Suppose I need to let you know what's been going on lately.

On the work front, we've had two new people start in our marketing department. Both are from Boston. Both are young - 23 & 22. Both are female. Both have four letters in their first names. One is our new assistant and one is the associate. They both started in the past two weeks. Amanda and I are so happy they are here because it means we are now back at full staff and we don't have quite as much to stress us out. The associate, Lori, has some experience already, so she's been able to just jump right in and is grasping how we do things very fast. The assistant, Kara, is straight out of college, so she's going to take a little longer to get up to speed, but so far she's doing fine.

I leave for New Orleans on Thursday for the American Library Association Annual Conference. This is my last conference for several months (November!) and I am looking forward to getting it done so I can have a little break. Preparation of conferences starts about a year out, but most of the nitty gritty prep work takes place in the last three months. It is very stressful. Basically, the prep work is me making sure everyone knows what they need to do, flights are booked, materials ordered, credit cards are down, reservations are made, and making sure everything is packed & shipped. Once I get to a conference, I have to make sure everything runs according to plan and that people are where they are supposed to be. And I'm on call 24/7. If an author has a problem checking in to their room, I get called. If an editor isn't sure when they are supposed to meet up with an author, I get called, even though it's written plain as day on their agenda. So even though I get to travel and go to big cities, I don't really get to relax much until I get on the plane to go home. I typically sleep the entire flight home. But it's a fun job. Despite the stress and annoyances.

So New Orleans is Thursday to Tuesday. I'll be home late Tuesday. I do have a little down time and I already have a dinner planned with some publishing friends. I'm looking forward to a beignet and cafe au lait at Cafe Du Monde.

ALA is also the first conference since the hurricane to take place in NO. The hotel & restaurant people I've talked to on the phone keep saying they are so glad we are coming and they "love the librarians." So far things are running smoothly, but we'll see how it goes once we get there. I don't know if I'll have time to get out to some of the flooded areas of the city. The French Quarter, CBD, and convention center areas are what I'll primarily see, and they are all supposedly just fine.

Last weekend, I woke up with a sinus infection. Not fun. I went to the doc on Tuesday and she gave me some antibiotics that have kicked the junk right out of my head. I'm still not 100%, but today is a huge improvement over last Saturday. Better to be sick this week than next.

What else? Oh, I've finally seen some of the summer movies. I've been so behind. I've seen X-Men, Cars, and Nacho Libre. All enjoyable, and all very fun summer flicks. Nacho Libre is a hilarious movie to the right person. To like this movie, you must like two of the following three things: 1) Jack Black 2) Mexican wrestling 3) physical humor combined with great one-liners. If none of that appeals to you, you will not like this movie. I saw it on Tuesday night at a free screening. Cars is fine, but I don't think it's as good as Pixar's other recent films. The cars are cute, but it just didn't have the pacing or multi-level humor that other Pixar's have. Paul Newman is the perfect voice for the old 1950's car. I enjoyed the music a lot in Cars. X-Men was not as good as the previous two (One is still my fave), but it was pretty good. Jean is freakishly scary, and the end - stay till the very end after the credits - makes you wonder if there will be another one. Supposedly, there will not be an X4, but rather, a Wolverine spin-off.

The weather here has been picture perfect this week, and I've started my beach walking after work again. Last night was really nice because I was a little later than usual and caught the sunset.

And what am I reading? Several things at once but all are for work. Manuscripts for spring 07 books, a couple fall books I need to catch up on before ALA (because the author will be there and there is nothing worse than getting caught by the author when they realize you haven't read their book yet), and that's about it.

A couple weeks ago, Texas's own Robert Earl Keen was in town. It was a small concert at a really interesting outdoor venue right in the San Diego marina. Lovely night with great music, fun singalongs, and a mostly Texas transplant crowd. There were plenty of Wranglers, plaid shirts, boots, and hats. Saw a few Aggie hats & rings mixed in, too.

Sorry for the rather boring post today, but life is just continuing without much variation lately. Going to also add a couple links to other blogs. Check out Susan's to read about her life in the wild west.