1. I just got my flight confirmed for the ALA Convention!
2. This means, me and my shoes now have some way to get there.
2a. (Barring volcano incidents, I mean.)
3. This also means that the time is growing short. <<Insert Panic Here>> There is shopping to be done. There will be speeches to give. There will be people looking at me. <<Insert MORE Panic Here>>
4. I have nothing to wear. I have no idea what to say. I am trying to figure out how to see people, yet remain invisible. I think the Shrinking Violets need to come up with some sort of a pin that we can wear which will make this happen.
4a. (These are the types of thoughts I often have. But, the “seeing people yet remaining invisible” thing hasn’t yet worked.)(Also, shy+introverted=stay-at-home writer who should really stay home. Coming uncomfortably soon to an ALA Conference near you.)(Ooh, I know! The answer is a disguise!! I shall dye my hair. No one will recognize me then, right? RIGHT???)
5. So, the shopping. It always amazes how there are 9,9999 things which are close to right, but not quite acceptable.
Also: I now have a renewed hatred for maxidresses.
5a. (Why are there so many dresses on the market which are pretty and go swish, and which do not suit short people?)
5b. (Why must I be so short?)
5c. ( And, no, the answer is not to wear heels. I’m already pretty sure I can only wear the pair I bought for about ten minutes, or I’ll be walking with a cane.)
5d. (On the other hand, canes are pretty awesome. I could get one with a sword in it.)
5e. (Which would endear me to no one at the Dulles airport. Never mind.)
6. Which brings me back to that one pair of shoes and the plane ticket. <<Insert YET MORE Panic Here>>I am so not ready for the ALA Convention.
On the up side, yesterday was a decent writing day. I put two of my characters in Utmost Jeopardy, which really, according to The Rules is what you’re supposed to do: take your characters and screw up their lives beyond redemption. And then write your way out of it.
Well. Still working on that second part.
AND, on the OTHER up side (because there are always two, otherwise your smile is just kind of a smirk), it has reached SEVENTY DEGREES outside (with 70% humidity as well, of course) for the first time this year. You would not believe the number of people just sitting outside, in relief, giving the impression that this is a city full of people who just lounge around all day on lawns. Frankly, this is a good impression for a city to give.
Blessed are the lawn-dwellers, for they shall make this city look a bit more attractive. Except for that one guy watering the hedge.
You think I’m kidding, don’t you. *SIGH* Man, you don’t know how much I wish I were.
All right. I must go back to work, but you have now been launched into your weekend. Go forth with glee.
That is all.
Maybe your characters could go shopping, and find clothes that were just right on sale…Did you every read How To Ditch Your Fairy? There was a girl in that with a fairy that made every shopping experience just like that. SIGH.
My husband is setting off to Ireland today, where he will be one of the featured pipers at the most prestigious gathering of Irish Pipers. At this point, he’d really rather not got at all…so much nicer just to stay quietly at home, where no one can hear if the pipes aren’t going well.
But I am sure he will have a good time, and I am sure you will have a good time too, and all will be well.
I wish I’d known where your husband was going to be, so I could have gone to hear him! (Like THAT’S what he wants: an additional stranger in the audience.)
How awesome, though.
I’m going to commission a shopping fairy. They’re known as PERSONAL SHOPPERS in this plane of existence; sadly, that’s just not as cool as having something flit around your head and whisper, “YES! That would look AWESOME!”
I totally hear you on the being-short thing. Also being curvy can be a blessing or a curse, depending on the cut of the dress. I got one that I ordered online yesterday that I had been all excited about because I thought it was going to be perfect for at least one of my busy ALA day/nights. (Looking at my schedule yesterday, I realized that I am going to be very lucky if I manage to get five hours of sleep a night. Did you see that the CSK breakfast starts at, like, 7:30 in the morning? Holy moley. I hope you’re staying right on top of wherever it takes place.) The dress is nice enough to keep (BIG plusses–right length, cute detailing, cotton so that I will not perish from the heat, I may possibly even be able to sleep in the thing so as to be able to wake up and go straight to a morning event), but the cut is a little balloon-y.
Even though it’s coming up, you still have time–even enough time to get something hemmed if it’s a little too long. A decent tailor can figure out how to do it so it won’t look funny. (Personally, I can hem simple stuff like pants, but swooshy dresses are beyond my current skill level.)
There is fantastic shopping in DC, too, if you should get to the point where that becomes necessary.
Unfortunately, I have no advice on turning invisible. That would be a really good superpower to have at conferences. I, for one, I am totally going to compound your problem by looking for you AND talking to you. If it makes you feel better, I could pretend I thought you were someone else when that happens.
I am good with taking things in, for the moment; most things are a bit balloon-y on me, because I believe in wearing the largest item of clothing possible when it’s hot, and I don’t deal well with heat/humidity, and I know D.C. is going to be tragically warm. I just … don’t want to deal with it. Shopping in D.C. is beginning to sound good, and I know that’s just the love of mall air conditioners talking.
(And YES, I know the brunch starts at the hour before God awakens. I have to be there AT SIX THIRTY. I have no idea why.)
Tanita, you will rock at the ALA convention. Believe!
70 degrees! 70 degrees!!!
Heh, heh, don’t you just love all the milk-white, hairy nakedness that brings out EVERYWHERE. We put butter on ourselves as kids and lay out on concrete whenever Dublin came even close to 70 degrees!
I hope it stays lovely in Glasgow for at least a wee while, that it’s not just a one day wonder.
Happy shopping(and yes the maxidress is a irredeemable)!
We had loveliness not just Friday, but Saturday, Sunday, AND Monday.
It’s over now.
::sigh::
And yes: hairy nakedness ALL OVER.