tarotgal

So after 2 years of planning and work, the BookCrossing Convention has come and gone. I've been easing slowly back into life lately, writing and reading a little, getting excited about work again (I took about 2 weeks off). But I still wish it weren't over.

I had SUCH a great time. Okay, so there were lots of rocky patches behind the scenes (not getting in to set up until an hour before we were supposed to start, not having all the moving parts done ahead of time for some reason, and pouring rain on Saturday when lots of people headed into DC for fun). But the point was for people to enjoy themselves and they definitely did that. Put a hundred BookCrossers in a place with thousands of free books and you won't be disappointed. Even people who didn't think they'd have a good time or came just for a day or two said they ended up having a blast. I just wish I'd had time to relax and enjoy meeting so many of my Internet friends! They're such a generous, fun-loving bunch. I truly look forward to seeing many of them again in Dublin for the 2012 Convention where I'll be able to just have fun!

My Highlights:
Thursday- People start arriving! I go on my very first ever tour of Washington, DC (despite having lived in the area for 25 years)-DC monuments by night are amazing, even though most of the group got on the METRO without the two convention planners we were able to call ahead to the third who jumped onto the correct train to get the them rest of the way there.
Friday- Meeting so many BookCrossers, Bally made out of cheese and olives, BINGO icebreaker (Quidditch is totally a team sport!), 10th birthday party for Ballycumber & BookCrossing (10 years--WOW!), BookCrossers staying up until 1am just to finish a jigsaw puzzle!
Saturday- braving the rain with a great group of BookCrossers on the Literary Museum Hopper (went to all the museums on the National Mall), great lunch with a huge group of BookCrossers (some of whom ate Bison Burgers) at the American Indian Museum, accidentally joining in on the Walk for Lupus (which was actually the walk AGAINST Lupus) for a few blocks, seeing the orchid exhibit at the Natural History Museum, BookCrossers acting out Mary Quattlebaum's book Pirate vs. Pirate, sharing Ballywood outtakes video that I made and getting to laugh at myself along with 100 people seeing it for the first time, judging the quiz night and getting tons of hilarious bribes and funny answers, having TWO different BookCrossing bring me wish list books.
Sunday- Having so many people help us pack up the book buffet, having Mom-Oyster greet me with colored hair, hanging out at Kensington International Day of the Book Festival and passing out free books along with BookCrossers from: England, Australia, New Zealand, Virginia, Maryland, and Chicago/Illinois! It really is an international hobby!, dinner at an Irish pub and being able to ENJOY conversations with some of my absolute favorite BookCrossers ever (and, afterward, singing along to Irish pub songs- my second favorite genre of music! LOL)
I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot but that's just what sticks out now

You can see lots of photos here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/1662430@N21/
I'll be uploading my own as soon as I delete a gazillion photos on my flickr account (I reached the limit for photos last year because I only have a free account)

If you weren't able to go to the convention and you want to purchase a Bonus Features DVD (Region 1 players only, I'm afraid) you can do so here: http://www.bcindc.zoiks.org/?p=970
There are interviews with lots of authors (we asked them all the same 4 questions), our Ballywood Contest entry & easter egg outtakes (hysterical), an amazing Markeroni 101 primer, and me taking you behind the scenes as I volunteer at libraries. We don't make any money off the DVDs; we're selling them at cost + shipping costs.

Many, many thanks to those of you who donated to help me out with the convention. *huge hugs* I ended up having to pay only about $1,400 more because of it (plus the hundreds I donated or spent on various items). So that's not *too* bad.

The worst part of the convention was that my allergies were absolutely horrible. After a month and a half of being constantly & significantly worse than previous years, my body had completely had it physically. All the talking at the convention and coughing and v-ing from coughing made me lose my voice. Add to that the fact that I got between 30 minutes and 3 hours of sleep each night during the convention, and you can see why I needed several days just to sleep and recover! I'm still not 100% awake yet but when am I ever? lol

It was totally worth it, though. It's something I'll never forget. It was SO amazing to have so many BookCrossers visit my city to share the love of books and play with me! I had a blast and, more importantly, so did every attendee. Bring on BookCrossing 2012!

