Summer days... drifting away

I’m here! I just… stepped outside for ice cream. Yes, that’s it.

Why is this blogging stuff so hard? Whhhy?



Ehem.

Oh I’d (almost) pay for cable just to have Friday night Soup.

Ok what have I been up to?

Long story short, work, some travel, the occasional bought of shopping and looking guiltily at my huge stack of books that I need to read.

Seriously, I have 11 that I need to finish by some (usually self-imposed) deadline, or that I started on some trip and need to finish because I just...can't...not...finish a book when I start it. Unless it’s truly horrible, then life’s too short for bad books. Just like you shouldn’t waste your calories on bad dessert. I’ve been trying to read Anna Karenina since September, I’m getting there. A variety of London and Paris guides or histories, a book for my book club, a book for the B L and No Tomato Book Club, and a number from plane rides or driving (the audio version of A Walk in the Woods, as I certainly don't condone - or haven't yet mastered - reading and driving).

(I will now shamelessly advertise GoodReads, because you should join and be my friend, since I love seeing what other people are reading: www.goodreads.com.)

I spent a few days in Vegas for a broadcast educators conference, hawking our wares and staring down other big publishers like Routledge (the Harvard of mass comm publishing), Focal Press (whenever I think of a potential journalism book, they already have it) and Pearson and Cengage (just big, period). Seeing Pearson is always weird since I interviewed with them and was offered a second interview. So sometimes I see parallel universe me standing at the booth.

It was strange to be in Vegas for work, I would ride the monorail back from the convention center in my business clothes while everyone else was dressed up to go out for the night. I walked around the strip by myself one afternoon, got to check out all the shopping that we usually by-pass and parked at the Belagio for a while. I even did the buffet by myself, which is hard when no one can watch your bag.
Thankfully, only heard “VEGAS BABY!!!@!@!#$Q@#$^T^Y” once, as I waiting in the airport to fly home.


Working it at the booth


Being artsy at the Venetian


Monorail! Monorail! MONORAIL!

I wanted to see Jen’s awesome digs in Seattle, so I took a three-day weekend to visit her and Atlas. I loved the city, it was funky and uptown, lots to see, lots to do. It was bit like San Fran meets the east coast. I suppose. I like any place where you can be entertained simply by walking around. And the food… THE FOOD! http://www.piroshkybakery.com/ . Yes it rained. Yes it wasn’t too bad. It was worth it because everything was in explosive bloom.


Fun...


...food...


...flowers...


...and friends!



Now I’m back to reality. I think I’ve really settled in at work, so much so that I need to make sure I don’t get too comfortable. It’s easy to spend a little more time chatting and such. We also have an intern who is working in the role of editorial assistant (Publishing is like academic titles. You have no idea about the level of titles until you’re in it: Editorial Assistant, Assistant Editor, Associate Editor, Managing Editor, Editor; Instructor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Professor, Big Donor Name Here Professor of Something). It’s a bit weird to have him asking many of the same questions and learning many of the same things that I was doing 8 months ago. He’s so enthusiastic, so it spurs me to be even more productive, to keep up.

Just less than two weeks until I take the double-decker plane across the pond! I’m so excited and have already started my huge to-do list. Now if only this toothache will go away…

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