Proof of Greenland, Part 5

More from Prince Christians Sound and Nuuk.



Crazy dad in the jacuzzi. Mom and I didn't let him stay in too long because he was turning bright lobster red.



The weather had turned by the time we were coming out of the pass back into the Atlantic. It was extremely windy and even my stocking cap was in danger of being plucked from my head. It also suddenly sleeted - or very small hail - when we were on deck during this photo. We exited the pass around noon and continued up the west coast of Greenland to Nuuk, where we woke up the next morning.



Nuuk, Greenland. Capital city. Population approx. 20,000. I think boats outnumberd cars in this town. We were dropped off on the other side of town than the ship in the "old town" part. It was a very walkable, small place, so we also ventured into the new part where the shopping centers were. More on that with another picture. Mom and I are the two figures to the right of the flagpole.



Mom and I looking out at the other harbor of Nuuk. The old town is behind us. Most of the buildings in Nuuk were very brightly painted. Almost everything was very well maintained, too. On our way up to this hill, we passed some locals who were sitting at a picnic table. They asked mom where we were from and so forth. The people in Nuuk seemed very friendly and glad to have us visiting. Later, when we were back on ship, I saw boats pulling up along side our ship yelling up to the people asking where the ship was from, where we'd been, and where we're going. Very curious people who I don't think see many international visitors.

Proof of Greenland, Part 4

After a day at sea, we entered Prince Christians Sound. The sound is at the very tippy tip of Greenland. We sailed through this narrow passage for about four hours. It was chock full of icebergs, several glaciers, towering ragged snow-dusted mountains, and the most remote village I've ever seen. Again, we had excellent weather but it was cold. Very cold. Dad called and woke me up at dawn. I literally rolled out of bed, threw on clothes and my hat and met him up on the bridge for the best view in town. We spent quite a bit of time up on the bridge until our bellies demanded some food. We spent the rest of the pass up on deck in the cold because it was just too beautiful to see from behind glass. I've picked out what I think are some of the highlights from this, but it will probably spill over into two posts.



Me out on the starboard wing of the bridge with a big iceberg. The icebergs were plentiful. Most were smaller than this one. All of them were brilliant white from a distance, but when you got right up to them, they were actually very light blue-turquoise. They also changed shape. From a distance it was impossible to tell that this one was horseshoe shaped. They are very deceiving. I think this picture was taken between 6-7AM.



Mom and me after eating some breakfast. The pass opened up about midway. As you can see, it was a beautiful morning but cold.




Can you see the village behind the rock at the foot of this mountain? We actually saw a single person in a zodiac quite away from this village earlier in the morning, and presume this is the only place he could have come from. I looked at this village through binoculars, and saw that many people were standing outside their homes watching us. I couldn't imagine living here where the only way in or out is by boat or seaplane.



Oooh, pretty.

Proof of Greenland, Part 3B

More from Iceland.



This is at a national park where the two continental plates are splitting apart. The cliff on the left side of the picture is the European plate. This spot was also used by the Vikings as a meeting ground for governmental purposes.



Between the plates is a valley. This is the land that is actually widening and sinking as the plates move apart. As you can see, there are no trees. After we left Scotland, we visited countries with no natural trees. Any trees in the Faeroes, Iceland, and Greenland have been planted. Our guide in Iceland told us two jokes about Icelandic forests. Wanna hear them? Okay. Joke #1: What do you call two trees standing together in Iceland? A forest! Joke #2, which isn't much better than joke #1: What do you do if you're lost in an Icelandic forest? Stand up! (The trees that are in Iceland aren't very big.)



It may be hard to see in this picture, but if you look carefully, you can see the American plate in the background. It's the dark streak on the distant hills.

Proof of Greenland, Part 3

These are all photos from our Iceland leg.



Pretty scenery as we sailed into Reykjavic in the early morning hours.