Want to give me a great birthday gift? If you're registered at BookCrossing, I'd love if you could vote for Washington DC for the BookCrossing 2010 convention! I'm on the planning committee for DC and we're really hoping to win so we can host the anniversary convention here :-)


Vote BC in DC now!

Doing better today, but only because the evil project was put on hold while software is being installed on our machine 3 time zones away. As soon as that's done, the nightmare returns. But until then, I've been playing catch up and doing a good job at it.

Anyway, in yesterday's Hints from Heloise, someone wrote in about BookCrossing!

HINTS FROM HELOISE
By Hints From Heloise
Tuesday, January 23, 2007; the Washington Post Page C08

Dear Heloise:

A way to share a book and continue being entertained by its journey long after you have "released" it is described a thttp://www.bookcrossing.com.

The idea is to put a label with a BookCrossing ID number in the book and then leave it in a public place. One can download and print labels, or purchase preprinted labels. As the book passes through future readers' hands, they are encouraged to go to the Web site and make a journal entry under that ID number and once again leave the book in a public place for yet another reader.

The journal entries give reader comments and record the progress of the book as it passes from one person to the next.

Larry L., Moorpark, Calif.

Larry, I love, love, love this idea, and as an author I wholeheartedly suggest to my readers to "pass a book on."

And today I got a second catch from a book that seems to have gone all over! Virginia, North Dakota, Minnesota, Colorado... where to next, I wonder?
http://bookcrossing.com/journal/3634683

OMG OMG OMG I got another wild catch at BookCrossing- SQUEEE!!!!!! It's a book I just read a few days ago and fell in love with and almost didn't want to part with but did anyway and it found a home! I'm so happy! *sigh* Totally made my day happy. I think I might buy the book from Amazon.com if/when I ever get money.

I watched RENT last night to cheer myself up. Turned it off after "Act I" like I do the soundtrack. I couldn't deal with watching Angel die last night.

Season finales suck. They keep killing off characters on all the shows I like. CUT IT OUT, WRITERS!!! *shakes fist* Tonight, with The OC and ER, things were especially depressing. It's sad when you end up watching episodes of Dead Like Me to lighten things up after major character death.

Work has the potential of being good lately. But I'm getting social anxiety pangs about a lunch meeting at a country club tomorrow with the company lawyer.

My throat's been hurting for days now. And not normal allergy hurt. It hurts only in my neck and only when I swallow or talk loudly or laugh. The fact that my parents keep leaving the back door to the porch wide open and it's spring probably doesn't help. Grrr. But the stabbing pain in the back of my neck and shoulder have decreased. And the shooting pain in my jaw that lasted two days is suddenly gone as well. *rolls eyes* If it's not one thing with me it's another.

I got an "emergency" e-mail and phone call from my boss' daughter(*note correction*) on Sunday. She was stuck in her Algebra and needed help. So I drove over on Mother's Day in the pouring rain and got her straightened out in half an hour. She's really very bright but it's one of those things where, if you don't understand the problem, you can't solve it. But it made me think again about being a teacher. Especially as there's a very real possibility I'll be losing one of my two current jobs (the one that currently pays 99% of my income) within 5 months.

There's a used book sale going on Sat morning at a Chruch down the street from me. I think I might go... assuming I can walk inside without bursting into flames...

I'm listening to Treasure Island on tape now. Loving it muchly. What lovely language. And goodness knows I love pirates! *G*

And X-Men. Soooooooooooo excited about the movie next week! I have a dentist appointment next Thursday so chances are I'll need cheering up on Friday.

Maxwell's been restless lately and yesterday and today we played fetch for a while. He's so damn good at it. Our dog isn't a retriever so he chases after balls but never brings them back. Wish he could learn something from my brilliant kitty!

OOOOHHHHHHHHH! And I got an e-mail this morning from OLN, the station which shows hockey (since all other stations passed on it this year). I won one of their hockey promotion packs! T-shirt and hat and other stuff. I entered their "Quest for the cup" contest and the first 5 people to find the Stanley Cup on their website each day win the prize and I was one of them! Now THAT was definitely something happy to wake up to this morning! I'm not holding my breath because the last time I won something I never got my prize. But maybe I'm crossing my fingers a little *G* Down to the final four in hockey tomorrow! Can't wait!

