etc.

That’s me reflected in the bean in Chicago. I was in Chicago for a couple of days last week, at a conference, and wow, I can’t wait to go back.

I’ve been reading a few tidbits about personal branding and online presence lately and, I have to say, it freaks me out just a little. Although, perhaps this blog wouldn’t be as badly neglected as it is if I had, you know, a Publishing Policy and I paid more attention to the way in which I Brand & Represent Myself Online.

Is there any way for those words not to sound slimy? Is it just me?

So, the last time I was here I talked about going to Charlottetown for a quick conference presentation. The conference was swell, my talk went well, Charlottetown was tiny and quite nice, my luggage didn’t get there with me so I hit a couple of stores on my way into town to get enough stuff to get me through 2.5 days. All I ended up needing was a couple of things from the drugstore and a stop into the first clothing store I saw (where I scored a cute skirt, yay emergency purchase) so I wouldn’t have to present in my totally comfortable and utterly presentation-unworthy cords. I got some sort of perverse delight in knowing that I could get by in a strange town with not much more than a laptop and a small grocery bag full of essentials.

Despite that perverse delight, last week in Chicago was much more civilized. My suitcase got there when I did (I cringed a fair bit over checking it in the first place, but it turns out that I don’t own any luggage that is suitable for on-board travel, plus the whole 3-1-1 thing causes me some stress), the closing plenary I spoke at was loads of fun, I got to meet a bunch of brilliant and fun librarians I previously only knew online, and Chicago charmed the pants right off me. Truly. I’m taking the mister right back there, someday soon. A scant collection of pictures is here.

So now I’m back, staring down a couple of months of NO TRAVEL, about which I am delighted. Project No proceeds apace, although I have made a couple of minor exceptions for really local talks that I should be able to pull of with minimal stress.

Also? I’m reading some good stuff, knitting another pair of socks (with this), picking lilacs off our tree out front, swapping yarn leftovers thanks to Brainylady, anticipating a concert, and generally enjoying the daily plug.

How about you?

This is St. Lucia. 25 days there would be brilliant. We were there for 1.

I wish I could say I’ve been on vacation since that last post. Alas, vacation lasted for 10 days, and the last 15 have been spent playing catch-up. But, oh, it was worth it. The mister and I were on a 9-day cruise in the south Caribbean, and let me just tell you, I did not want to come home. Usually, I’m ready for home at the end of vacation, any vacation, no matter how lovely, but this time the escape from reality was so convincing, so complete, that it was hard to come back. There was a whole lot of reading, some knitting, plentiful eating, and a goodly amount of relaxing. Also? Snorkeling, zip lining, and sailing. It was brilliant, folks.

And the last 15 days? A whole lot of reality kicking my butt and harshing my mellow. I’m trying not to think of that though, and to that end, I’m heading back to my aggregator to work through the 600+ feeds in my “art/craft/design” folder. That’s right, 600+ new posts in just one folder, so tonight, I’m indulging myself! Reality, be damned.

  me, October 13, Victoria BC, in my hotel room

Wow, are you sick of looking at that yarn yet? This here blog has been nagging on me for the past few weeks. “I really should update,” I said to myself. “It’s got to be 3 weeks since I last wrote.” So, I get here to realize that it’s actually been over 6 weeks. Damn. Sorry about that. Things have been a bit silly in the work & travel department. I was in Victoria for a conference back in earlyish October (picture above was taken in my hotel room; that’s a Green Leaf & Owl pendant, in case you’re wondering. It’s fantastic). And then the mister and I were off to Monterey & San Francisco a couple of weeks ago for 9 days of work followed by a little play. Victoria pictures are here, California pictures are forthcoming.

So, it’s November, and you know what that means. Of course, we’re 7 days in already, so I can’t officially enter, but I can make a wee pledge to do better this month, and that’s what I’m going to do. I have a list, folks, a great long list of many little things I need to catch you up on, so let’s do that this month, shall we? Yes, let’s.

For now, tell me, how have you been?

At the moment, anyway. At any given time you could swap out that glass of water for a cup of tea. And add a stack of articles. And a book or two. Yes, that’s about it.

This week is the first of that four-week research leave I mentioned a few posts ago. I’m still in the hazy “I need to make a plan” stage, tying up loose ends that never got tied up when I left work last week, responding to email, taking care of mounds of course stuff, &c. I’m trying to take a balanced approach (taking a walk in the morning and closing my laptop during meals is my idea of balance at the moment) and so far, so good. Ask me again in a week. I’ll probably be posting more detailed research-type stuff over on my library blog, so if you’re interested in what I’m actually, you know, doing, check there.