Mom and me at the top of the world overlooking Reykjavic in one direction and Icelandic landscape the other. Notice the low clouds behind us.



This is how we got to the top of the world. We were part of a three vehicle tour and we rode in this jacked up Ford Excursion. Our tour guide, named Gummi - see the license plate? - had this shipped over from a dealer in Norfolk, Viriginia. Mom and I are inside the truck and I'm waving.



One of the power plants that converts the geothermal energy into electricity. This engineering was very impressive. The entire country has a network of giant steam pipes that run to and from these powerplants to homes & businesses. Almost, but not all, of the homes in Iceland get their heat and power from geothermal sources.



This is me at an overlook with several thermal vents behind me. You can also see some of the steam pipes going up the mountain.

Proof of Greenland, Part 2

More pictures! These are all from the Faeroe Islands.



This is one of many historic black churches through the Faeroes. They are all teeny, black painted, have the grass on the roof. Our guide is the blond woman opening the door. As you can see from the other people in the picture, mom, dad, and I were some of the younger people on the cruise.



The Faeroe Islands are a volcanic island group, like Hawaii. I actually thought the islands looked like Hawaii but without the trees & tropical vegetation. The islands have many, many streams/waterfalls like this one. We have stopped at a "farm" that really consists of a few buildings. These two small buildings are smokehouses. We were told by our guide that the islands get rain almost all year round but we were lucky to have arrived on one of the few sunny days.



If you look up "bleak" in the dictionary, I believe this is the photo that accompanies the definition. Very pretty but so isolated. It was wind and cold on this side of the island.



Here is our ship behind the capital city of Torshavn. Our tour was in the afternoon, so that morning, we walked around the city.

Finally, proof of Greenland

Howdy folks. In case you've given up on this blog getting updated, I disappoint you by posting some pictures from my vacation. Since blogger only lets me post a few pics at a time, I'll spread these out in several posts. I'll cover Scotland in this post. Grab your passports, let's get started.



Day 1. Me at Edinburgh Castle's port cullis before the rain started. We actually had pretty good weather the entire vacation. We only had rain in Edinburgh, a little at sea, and in NY. Those cobblestones I'm standing on are original and date back to Robert the Bruce's day, which I think was about the 12th century.



Day 2. This is the ruins of Castle Urquardt (sp?) on Loch Ness. You can't see us, but Mom and I are at the top of the tower. It was very windy.



The castle, Loch Ness, et moi. Can you believe some guy blew up the castle on purpose just so no one else could steal it from him?



Day 2, continued. My Scottish friends. These are the native Highland cows. Obviously, I dig their hairdos.

Anniversary and more

I realized that I've been keeping this blog for a year now. The anniversary was 9/28. Wow. How fast a year went. I wasn't the best at keeping things up to date, but I hope you got an idea of what the last year was like. If anything, you realize that I have free time in which to keep up a blog. Sort of.

So I haven't given you any more info about the mega vacation trip like I promised. It's my dad's fault. I'm waiting to get 600 or so pictures from him so I can put a few up to illustrate my tale. Pictures make things way more interesting.

Until then, adieu.

Currently reading:
The Best of Everything

"The holy square of power."

That's what my friend and coworker Roseleigh said about this:



This image came up during an e-mail converstaion I was having with Roseleigh and two other friends & coworkers, Steve and Michelle. We were discussing a recent zombie rights march that took place in Austin and was protested by pirates.


Yeah, I work with weird people.

