Today I had a lovely lunch with Kopana and Crystal at Sav’s. Delightful conversation, and a no-i’m-taking-YOUR-picture back and forth between the two photographers.
On the way back, we spotted a silhouette of our buddy Esta, so Crystal stopped to snap a shot of it.
This is pitiful, I know. I had a late night, and remembered when I woke up that I hadn’t taken a photo the previous day. Is it still yesterday if I haven’t gotten up yet?
This is my ceiling of my bedroom, with the clock shining numbers up on it, large enough that I can see them with my glasses off, if a little bit distorted because I have a fancy tiered ceiling now. In the hotel over the weekend, I kept peeking up at the ceiling at night and getting confused that the time wasn’t there.
Here are the books I brought home today. Most were free, but I bought the two on the bottom of the pile on the way home. Grandpa Green was a Caldecott Honor book, and Dead End in Norvelt got the Newbery Medal. I got to see the awards announced live this morning!
I think I showed a great deal of restraint … though I must admit that I mailed home a box of books this morning. I’m not made of stone!
The room where I gave my talk at ALA Midwinter 2012 had this view of the exhibit room. For many, the conference starts with the opening of the exhibits, in no small part due to the FREE BOOKS. Seriously. Let me just say that again. FREE BOOKS. Publishers have advanced reader copies / uncorrected proofs available at their booths, and you can just walk up and take them. Some people really take advantage of this. When your arms get full, the vendors give you tote bags. And when the tote bags overwhelm, there’s a post office where you can mail your haul to your house.
Holy moly, this is an expensive hotel room, usually. Hooray for ALA discounts!
I’d like to see the Presidential / Hospitality suite, though my travel budget for the whole year would not cover the cost of spending one night there.
I didn’t think very carefully when packing for ALA Midwinter. I brought full bottles of shampoo and conditioner (all I had at the house) which I immediately had to donate to the airport. I didn’t mark my totally featureless black suitcase, because I wasn’t planning on checking it. The plane was so tiny that I had to check it anyway, so I grabbed a scrunchie from my purse and labeled the bag that way. Also broke the zipper. The rest of my travel was uneventful, so maybe I just had to get all that out of the way.
Today I learned two things.
1) You can get a Tennessee license plate with the University of Kentucky logo. I saw one in traffic and tried to get a picture of it.
2) Other motorists get REALLY nervous when you pull up next to them and take pictures of their car, aiming at the license plate. This dude was wide-eyed, staring over at us, trying to sort out what we were doing. I can only imagine what he was saying to his friend on the phone.
Today I took the best nap ever, in my giant bathtub. Mows stayed nearby to make sure I didn’t go under. This is the part of the new house I was most looking forward to, and I am not disappointed.
In other news, water is blue. Or is it the chlorine?
Tonight I did the Dance Central Unlucky 13 Challenge; that is, dance to the same song 13 times in a row on difficulty Medium or Hard. I did Club Can’t Even Handle Me on Hard, and got 5 stars every time (though never five GOLD stars like the dude in the video). Woohoo!
Also, the Xbox voice stuff makes me feel like we live in the future. “Xbox dance. Song Baby Got Back. Difficulty hard. Xbox dance.” *music starts*
Box Mountain — this is what happens to the garage when you buy a houseful of furniture from Ikea. If you need any giant cardboard boxes for clubhouses or anything, I can probably hook you up.