I'm soooooooooooooo behind in writing. I don't think I'll make it a fic-a-day at this rate. I've barely written anything in the last two days and today I feel like shite. *worries*

But just so long as they don't kill off anyone on Numb3rs tomorrow, I might just survive this week...

Hi all!

I'm back home today after the business trip. It went soooooooooooo much better than I'd been anticipating. I was so not looking forward to all the new people and the unexpected content but it went so well and I had a really great time. It's rather reassuring to finish a meeting and everyone hugs each other upon departure. Good company so far. Now if we can just make some money...

I had another BookCrossing catch while I was away. WHOOHOO! Soooo excited!

Sorry I completely forgot about the Weekly Hatching this week. I was really frazzled because of the trip and it slipped my mind. I'll post one tonight.

Yeah, I'm a sucker for British comedies, but I just stumbled upon a marathon of Little Britain on LOGO just now. I quickly popped in the video tape just before Anthony Head lost his pants.

OMG. Sexy ASH in plaid boxers! Be still my heart!!!

This is definitely one of the weirdest shows I've ever watched in my life but I'm rolling on the floor with laughter on and off. I definitely have a thing for British comedies. Mmmm... and anything with Anthony in it... mmm...



On a completely different note... I had another Bookcrossing catch on Friday! WHOOHOO! The person who caught it is taking it to Mexico to release it. I'm thrilled. Very exciting :-) Totally made my day!!!



LMAO!!!! A Gay Trekkies Club. This show freaking ROCKS!!!

I met someone from the internet tonight :-)
Twas a fellow bookcrosser who had a book on my wishlist. He found one of my recent releases and we met up so he could hand Angels & Demons off to me. VERY nice guy. I was scared as all hell, naturally. Met in a coffee shop he frequents, which is about a block from my new place of residence (not that I told him that). I was careful and safe (I'm overly paranoid) not to worry, and I'm still alive and in one piece. We had a nice discussion about bookcrossing (he's new at it) and possibly setting up a crossing zone nearby. That would rock for me!

I'm thinking about putting together a fandom bookbox to be mailed around. Books from a bunch of my favorite fandoms and all that. I'd do a slash one but they're not so slash-friendly on the site (can't imagine why! LOL!). Anyhoo, it's my thought of the day. Don't know if it will amount to anything *shrug*

Well, I tried to give blood. My pulse (which is always on the fast side of nornal anyway) was apparently too fast. 102 I think she said. Which was over the limit, so I was turned away. That's never happened to me before. It always feels faster to me when I'm having it taken :-)
But, grr! Oh well. I'll try again when they're back in February.

I went to Barnes & Nobles- no LWW board game (I figured as much, I should have bought it when I had the chance) but I thought I'd check. I got a gift card for B&N thanks to my Visa Extras Debit card points and decided to spend all the gift cards I get through the program on Anime since I don't have the money to buy manga otherwise. I wanted Gravi Vol1 but they were out, so I decided on Wolf's Rain Vol1 instead and was very happy with the choice... then I saw Gravi Vol1 on another rack and got all indecisive. LOL I nearly got X/1999 Vol1 as well but decided not to just yet. I ended up getting Wolf's Rain because, yeah, I love wolves. Why don't I have a wolf user icon? I must remedy that immediately!

While I was at the library to donate blood I picked up a few excellent books to Bookcross with, as well as: X/1999 Serenade for $1. SQUEEEE! I have NO clue when in the series it takes place, it's larger and squarer than a typical manga, and it seems to read backwards from a usual manga so beats the heck out of me what it is! But the point is an X book for $1! Can't beat that! *snuggles angsty Kamui* Anyway, yes, so two mangas in a day. For a total of $1.49 out of pocket for me. Gotta love that!

And I went to Borders to see how much was on the gift card I got for Christmas from my boss (that part of the holder was ripped off to fit in the envelope, LOL). I was thinking probably $20 but hoping for $30. Instead $50!!! OMG I'm so happy! *does happy dance* However, the prices in the store were WAY too high and they didn't have a few of the books I wanted. So I'm going to use the gift card online instead. Which saves gas in the long run anyway.