Back in the USA

Well, I'm back. Sort of. I'm actually still in NYC. The ship arrived at the pier in Manhattan around 7:30 a.m. I've been up since 4:30 a.m. Why would I voluntarily get out of bed at that inhuman hour? Because we were scheduled to sail into New York Harbor around 5. I've arrived in NYC by plane, car, and train. I've never arrived by ocean liner and I wasn't going to sleep through it. Since sunrise was not until about 6:30, we approached the city in the dark. And the rain. I didn't realize it was raining until I was out on the deck. I wrapped a pool towel over by head and shoulders and very much felt like part of a "huddled mass" since there were several others on deck with the same rain protection. We sailed under a lit up Verazanno bridge (connects Staten Island and Brooklyn and you probably know it as the starting line for the NYC Marathon) and I could spot Lady Liberty's torch through the rain. It was still a ways off and the lights of Manhattan were not even penetrating the dark yet. We were escorted by a tiny USCG boat - there to protect us should any wacko terrorist decide to crash into the ship. I watched the Staten Island ferry cross the harbor in front of us and find it's dock on SI. Mom and Dad joined me after the bridge but before we got to Lady Liberty. They brought an umbrella. Smart. Very smart. By the time we got to Liberty Island, there were many passengers out on deck. We all bellied up to the port side rail for a look. Crew members were out on the very tip of the bow (like in Titanic) getting their look, too. The sun was still not up. As Liberty fell behind us, downtown Manhattan started to form. The lights of the financial district and the skyscrapers were visible. Ground Zero is lit in perpetual flood light and that spot was the brightest. We sailed very, very slowly up the Hudson and it started to get light out. I ate a quick breakfast and then got back down to the deck to watch some more of Manhattan go by in the rain. When it was time to finally disembark, I went before Mom & Dad because I was staying in the city. I was an "independent traveler" rather than one who needed a transfer to a hotel or airport. But there were many independent travelers, and I had to stand around for about an hour for a taxi. I would have walked to the subway if it hadn't been raining.

And so that is the story of the end of our trans-Atlantic journey. I think I will dish out what happened along the way in reverse. My next entry (which might immediately follow this one) will cover Greenland and the four days at sea before arriving in NYC.

Bon Voyage

Dear Readers,

I am going on a little vacation this Wednesday. I’m off to places in Northern Europe that end in –land, except for Ireland and Finland. Finland, Finland, Finland. Apologies for that Monty Python moment.

I wish I had something really interesting to tell you before I go, but I really don’t. My past couple of weeks have consisted of shopping for clothes to wear on this vacation. I’ve bought some very fancy & pretty formal wear, a couple new jackets, and a really awesome pair of shoes that I don’t need at all. I’ve had vacation on the brain and not much else. A few things have made my radar outside of vacation though: The events in the Middle East – Lebanon/Israel, kidnapped journalists, mid-air terrorist threats, Iran - Korea and their scary nuke stuff, the downgrading of Pluto to a non-planet (what’s up with that?), this new ridiculous Survivor pitting four “races” against each other, Project Runway and it’s increasingly inane challenges, idiotic things said by Ray Nagin, that creepy beyond creepy John Mark Karr and the resurfacing of JonBenet, the CRJ crash in Lexington. I did skip the Emmys last night out of principal. Nope. I watched Entourage at 7 (the East coast showing) and then Pirates of the Caribbean which was on ABC. Johnny Depp is gorgeous. That can never be said too often.

I did feed my mind yesterday and read two books in addition to the paper. I read the new Lynne Cox (Swimming to Antarctica) book called Grayson. It’s about one of her work out swims when she was 17. She was swimming off of Seal Beach in California in the pre-dawn hours when she felt a large presence in the water with her. It turned out to be a baby gray whale that had lost its mom. It’s a slim book and only took me about an hour to read, but it’s good. Her connection with this whale is something she drew from in her future world-record swims and has stuck with her some 30 years later. By the way, if you haven’t read Swimming to Antarctica, I highly recommend it. It’s astounding. I’ll send you a copy if you want it. Lynne is also a very pleasant, well-spoken, grounded and normal person who just happens to have accomplished superhuman feats. I think her gentle personality and mental toughness come through in Grayson even more than in Swimming.

