Just a Sci-Fi Kid Like Me

Okay, so today was a full, full day of conference. Got my caffeine fuel and spent the morning in a committee meeting, had a quick lunch, ran to my poster session (which was great: a number of people stopped to ask questions, the editor of Library Review wants us to submit something, several people wanted to take photos of our data and I was like NO, this shit is unpublished and it's OURS so back off), darted amongst the exhibitors, took in the SF&F panel and was among the first 250 to show up so I got a whole bag of books with the newest books by Cory Doctorow, Cherie Priest, and...three other people who I've never heard of and was unimpressed by, frankly, and would've stayed for the signings...


My ALA loot. The free books make the long meetings, the navigating through horrendous crowds, and the plane rides almost worth it.

... except I bugged off back to the hotel to meet with Scott and Sean Paul, who were all, "Dude you look exhausted!" (I'm like, I've done THREE conferences in ONE month and presented research at ALL of them, NO fucking SHIT!), then went to dinner with Scott to Cafe Atlantico.

So I've always wanted to go there. OMFG.

To start off with, this was my cocktail.



It was a white brandy infused with hibiscus. Basically, if elves could make cocktails, this is what they would drink.

Then I got carrot soup with passionfruit marshmallows. (Full disclosure: I totally got that because of the words "marshmallows" and "soup" in the same dish.)



Next was a split appetizer of tuna ceviche served with avocado slices and breadcrumbs



My entree was a Brazillian dish that was basically a grilled pork chop with rice, refried beans, collards, and oranges. With, um, foam on top cos this is that kind of place and that's how they roll. This was seriously one of the best things I've ever had, ever.



Then dessert, cos HELL YES I saved room for that. It was locally grown strawberries served with...well the pudding-looking stuff was sort of foamey, and the foamey looking stuff was sort of creamy, and the triangles were phyllo and omg.



After that we went for a walk around Dupont Circle. Man, this is the sort of thing that makes me miss cities. A beautiful night, everyone outside walking and chatting and people watching...



Yeah.

Scott and I stopped into Kramer Books briefly; it's a noted indie DC bookstore. A Saturday night and dozens of people are hanging out at an indie book store. Hell yes. So he and I are going to start reading the same book at the same time, and so we each bought a copy of Lev Grossman's The Magicians. I'll be reporting back on this as I can. Sharing books is an odd sort of thing as reading is usually such an interior experience.

Anyhow, I'm pretty dead and have a whole nother day to look forward to. Stay tuned.

Spent about half the day at BU checking out Marion Zimmer Bradley's papers. I got through about six boxes of seventy-some. Anyhow, one of those boxes happened to hold her diary from 1955-1957. Because I am a total dork, once I realized once it was I about started to cry from awe and general shmoopiness. The only reason I didn't was cos I knew the manuscripts curator would KILL me if teardrops got on the mss. (I RESPECT that in a curator.) So, yeah, wow. It gave me a tingley feeling inside. Also, she wrote in green ink, which I do too! (Shmoopiness, I tell ya.)

Anyhow, Scott and I went to dinner at Toro which was a fucking spectacular tapas restaurant. I seriously can't remember a meal I enjoyed so much. Particular delights: foie gras with pear and bacon chutney (first time with foie gras; verdict = I get the fuss now, num), crispy pork belly with escargots, liberty apples, pumppkin and maple crumble (escargots? well I can't quite say what they were like, except sort of salty and sort of tangy). Scott had baby octopus with potatoes which he declared to be the best octopus he'd ever had in his life. Oh and I got a mandarin orange soda which was nummy too.

So tomorrow for ALA proper. Will go in to register, go to some meetings, then I gotta go to a dinner tomorrow night with Important People from Other Places and act like I know what the fuck I'm doing. This will be interesting. More later!

I'm playing hookie on my last day here because it is 12 degrees, snowing, and I've slept very badly and had near-constant headaches for the past few days.

I hate high altitude.

ALA is long stretches for boredom punctuated by short moments of interest, frustration, and free stuff. I got about two dozen ARCs and mailed them home from the hotel post office for about $12.

Then a colleague and I went bookshop hopping. I mostly behaved. I got a signed Gabaldon for $20 and a first ed of "A Movable Feast" for $40, and a few bargain paperbacks.

See? Behaving!

I've been catching up on my email in the hotel lobby where it's just warm enough to not run away and my head feels like damp cotton. Sigh.

Will actually be relieved to be going home tomorrow.