wanted to hear had started, or was nearly finished), so I can't really recap them.
All in all, I got way too little sleep, and had lots of fun and intellectual stimulation. If you get the chance to attend a Mensa Annual Gathering, I recommend you take it.
On the way home, I realized I'd been in a hotel, in a city, all week, and was coming back to the city, and that next weekend, I'll again be in a hotel all the time (I'll be at Readercon), and that I really needed a dose of trees, grass, and country. So we pulled off the highway somewhere in Pennsylvania (well, yeah, 80% of the trip was in PA), and just wandered through the countryside for about an hour. I stopped on one road by a big fenced-in field, and got out of the car. As I walked to the fence, the five horses hanging out on the other side of the field galloped over to greet me. It was a great pause on a long road-trip through the country: a chance to be in the country.
Now I'm back in New York, and looking at like three weeks of work that has to be done by Thursday. Add in an out-of-town funeral we'll be attending Tuesday-Wednesday, and I'm thinking "swamped". Oh well, that's life.