I also read a new memoir Harcourt is publishing this fall called A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas. I read it because my mom wants to read it and I had it at home since I haven’t given it to her yet. It’s very sad. It’s very beautiful. None of the dogs die (thank goodness!) but it’s still sad. It’s getting great reviews and even has a fantastic blurb from Stephen King on the cover, “The best memoir I have ever read. This book is a punch to the heart. Read it.” So what’s it about that has Stephen King raving? Well, dogs and the comfort and companionship they can provide in times of great pain and challenge. But it’s mainly about the aftermath of a horrible car vs. pedestrian accident her husband is involved in while walking their beagle, Harry. It is self-centered, as most memoirs are, since it’s about her recovery after the accident, but not in a victim way. Her husband is hit by a car and suffers a traumatic brain injury. He survives but it permanently changed. The accident also permanently changes the author. The memoir is like many memoirs in that it’s about hardship, love, tragedy, a difficult past, and a hopeful future. How it’s different is that the author doesn’t delve into lots of self-psychoanalyzing and paranoia. She doesn’t dredge up all the sordid and scarring events of her past. A couple maybe not so bright points in her history are briefly alluded to (alcoholism, strained relationships with children), but that’s not the focus and it’s not to blame for the current reality she finds herself in. It’s not a victim memoir. It’s a survivor memoir that deals honestly with thoughts & emotions she had after the accident (guilt, relief, selfishness, etc.). Very readable and touching – something that is difficult to accomplish in as few words as she uses.

So. I didn’t intend for this post to be so long. I didn’t think I had anything to say. Hope all of you have a really swell Labor Day weekend and watch lots of the US Open. Go Agassi! Go Nadal! So bummed I’m missing it, but I’ll be off doing other things just as interesting. Talk to all of you later.

Planned books for the flight and cruise:
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
The Places In Between

What Is with People?

MARION, Ind. (AP) — Ten to 15 people wearing masks left six 40-gallon trash bags full of taco sauce packets at a Taco Bell restaurant in what police described as a prank.

A note attached to the bags said the group had been accumulating them for the past three years, storing them in the trunk of a car, authorities said.

Police have suspended their investigation into the Tuesday night prank in the city about 50 miles northeast of Indianapolis without any arrests, said Marion Deputy Police Chief Cliff Sessoms.

"From everything we've got here, there doesn't appear that there has been any crime committed," he said. "It looks more like a prank than it does anything else, but not a very funny one because you've got that number of people coming in there with their faces covered up."

A spokesman for Taco Bell said he's never heard of people returning so many unused packets of sauce.

"I've heard a lot of people accumulate sauce packets in their glove compartments. We know people keep things and it's a pretty common phenomenon, but to have that many, I've never heard of that," said spokesman Rob Poetsch.

He said the packets would not be used, for safety reasons.

Travel Plans

I am finally going to be taking a vacation this year. On August 30, I'm flying to London to embark on a 14 day cruise. The cruise leaves from Dover on the 31, and goes to two ports in Scotland, one in Iceland, one in Greenland, and ends in NYC on September 14. Yes, it's a Crystal Cruises cruise. (click that link to see our route) This time we'll be on the Symphony, which I haven't been on yet. Mom and Dad are going, too.

So all this UK-US flight terror stuff is putting a little damper on my excitement about this trip. I have a nonstop flight from LAX to Heathrow on Virgin Atlantic. I'm very glad that this plot was thwarted, but I want them to catch the rest of this group. Soon.

Other than keeping up with current events - stupid terrorists & the Israel-Lebanon war - I don't have much going on. I think I'll take myself to see the movie Little Miss Sunshine today for some entertainment and levity. I'm going to two Giants-Padres games next week, which will also be great. I love going to PetCo park. It's a super nice ballpark and my company has fantastic season tickets. With the two games next week, I will have used the company tickets seven times.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Currently reading: The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig

On deck to read: The Places in Between by Rory Stewart

I love my job

Our publicists recently interviewed one of our author-illustrators, Adam Rex. Here is one question they asked and his answer:

Q: Are you—or were you ever—afraid of monsters?
A: I’m afraid of people who act monstrously. I only have sympathy for actual monsters. Nine times out of ten, they’re just confused, lonely fish people or whatever.

