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kip_w.
Friday was a day of much flailing about. After I got out of the house, I managed to hit the dentist for more prescription toothpaste, then the grocery store for a jumbo package of just about every household paper product made, then a jaunt up to North Hadley for some durian chips and durian candy from an Asian market there. I got down just in time to pick up Sarah and hasten home, shower, pack, and sit in the passenger seat while Cathy drove us to Boston for the convention.
We drove and drove, and every five minutes or so, Sarah asked if it had been an hour yet, and what state we were in. Our answers must have been dreadfully monotonous for her. At six, my cell phone rang.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
gerisullivan was asking where we were, on behalf of the singers I was to accompany in the Mike Ford auction. "We're right by the Sheraton," I said, looking out the window at the hotel we had been in the year before. "If the convention was still here, we'd be there now." With this progress report duly made, we resumed the task of crawling along in the gooey traffic. We got to the convention just before erupting into all-out open warfare, and I checked in while Cathy parked the car, then hastened downstairs to the room for some practice.
Then we went and looked for dinner. The hotel's bar menu looked good, but there was no place to sit. An employee eventually showed up and told us to sit anywhere. We ascertained that there was nowhere to sit and left. We also found that there were no restaurants within a quarter mile through frozen streets, so we went to the con suite, which was set up apparently to repel anybody seeking nutrition. I ended up eating there anyway, with an apple in one hand and a toothpick full of cheese cubes in the other, alternating bites from each hand. Time came for the auction, and playing went okay, though not great (the vocalists demanded a velocity that was only attainable by leaving out notes from chords). Then I sat through the auction so that I could turn pages for the other accompanist in the very last number of the evening.
I then went directly to our room, where Sarah was still not asleep. Things had been getting stressful with the daughter not willing to sleep until I came in. She calmed down and got to sleep not too much later. I went out and slunk around the halls for a while, then came in and bowed to the inevitable.
On Saturday, we found some food and Sarah and I went in for a dip in the pool, which wasn't too cold to tolerate or quite warm enough to fully enjoy, but we had a good time anyway. My cousin appeared in the lobby, and we walked to the No Name together for some seafood, while Sarah excitedly looked at seagulls out the window. We put Sarah in the babysitting suite and went to panels, which was fun for all concerned. At six, I walked into the Commonwealth room, where a panel had just ended, and found a 60 gig video iPod on the floor and no owner. I brought it to the membership table, and asked them to also take my name and number. If nobody claimed it, I wanted to be first in line for it. We ordered supper from a place that delivered. It wasn't great, but it was edible, and we were pretty hungry. Then we went to the tribble event (David Gerrold being a guest of honor*), and I succumbed to peer pressure and started drawing bad tribble puns on some sheets of paper that had been put up for that purpose. I saw Teresa walking around, and asked if I might talk to her about some of the stories I've been writing, and she said sure. Sarah was pretty tired that night, and fell asleep really fast. I thought of going out, but decided to follow Sarah's example instead.
Sunday morning, we awoke rested and refreshed. Sarah and I hit the pool again, and the water was warmer this time. We ate lunch in the hotel. The guy ahead of me in line was saying something about finding his iPod. I guess I won't be getting that one. Lunch was tasty, and I ate too many desserts. I chatted with various folks, we bought books (including Ctein's book on photo restoration on the computer), and then we piled in the car and headed home. I'd seen Teresa a couple of times, but not when there was time to talk about my groundbreaking fiction, alas.
In the car I asked Sarah what she enjoyed most at the convention, and she said watching me play piano. I started asking her what other things she liked, and Cathy quietly said, "She's falling asleep." Indeed, a few moments later, she made a kind of brief snore. Which apparently woke her up, because she started talking again, asking for food. I then produced a Tootsie Pop I had brought along for just such a purpose. She took three licks and then announced that it was too much 'pop for her, and she wanted something else to eat then. And something to drink; something (I started to reach for the water) that was not water. So we stopped at a plaza and went in for snacks, which turned into a regular meal. We had pizza, and then Sarah wanted some mashed potatoes, so Cathy got some at the Boston Market there. Then I wanted a hot fudge sundae and got one at Ben & Jerry's, and we all had some of it. We were fairly satisfied when we ran back to the car (it was chilly, and we weren't wearing our coats). Cathy started to pull out, but the guy on the other side of the roadway between parking strips was pulling out, so she stopped. He hit us anyway, so we exchanged information and set off again. Sarah slept most of the way, so it was a calm and peaceful trip home.
* I helped him move a table on Saturday morning. It was an ideal mode of interaction, since otherwise all I really had to offer would be the usual, "Hey, I really liked that thing with the tribbles!" "Hey, I liked that Star Trek book!" "Hey, I liked your story in Dangerous Visions!" Best of all, I offered help before I knew who he was.
note: Entry has been edited a couple of times as I remembered things I had wanted to put in it. I figure I can do that without hesitation until someone comments, but I'm putting the note here anyway. Ich bin ein saint.
.