OH! And while I was looking for a book or two in the literature section, my eye caught a familiar name: Horatio Hornblower. It was a biography someone had written of the character. I almost nearly bought it. But the funny thing was, on the shelf right below it was a little label that read: SEE THE GAY/LESBIAN LITERATURE SECTION FOR MORE. LMAO!!! See, even Borders sees the slash in the series! ROTFLMAO! Okay, so the labels were on every third bookscase in seemingly random locations, but, seriously, that's got to be a HUGE coincidence! LOL! *snuggles Horatio*

So, yeah, I'm still bummed about not donating blood. First time that's ever happened to me in all the times I've donated. But, hey, my iron levels kicked ass and my blood pressure is great... so at least that's something!

EDIT: Bwahaha. X/1999 Serenade has a TINY Vol5 label on the spine. Got it. Less confused now. *still snuggles Kamui*

ANOTHER EDIT: Okay, so there goes $50, far too easily. I bought: Dragonology, Wizardology, Brokeback Mountian: from Story to Screenplay, Mr. Midshipman Hornblower, and a small gift for my KS. Yay. I'm so psyched. I can't buy anything else for myself for, like, years now, though. LOL Oh, and at the library I got a paperback of Timeline that is in PERFECT condition. My parents have a rather used copy but I didn't have one of my own... and this one is BEAUTIFUL and only fifty cents. So, yeah. Today rocked in the area of buying myself random stuff :-)

YAY! I found my first bookcrossing book today! It was in a local mall... it's not a book I'd normall read (James Bond-ish... I hate James Bond) but it was exciting to find it and catch it! I'm going to read it and release it back into the wild for someone else to read.

I've got some boxes of books together for the yard sale (not my books... family books/parents' books) so I'm going to go through those and see which ones I can read and release as well. Happy happy.

On another happy note, I went to Borders today to get sister a birthday present (which ended up being the second and third LotR books... she's reading The Hobbit now and I bought her the first book for Christmas a couple years ago... also bought her a bookmark) BUT bought myself the first Eerie Queerie manga. heehee I'm pathetic. *snuggles it* This, mind, is yet another instance of my seeing something online that's put up there rather illegally (scanned book pages) and liking it so much I go out and make a purchase. Thanks to the internet, I'm sure I've spent at least $500 on CDs, DVDs, and books that I wouldn't have bought otherwise. So I'm not going to feel guilty for downloading things. Nope!

Anyhoo I was FLOORED by the manga selection. It's not like the Barnes and Nobles back in bumfuck where I used to live (which was 3 shelves at best). This had a WHOLE ROW and a HALF! I've never seen so many mangas in one place before! Honestly, I was floored. Happy... veeery happy! And impressed! And SOOO glad to be back in a city again! Or at least close to a city where there are actual people... people who apparently like anime enough to justify a giant manga section in a small bookstore :-)

But... yay! Bookcrossing book! Happy day! Hope sister likes presents... I'm going to go through my CDs tonight and make her a mixed CD, too. I want to get her into RENT. After finding out Jai from Queer Eye played Angel on broadway, I think I got her interested in it. *crosses fingers*

I got the neatest thing in the mail today!
It's an Advance Reading Copy of a book!
I participate in BookCrossing... and to get one you just had to put in your name and all because they wanted the book read- and so I did and wow, it actually came. It's a gorgeous book. It's called Wild Animus and it's by Rich Shapero.
I've never seen an Advance Reading Copy of a book before... this is pretty damn neat... Looks like a good book, too. Full of love and obsession and sacrifice... it's a personal journey sort of story. Wow... this is neato...

http://www.bookcrossing.com/freebook

They're thinking of doing a sceduled release with it... I haven't had books to release in a LONG time (I admit, being poor makes me a book hog) I LOVE releasing books into the wild though. So I'm definitely going to have to read and stay on top of this! *G* Yay! *dances happy* Free lovely book in the mail!

Maybe the day isn't going to be quite as bad as I think it is! :-)

On another note... I had a dream about a new Harry Potter book. It was red with a Christmasy picture in a rectangle on the cover and it came out at Winter time... it was called Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Christmas Edition- Christmas 1974. And it starts off with Harry and someone else- I couldn't tell you who- but apparently flashed back to the Marauder years. DAMN I wish I'd had a chance to get further than 2 pages in it! *pouts* I MUST remember to have that dream again!!!