What a great answer. I love that I get to work with people who can 1) have a reason to ask a question like that and 2) give an answer that is that funny.

(The question is in regards to Adam's book coming out this September called Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich. It's quite brilliant. For an early review, click here.)

Today's Oddities

Wonderfully random stuff today. Enjoy children.

Ninja Appreciation Day

From author Andy Auseon’s blog that really made me belly laugh:
The Daily Weird:
Today at an intersection, a young woman yielded for a turn at a red light. Apparently her turn signals were broken. How did I know this? As she peered out the window to check both ways, she held a small green arrow on a Popsicle stick over her head so the car behind her could see it. When she turned, she put the sign away, for next time, I guess.

My Cat Hates You

Stuff On My Cat

Cats the Look Like Hitler
Note this site is supposed to be funny, not offensive. Advance apologies for any offense.

And something for all you dog lovers, lest you feel left out of the cat humor:
Do Dogs Have Lips?

It's really slow at work today.

The Week in Review

It was a busy week. First, it has been hot. I have rarely said that while living in San Diego. But it was all week. Hot, hot, hot, and humid. Go figure. Last Saturday, I slept during the hottest part of the day like I was some sort of savanna animal. I wasn't tired per se, but it was too hot to do anything. I don't have air conditioning in my apartment because I rarely, if ever, need it. So I did a lot of reading, Sudoku, and napping. This past weekend, I was so desperate for some air conditioning that I escaped to the movies to see anything that was playing. I ended up in The Lady in the Water. Review below. I also took care of chores such as my laundry and going to Target, but got them done before I got too hot. I know, those of you in Texas are probably thinking I don't know what hot is so I should stop my bellyaching. On Sunday, it was cooler, and I wasn't as miserable. But 95 degrees with 99 heat index is hot by anyone’s standards.

On Tuesday, I went to a Padres - Phillies game. Pads won but it was not a pretty game. I also had a big presentation on Wednesday. My department presented our marketing ideas for the spring 2007 list. It went very well and turned into an extremely productive meeting for us and the sales reps. On Thursday, Dave, one of my NYC friends, was in town and we had dinner at a great new restaurant. He was in town for Comic Con, which I also attended on Friday. I was really looking forward to the spectacle known as The Con by those in the know, and it did not disappoint. The rumors that many of the attendees come dressed up as Star Wars, Star Trek, and other movie/comic book/tv characters held true to the extreme. I looked fairly "normal," and men definitely outnumbered women at least 4 to 1. We went to Comic Con instead of doing much work on Friday. Yay! I had a lot of fun looking at all the costumes and hairstyles people put together for this event. Sometimes it was hard to tell if someone was dressed up or if they have green hair in their “real” life too. There were lots of Batmen, Storm Troopers, Darth Vaders, Sailor Moons, Boba Fetts, Jedis, Leias, and an Aquaman or two. To a lesser degree, but still represented were Aquabats, Robin, SuperGirl, WonderWoman, Jessica Rabbit, and Wolverine. Star Wars is definitely the cult of choice and the most recognizable. I didn’t see any celebrities since we stuck to just the exhibits. I ended up buying a few things: a madcreator.com t-shirt, an Ugly Doll, a graphic novel, and a fine art print. The print is artwork from one of the children’s books Harcourt publishes. The artist, Gris Grimly, is Madcreator.com, and he had a booth there. A gallery was selling his fine art prints & originals in an adjacent booth. I’m very pleased to have this print but it’s just one more thing that I need to get framed.

This weekend is Gay Pride. Can you imagine if Comic Con and Pride were the same weekend? *That* would be a serious culture clash. But highly entertaining.