Friday was a day of much flailing about. After I got out of the house, I managed to hit the dentist for more prescription toothpaste, then the grocery store for a jumbo package of just about every household paper product made, then a jaunt up to North Hadley for some durian chips and durian candy from an Asian market there. I got down just in time to pick up Sarah and hasten home, shower, pack, and sit in the passenger seat while Cathy drove us to Boston for the convention.
We drove and drove, and every five minutes or so, Sarah asked if it had been an hour yet, and what state we were in. Our answers must have been dreadfully monotonous for her. At six, my cell phone rang.
gerisullivan was asking where we were, on behalf of the singers I was to accompany in the Mike Ford auction. "We're right by the Sheraton," I said, looking out the window at the hotel we had been in the year before. "If the convention was still here, we'd be there now." With this progress report duly made, we resumed the task of crawling along in the gooey traffic. We got to the convention just before erupting into all-out open warfare, and I checked in while Cathy parked the car, then hastened downstairs to the room for some practice.Then we went and looked for dinner. The hotel's bar menu looked good, but there was no place to sit. An employee eventually showed up and told us to sit anywhere. We ascertained that there was nowhere to sit and left. We also found that there were no restaurants within a quarter mile through frozen streets, so we went to the con suite, which was set up apparently to repel anybody seeking nutrition. I ended up eating there anyway, with an apple in one hand and a toothpick full of cheese cubes in the other, alternating bites from each hand. Time came for the auction, and playing went okay, though not great (the vocalists demanded a velocity that was only attainable by leaving out notes from chords). Then I sat through the auction so that I could turn pages for the other accompanist in the very last number of the evening.
I then went directly to our room, where Sarah was still not asleep. Things had been getting stressful with the daughter not willing to sleep until I came in. She calmed down and got to sleep not too much later. I went out and slunk around the halls for a while, then came in and bowed to the inevitable.
On Saturday, we found some food and Sarah and I went in for a dip in the pool, which wasn't too cold to tolerate or quite warm enough to fully enjoy, but we had a good time anyway. My cousin appeared in the lobby, and we walked to the No Name together for some seafood, while Sarah excitedly looked at seagulls out the window. We put Sarah in the babysitting suite and went to panels, which was fun for all concerned. At six, I walked into the Commonwealth room, where a panel had just ended, and found a 60 gig video iPod on the floor and no owner. I brought it to the membership table, and asked them to also take my name and number. If nobody claimed it, I wanted to be first in line for it. We ordered supper from a place that delivered. It wasn't great, but it was edible, and we were pretty hungry. Then we went to the tribble event (David Gerrold being a guest of honor*), and I succumbed to peer pressure and started drawing bad tribble puns on some sheets of paper that had been put up for that purpose. I saw Teresa walking around, and asked if I might talk to her about some of the stories I've been writing, and she said sure. Sarah was pretty tired that night, and fell asleep really fast. I thought of going out, but decided to follow Sarah's example instead.
Sunday morning, we awoke rested and refreshed. Sarah and I hit the pool again, and the water was warmer this time. We ate lunch in the hotel. The guy ahead of me in line was saying something about finding his iPod. I guess I won't be getting that one. Lunch was tasty, and I ate too many desserts. I chatted with various folks, we bought books (including Ctein's book on photo restoration on the computer), and then we piled in the car and headed home. I'd seen Teresa a couple of times, but not when there was time to talk about my groundbreaking fiction, alas.
In the car I asked Sarah what she enjoyed most at the convention, and she said watching me play piano. I started asking her what other things she liked, and Cathy quietly said, "She's falling asleep." Indeed, a few moments later, she made a kind of brief snore. Which apparently woke her up, because she started talking again, asking for food. I then produced a Tootsie Pop I had brought along for just such a purpose. She took three licks and then announced that it was too much 'pop for her, and she wanted something else to eat then. And something to drink; something (I started to reach for the water) that was not water. So we stopped at a plaza and went in for snacks, which turned into a regular meal. We had pizza, and then Sarah wanted some mashed potatoes, so Cathy got some at the Boston Market there. Then I wanted a hot fudge sundae and got one at Ben & Jerry's, and we all had some of it. We were fairly satisfied when we ran back to the car (it was chilly, and we weren't wearing our coats). Cathy started to pull out, but the guy on the other side of the roadway between parking strips was pulling out, so she stopped. He hit us anyway, so we exchanged information and set off again. Sarah slept most of the way, so it was a calm and peaceful trip home.
* I helped him move a table on Saturday morning. It was an ideal mode of interaction, since otherwise all I really had to offer would be the usual, "Hey, I really liked that thing with the tribbles!" "Hey, I liked that Star Trek book!" "Hey, I liked your story in Dangerous Visions!" Best of all, I offered help before I knew who he was.
note: Entry has been edited a couple of times as I remembered things I had wanted to put in it. I figure I can do that without hesitation until someone comments, but I'm putting the note here anyway. Ich bin ein saint.
.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-02-19 11:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-20 12:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-20 12:48 pm (UTC)I enjoyed the comments you made in Politicartoons and have friended you.
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Date: 2007-02-21 01:26 pm (UTC)