In other news, the mister and I went on a mini-vacation to Boston since we last spoke (since you & I last spoke, that is, not me & the mister; me & the mister speak often). We had a grand time, lots of great food, plenty of walking about, some fine music, and our fair share of rain. Rain on vacation doesn’t bother me nearly as much as it should, we usually end up ducking into a restaurant or shop that we probably wouldn’t have gone into if it wasn’t for the rain. In New York a few years ago, it was a dingy little cigar bar where we spent a couple of hours; in Boston it was Faneiul Hall (which we were otherwise content to walk past on account of the throngs of tourists) where we listened to a few hours of great music. It was a good trip, pictures are here.

And now it’s back to research with me. I’d promise more frequent posting now that I have complete control over my time, but I know better than to do make such a promise.

For all the travel-kvetching I did, my quick fly-by trip to Newfoundland turned out to be good. It was neither crazymaking, nor was it draining. Here’s why:

- The flight was much shorter than I expected: just over 3 hours to get there and under 3 hours to get back.
- I resisted the temptation to get to the airport too early — left an hour before my flight, checked in, sat down for a minute, boarded my flight. Both there and back. No waiting!
- The extra night was a good idea. I originally planned on staying just one night, but that would have meant having to check out and schlep my stuff to the conference on Wednesday. Glad I didn’t.
- A great pre-conference day, good conversations with awesome librarians, and some local beer after.
- A fantastic hotel with free wifi, super-comfy bed & pillows, cheap in-room snacks, free telephone calls within North America. And all for a really reasonable nightly rate.
- A lovely stroll up Signal Hill on Thursday morning right before leaving for the airport.

Pictures are here.

I’ll be in St. John’s Newfoundland for approximately 2 days next week. As conference tourism goes, this one is definitely a highlight and I wish I had more than 1 afternoon + part of a morning to explore the city. I get in Tuesday afternoon, attend and present at a preconference all day Wednesday, and fly out early Thursday afternoon. I’m looking forward to the session and to seeing a bit of St. John’s. I’m also just a little bit happy that this is my last conference/speaking gig until September.

Thing is, I’ve grown weary of travel. I’ve always loved traveling, new places, &c., but the getting there — the packing, the waiting, the flying, the waiting, the hotels, the waiting — when it’s not crazymaking, it’s draining. In my world, the line between work-travel and pleasure-travel is now so totally blurred that all travel is beginning to feel too much like a chore. I’m making plans for some real off-time in August and, so far, those plans include a one car, one mister, one very remote location, lots of books, and zero networked devices. Oh, imagine!

Thanks for your Vegas suggestions! You folks were all right on track with suggestions for getting off the strip and into the desert (just what I was looking for, how did you know?!). As it turns out, the preconference workshop on Friday morning tired me right out, so I chilled over a long lunch and ended up ready for adventure by no earlier than 2:30 pm. So, what did I do? I strolled the strip. And took all sorts of postcardy pictures you’ve already seen, of all the places in Vegas you already know. It was a nice enough stroll (the weather was glorious) , but I was pretty much over Vegas after about 10 minutes of dinging slot machines, reveling gamblers, and escort service fliers. After 4 days there, I was so ready to get home. The conference itself was fantastic, but even that couldn’t save Vegas for me.

Back soon with more of something. Not sure what yet, but something.

I have one free afternoon in Vegas. What should I do?

More Florida pictures here, if you can stand it.

People in California are friendly. Is this a known fact? I haven’t heard it commonly noted that Californians are friendly, but that was certainly our experience during the trip (not that I’ve heard that Californians are unfriendly or anything, it’s just that some places have those wildly generalized stereotypes, don’t they? Like “Canadians are polite”). Monterey was understandably friendly, being a small, tourist-dependent town, but San Francisco was friendly too, which surprised us a little. It wasn’t just people in service positions too, it was random people on the street, on buses, in shops, in restaurants. There were people holding doors for each other, people giving up their seats on buses for each other, and people striking up conversations with strangers. So civilized and such a treat! I got so used to it, in fact, that yesterday I started talking to a stranger when I was waiting for a streetcar (we both got to the stop at the same time and just missed the streetcar; I saw it go by and she didn’t, so I thought I’d mention it to her) and her response? She huffed, turned to me, yanked her earbuds out of her ears, and barked, “WHAT?”

Oh yes, it’s good to be home.