And now a review:
The Lady in the Water.
Hmm. The previews make this look like a very scary movie. It isn’t. It has some “jump & scream” moments, but it’s not scary. It actually has several well-done comedic moments sprinkled in amidst the gloom. I’m not sure what the goal of this movie was supposed to be. What was Shyamalan’s point? The movie starts with a short stick-figure animation and voice over. The voice is telling the story of the water people and how they used to talk to the land people. They would tell them things about living together, the future, and keeping peace. But then the land people stopped listening because they were distracted with material goods and there was war. Okay. From that it goes to the dreary, Soviet-era apartment building (but with a great sapphire blue pool) and it’s stuttering, tragic superintendent, Cleveland Heep (Giamatti). The Lady, named Story, makes an appearance early on, so there’s not a lot of waiting around for her to show up. But there is still lots of set up. Through the arrival of a new tenant – a pompous movie-critic – the audience is introduced to the building’s tenants. Not a very imaginative way to introduce characters, but I suppose it was the most time-efficient. The beginning is slow. Slowly, Heep uncovers the story of the Narf and figures out that Story is one of these creatures, otherwise known as a water nymph. Through the story, he figures out what she’s doing there, who she needs to meet, what is trying to kill her, and how to return her home. It’s tedious. There is a monster in this movie. It’s a creepy, red-eyed, camouflaged dog/wolf thing, known as a Scrunt. I think the Sixth Sense was scary because there isn’t a monster. I also thought Signs, while a mediocre movie, was scarier before the alien was shown on screen. In this one, the Scrunt is shown almost immediately and I think that really makes it less scary. Anyway, this is a long review for a so-so movie. The cast is strong – Giamatti, Balaban, Jeffery Wright – but the story just isn’t there. Shyamalan even plays one of the key roles in the story. It could have been a really cool movie if it had been a little tighter in both exposition and pace. The story of the Narf is actually quite good, but certainly only a bedtime story – as the subtitle says – for a whacked-out kid. So I’m not sure how the animation story at the beginning of the movie ties into the end of the movie. Was there supposed to be a political message? Was the connection between the two so subtle I missed it? As soon as the credits started rolling, one audience member said quite loudly and clearly, “I didn’t get it.” I don’t think she was the only one.

Ags in Space

During the second spacewalk on Monday, the spacewalkers replaced a cable reel to a rail car needed to move large pieces around the space station and installed a pump compartment for the complex's cooling system.

"That was a great (spacewalk) and it showed that Aggies can be taught to work locks, latches and anything else," flight controllers wrote in their daily morning electronic message to Discovery's crew, referring to Fossum, a graduate of Texas A&M. "Miracles never cease."

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/07/11/space.shuttle.ap/index.html

Summer reading & the Fourth

I started this post right after the Fourth of July as a post-weekend wrap-up, but here it is a week later, and I'm just getting around to finishing it up. Added a few things in order to make it more current.

I know that summer is almost half-over already, but it's never too late to pick up a good book or two to pass the hours.

Some books for summer reading in no particular order:
1) Harry Potter series - because they are fun
2) Twilight (is anyone surprised about this? All other teen vampire books are great too: Blue Bloods, Vampirates, Peeps) - because teens, vampires, and romance makes for a winning combination any time of year
3) The Poisonwood Bible - because of the characters & the setting in Africa
4) All the Pretty Horses - because it's so heartbreakingly beautiful
5) Three Junes - because of the interconnected storylines
6) Me Talk Pretty One Day - because of the laughs
7) Life of Pi - because of how it makes you think and then knocks you over with brilliance
8) Burger Wuss - because it's about one of the worst summer jobs a kid can have: flipping burgers
9) Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff - because with a title like that, don't you want to read it?

