who the hell packed my bags?
This is what happens when you do half of your packing on Saturday afternoon (after doing lots of laundry Friday night), and then do the other half after you get home at midnight from a surprise 30th birthday party and have to be ready for a shuttle at 6am:
You pack Dracula; Dracula: The Undead; Dracula's Guest and Other Weird Stories; Dracula: Asylum; The Jewel of the Seven Stars; A Night In the Lonesome October; Best American Essays 2009; Odd and the Frost Giants; Arthur Conan Doyle's Tales of Unease; The Evil in Pemberley House; The Rookie; St. Lucy's Home For Girls Raised by Wolves; There Once Lived A Woman Who Tried To Kill Her Neighbor's Baby and other Scary Fairy Tales; two magazines; three STAPAs; the printout of Hunt at World's End (that you're overdue to review); and a printout of a friend's story you're supposed to beta-read ....
... and you almost forget to pack underwear.
Seriously, that's 14 books, 5 of which are hardcovers. WTF was I thinking? Okay, I can see figuring I'd read all of the D. Stoker Dracula sequel on the nearly 6 hour flight today, IF I'd stayed awake for the whole flight. And I can see assuming I can read the very short Neil Gaiman "Odd and the Frost Giants" in one hour-long flight. One or two of the other paperbacks are short enough for reading in one flight as well. And with funds tight, I'll spend more time in the jacuzzi in my room in Las Vegas (if I in fact get the same kind of room co-worker Rosie got a few weeks back at that hotel), so that's some reading.
But 14 books? My optimism knows no bounds.
******
The flight did go smoothly today. I read for a good portion of it, but the lack of sleep (4 hours or so, I think) did mean that I fell asleep a bit in the middle of the flight. And I was very lazy this afternoon once at the hotel.
I did go out at dinner time, though. The hotel shuttle (since I have no rental car) dropped me at the part of Bellevue that is mostly chain restaurants and shops ... and lo and behold, there is also a park there! So I walked for an hour, took some pictures of the park, then went to PF Changs for dinner and tried valiantly to catch up to where I'm supposed to be at this point in Dracula. (And yes, I do owe more thoughts on the novel! I will get back on that horse, but it might not be chapter-by-chapter at this point.)
So -- exercise, reading, good dinner, got the room all set up for tomorrow ... of course, I've been up since 5 am EST, and it is now 1 am EST the next day, and I had 4 hours sleep before departing and about an hour on the plane -- I should be exhausted but I keep looking at the clock and thinking "it's only 10pm!"
Still, I believe I will head off-line soon and try to center down. 13 people registered for tomorrow -- hopefully a small but talkative group!
You pack Dracula; Dracula: The Undead; Dracula's Guest and Other Weird Stories; Dracula: Asylum; The Jewel of the Seven Stars; A Night In the Lonesome October; Best American Essays 2009; Odd and the Frost Giants; Arthur Conan Doyle's Tales of Unease; The Evil in Pemberley House; The Rookie; St. Lucy's Home For Girls Raised by Wolves; There Once Lived A Woman Who Tried To Kill Her Neighbor's Baby and other Scary Fairy Tales; two magazines; three STAPAs; the printout of Hunt at World's End (that you're overdue to review); and a printout of a friend's story you're supposed to beta-read ....
... and you almost forget to pack underwear.
Seriously, that's 14 books, 5 of which are hardcovers. WTF was I thinking? Okay, I can see figuring I'd read all of the D. Stoker Dracula sequel on the nearly 6 hour flight today, IF I'd stayed awake for the whole flight. And I can see assuming I can read the very short Neil Gaiman "Odd and the Frost Giants" in one hour-long flight. One or two of the other paperbacks are short enough for reading in one flight as well. And with funds tight, I'll spend more time in the jacuzzi in my room in Las Vegas (if I in fact get the same kind of room co-worker Rosie got a few weeks back at that hotel), so that's some reading.
But 14 books? My optimism knows no bounds.
******
The flight did go smoothly today. I read for a good portion of it, but the lack of sleep (4 hours or so, I think) did mean that I fell asleep a bit in the middle of the flight. And I was very lazy this afternoon once at the hotel.
I did go out at dinner time, though. The hotel shuttle (since I have no rental car) dropped me at the part of Bellevue that is mostly chain restaurants and shops ... and lo and behold, there is also a park there! So I walked for an hour, took some pictures of the park, then went to PF Changs for dinner and tried valiantly to catch up to where I'm supposed to be at this point in Dracula. (And yes, I do owe more thoughts on the novel! I will get back on that horse, but it might not be chapter-by-chapter at this point.)
So -- exercise, reading, good dinner, got the room all set up for tomorrow ... of course, I've been up since 5 am EST, and it is now 1 am EST the next day, and I had 4 hours sleep before departing and about an hour on the plane -- I should be exhausted but I keep looking at the clock and thinking "it's only 10pm!"
Still, I believe I will head off-line soon and try to center down. 13 people registered for tomorrow -- hopefully a small but talkative group!