May, I Go Away Again
Well, that was a very fast "almost month of no traveling for work." Most of April was spent in the office doing content development and beginning my studies on yet another new (to me) subject to teach. I did have some weekend fun travel, all within driving distance of home. I journeyed over to Katonah to spend an afternoon with my pal Barry Mangione. We recorded my vocals for the song I co-wrote with Michael Walker of Paradise Fears (said vocals are on their way back to Michael for final editing of our song, which I'll then put up on my Bandcamp page -- hopefully, that'll happen by the end of the month) and we also recorded an episode for his podcast "Self-Help Rock Star," wherein we talked about fostering understanding in ourselves and others. The conversation was free-form but inspired by my Facebook posts about hearing "I have nothing against those people, but I wouldn't want to pee next to one" throughout my childhood (in reference to gays) and now hearing it said again about friends. It's a good half-hour, if you're interested in listening.
I also had the chance to voyage into NYC to see Rosanne Cash be interviewed and perform a few songs at the New York Public Library. I got a picture or two and an autograph, which was fun. Here's a photo of Rosanne and I:
The final week of April took me to Oregon for a few days. I flew out on Saturday to spend time with old friend Jim Savenkoff and his family. We had a good 24 hours of geeky comeraderie, including watching Avengers: Age of Ultron and going to a nature sanctuary. Then I taught a class down in Albany OR before taking the red-eye home Tuesday night.
This weekend, I had family over to help me at least begin the project of culling, cataloguing and containerizing my various collections against the inevitable-but-delayed move I'll be making once my landlords/employers sell this property. We organized the books I'll be selling, and also cataloged and boxed up about 70% of my remaining book collection. We left un-boxed the stuff I've committed to reading before the end of the year, along with all of the books in the dining room and foyer. Still, it was a fantastic start.
Tomorrow, I leave for a couple of days in Austin TX. I'm actually attending a conference for work (rather than being the presenter/trainer). Should be interesting. I'll fly home from Austin on Thursday, attend my god-daughter's First Holy Communion ceremony in my hometown (Mahopac, NY) on Saturday, and then fly out on Sunday for another full two weeks of training.
That trip, which will cover the second and third weeks of May, will take me to Ann Arbor, Chicago (O'Hare airport area), St. Louis, and will end in Kansas City, where I'll be staying an extra day to attend Planet Comicon. It looks like I'll be volunteering at the Wordfire Press booth on the Saturday of the convention -- and thus am guaranteed to at least have a short conversation with Kevin J. Anderson, and possibly Jim Butcher and some other authors. I'm excited!
And that, in a nutshell, is what I've been up to and what I will be up to in the next few weeks!
I also had the chance to voyage into NYC to see Rosanne Cash be interviewed and perform a few songs at the New York Public Library. I got a picture or two and an autograph, which was fun. Here's a photo of Rosanne and I:
The final week of April took me to Oregon for a few days. I flew out on Saturday to spend time with old friend Jim Savenkoff and his family. We had a good 24 hours of geeky comeraderie, including watching Avengers: Age of Ultron and going to a nature sanctuary. Then I taught a class down in Albany OR before taking the red-eye home Tuesday night.
This weekend, I had family over to help me at least begin the project of culling, cataloguing and containerizing my various collections against the inevitable-but-delayed move I'll be making once my landlords/employers sell this property. We organized the books I'll be selling, and also cataloged and boxed up about 70% of my remaining book collection. We left un-boxed the stuff I've committed to reading before the end of the year, along with all of the books in the dining room and foyer. Still, it was a fantastic start.
Tomorrow, I leave for a couple of days in Austin TX. I'm actually attending a conference for work (rather than being the presenter/trainer). Should be interesting. I'll fly home from Austin on Thursday, attend my god-daughter's First Holy Communion ceremony in my hometown (Mahopac, NY) on Saturday, and then fly out on Sunday for another full two weeks of training.
That trip, which will cover the second and third weeks of May, will take me to Ann Arbor, Chicago (O'Hare airport area), St. Louis, and will end in Kansas City, where I'll be staying an extra day to attend Planet Comicon. It looks like I'll be volunteering at the Wordfire Press booth on the Saturday of the convention -- and thus am guaranteed to at least have a short conversation with Kevin J. Anderson, and possibly Jim Butcher and some other authors. I'm excited!
And that, in a nutshell, is what I've been up to and what I will be up to in the next few weeks!