I am currently reading Kiki Strike about a girl who discovers a "Shadow City" beneath New York City. Quite interesting so far. I really loved The City of Ember, which is also about a civilization that is underground, but the citizens don't realize they are underground. I'm sure it's a metaphor for something. Kiki Strike has the same sort of feel as Ember, but I have a feeling it is going to turn out quite differently. Recently finished Blue Bloods, which is Gossip Girls with vampires. Pure fluff but fun. (Susan, I have two copies, so I'll pop it in the mail along with New Moon so you don't have to wait till October to read it.) Not sure what my next read will be but I do want to get into Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, which I've had for ages but haven't had the time to start. It's a really thick book.

I spent part of the holiday in LA with the parents and part down at home. I hadn't been home in a while, and with a *five* day weekend, I was able to feel like I had a full weekend at home. I did six loads of laundry, went to Lush and spent money, saw The Devil Wears Prada, and ate yummy, yummy food for two days up in LA. Then I drove back to SD on Sunday. Once in SD, I saw Superman with some friends, attended a 4th of July bbq, watched the fireworks, napped, went to the beach, read, and watched Wimbledon. It was a very fine weekend.

This past weekend, I saw one more movie and I'll give you a bottle of rum if you get it on the first try. Of course it was Pirates of the Caribbean 2.
My thoughts on the three movies? Here ya go:
Pirates: So much fun but very long. Didn't think it as funny as the first one but Capt. Jack is back in fine form. He's not actually the hero of these movies. The hero is supposed to be Orlando Bloom's character, but I felt he was really pushed to the background for Johnny Depp. Johnny's entrance to the movie, and his exit, are perfect, and his skin just glows, as usual.
Superman: Don't bother. The first big action sequence is the best part of the movie and the rest is a huge snore fest. Very little dialogue throughout the whole thing and several dramatic devices are used more than once, rendering them ineffective. I couldn't figure out what Parker Posey, queen of the Indie film, was doing in this train wreck, although she does steal every scene she's in.
Prada: Good! Two-thumbs up. Meryl Streep is excellent and will certainly be nominated for at least a Golden Globe. Anne Hathaway is charming. It's a really good summer movie and a chick-flick of high quality. Think Bridget Jones. Perhaps a tad long, but full of couture eye-candy and locations that make it very fun. Stanley Tucci also holds his own as a loveable art director. Why isn't he in more movies? He's good.

Other than seeing Pirates over the weekend, I didn't do much. Hope your weekend was good.

New Orleans

I wrote this as part of my ALA report for the staff that didn't attend the conference and thought it is what I would say on this blog, too. Added a few things such as specific landmarks, but mostly this is my raw reaction to what I saw in New Orleans last week. I hope to soon receive a set of photographs that another person on my tour took. I will post those when I receive them.

A personal report about New Orleans

The ALA conference was the first major conference to be held in New Orleans since Katrina. As soon as we arrived, cab drivers and others in the service industry welcomed us warmly and jubilantly to their city. There seemed to be a sense of relief because a convention in town is getting back to “normal life.” Cabbies were talkative and eager to share their stories. There was copious and voluntary over tipping by all. All expressed their thanks for ALA and that we decided to come to New Orleans. Souvenir shops along Canal were selling shirts that read, “Librarians Do It By the Book: ALA 2006.” We were welcomed in by shopkeepers in the Quarter and constantly asked, “Are you with the librarians?” I have been reading messages on librarian list servs, and everyone is so proud to have been part of this conference and that they were able to do something, even if in a small way, for New Orleans. It sounds like most librarians had an excellent, if sobering, experience in New Orleans.

The French Quarter, CBD, Warehouse District, and area around the convention center, were all pretty much up and running. There are still boarded up businesses and many for sale signs. There is a little spark missing from these usually noisy and boisterous neighborhoods. Things were just a little more subdued and low-key. The convention center is not fully repaired. Halls A-C were under construction. ALA occupied the halls at the far end in halls G-I. The convention center did have all new restroom fixtures and new carpeting.

Many of the Harcourt staff were able to step out of the convention center for a brief tour of some of the damaged neighborhoods. Progress is slow but there are signs that some residents are returning to rebuild. It is a strange site to see a FEMA trailing sitting in the front yard in front of the damaged homes. Gutted debris is everywhere and waiting to get picked up. Trash pick up has not resumed a regular schedule, so no one knows how long it will sit there. It is going to take a long time and the destruction is seemingly without end. There is no part of the city unaffected. There seem to be two cities – the areas that received minimal damage and the ones that have been essentially destroyed.

I was toured around by a contact who lives in NO. Two other attendees went with us. We visited the Eight and Ninth Wards, Lake View, and all the area in between. I have personal ties to the city, so recognizing the once vibrant residential neighborhoods in this ghost-town, overgrown state was surreal. We went up Elysian Fields from the Ninth Ward. We passed Brother Martin, where school was just letting out. The waterline six feet from the ground was clearly visible on the school. We continued on and eventually got up to where I went to school, Ben Franklin. Our escort works at UNO, and wanted to show us the campus. The London Street levee breach is very close to this area, which I hadn't realized. We saw where the levee had been repaired. It was a huge gap. On the way back to the convention center, we also passed the church where Greg & Brookes got married. It appeared to be running again. In the surrounding neighborhoods, front doors were hanging open and windows were broken out. We stopped on one deserted block and went into a house. Remnants in the house included family photos still on the mantel and walls, children’s toys, old year books and report cards, and a Bible, all violently and carelessly strewn about on the uprooted oak floorboards of this once charming home. These items brought the reality of the hurricane to a whole new level that the media just can not convey. Standing out on the sidewalk after touring the little Victorian house, I looked at all the other houses on the block and realized that we would find the same thing in each of them. What was so eerie is that not a living thing was on that block. Not a bird or bug. Yards on what was obviously a well-kept block, were overgrown and the asphalt jagged and cracking, resembling tiny fault lines.

One of the most gristly and haunting images I’ve brought back with me is the spray painted symbols on almost every structure in the flooded areas. Crudely written in black and red paints on the front door, or on the front of the structure, are symbols and abbreviations indicating if bodies were found within, the location in where they were found, which agency searched the structure, and on what date. There were also separate markings for dogs and cats. “Three, attic.” “Ten cats, no dog.” There were also roofs with ragged holes where people had punched their way out of their attics. And under the interstates, there were thousands of abandoned, stripped down cars, some with people living in them.

But the city is still there under all of this. In the Ninth Ward, on a tiny porch of a double-shotgun house, spray paint emblazoned on the front door, sat a woman rocking away the afternoon. The city still needs a lot of help and time to recover. But they want to recover, and desperately so. The will to go on is there, and no doubt people will return to this fabulous city.

Links

I mentioned in my last post that Susan has started a blog, and I added the link. I've also added two book related blogs that I frequent for, ahem, work purposes. One really is work related. It's the blog of The Horn Book's editor-in-chief, Roger Sutton. The Horn Book is one of the creme-de-la-creme children's book review journals. Roger's blog definitely covers some children's literature topics, but he also uses it to just talk about what amuses him. It will probably have very little interest for most of you.

The second link I put up is for the website for Stephanie Meyer, the author of my current favorite books, Twilight and New Moon. These books are YA and are sooooo much fun to read. They center around a teenage girl, Bella, and her romance with a vampire. They are hot - in more ways than one. They are also extremely popular right now with just about every female in the book world, regardless of age, and with teenagers. So many of us here at work love these books that we put in a group order for the Edward Cullen (he's the oh so sensitive, yet dangerously deadly vampire) fan club t-shirts. (The tees are being sold by the author and currently she is sold out. But we got ours!) Again, this site will have very little interest for most of you unless you get hooked on Twilight. If you are tempted to pick up the books, you must read Twilight first. I believe I reviewed, or at least raved, about Twilight in a previous post.

I may add a few more links if I come across anything worthwhile.

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.