Almost Forgot!

I realized today that I hadn't rambled about my trip up to the Virginia Hamilton Conference at my now-alma mater Kent (woot! degree!). It was awesome. Not only did I get to see my friends' house & dog (both of which were FAR cooler than photographs could have shown... seriously, they're remodeling that house posh), but I also got to meet one of my most-favorite authors ever: Laurie Halse Anderson! And I twittered the whole thing like a freakin' junkie. Oops. But here's the play-by-play.

• From the first evening/ signing: YAAAY!!! Just met @halseanderson and only cried A LITTLE! I did manage to tell her that speak saved my life. :')
• Accidentally sent this 2 myself not twitter: Pam Munoz Ryan's speech made me all weepy. Really touching! But i'm such a human hosepipe.

That evening, we had desserts (I'm pretty sure I ate at least three people's share of chocolate-dipped strawberries) and listened to Pam Munoz Ryan speak (who was just wonderful and heartfelt), followed by an hour of a Kent-based band... they were somewhat African-influenced, but really a fusion of many styles. Very danceable, but I certainly didn't want to be the only person over the age of two groovin' in there, so I just chair-wiggled a bit and clapped.

The next morning, my friend Lisa had made me cinnamon streusel muffins, so it's not like I could turn THOSE down! (and oh my goodness they were worth it) So I made it a bit late to Pam Munoz Ryan's author chat, but still sidled in to hear about her writing process and all those pieces I normally enjoy learning more about.

It's been long enough now that I can't remember everything that Laurie Halse Anderson talked about in hers, but it was, of course, very funny and extremely intelligent. Once again, it's always so much fun to hear an author speak when you really know their work... you can see how the voice in the two matches up.

• From the author chat in the morning: @halseanderson was freaking hilarious today! And of course, insightful etc etc hehehe

Lunch was Lebanese food and uncomfortable conversation with a bunch of other loners at the conference. The side dishes were a.may.zing. And then we had Eleanor Roosevelt's pink angel food cake! Yum-o. (Yes, I love eating... can't you tell?)

I'm really disappointed with the third session I attended. It was "books that will make you blush (or not)" and it was a couple of older men book-talking new-ish releases in the least interesting way possible. I was not impressed. And the whole time, all I could think about was all the much better stuff I was probably missing. I did get a free book out of attending, but it wasn't one I was excited about. Bummer.

From the official keynote speech hoopla

• @halseanderson is a FREAKING BADASS.
• Schools w/o libraries are zombie schools! A school w/o libraries will produce the children of Voldemort! @halseanderson
• DAMN @halseanderson is an amazing speaker. Seriously. Whoa.
• BWahahaha! @halseanderson figured me out! 'are you the tweeting one?' XD

Again, I can't recall much that LHA talked about since I was lazy and didn't write about this right away. But again, it was easy to see why I love her books and why my students relate to her writing so well. And, as noted above, she figured out who I was, which worried me a little... does that make me creepy? I sure hope not. At least if I'm creepy, she took some pity on me, because she sent me a brief but very kind email the next week.

If you haven't read any of her work, her most famous is Speak, which is just awesome. I very recently read Twisted, which I also loved. I've *gasp* not read any of her historic fiction yet, but those are coming this summer.

I've still only read one of Munoz Ryan's "real" books, Esperanza Rising, but it was a lovely little near-fairy-tale store about her grandmother's emigration. Really, just very sweet. You'll read it in an afternoon... and if you're a little hosepipe like I am, you'll just sob, too. I do have a picture book by her that I just love, too, and this summer I'm picking up one she wrote about Pablo Neruda.

Super-Late LeakyCon

Since we haven't really posted anything on here yet, I figured it was time to get crackin'. After all, we have nearly three years of book-driven vacations to celebrate! I'll start with the most recent...

We headed to Boston in late May for LeakyCon 2009. Granted, I'm probably a little bit biased, but I had a FREAKIN' BLAST. I was even quite sick and I still had fun. We danced to wrock every night except the night of the ball, which was still dancing, so it's a win for me. I heard a couple of really awesome authors speak, one of who's (Lev Grossman) book I just read... and it was wonderful, too. I went to the Nerdfighter gathering and listened to John and Hank crack jokes about each other and learned new songs there. I sat on Maureen Johnson's bed for about an hour with about 30 other people; some of that time was taken up by talking about feet in the Bible with Hank Green. (I couldn't make this up if I tried). I had lunches & dinners and parties and everything else with the amazing Leaky staff. I sang a really cool a capella arrangement of some HP music. I ate too much Au Bon Pain. I met an awesome drummer who is just squish-ably nice and has beautiful dreadlocks.

And did I mention that our decorators recreated the Great Hall in a castle in downtown Boston? Because that was effing fantastic.



The handful of us who went to check it out early nearly cried when we walked in, and we pretty much knew everyone else would have the same reaction. Amazing. Art of the Event totally blew us away with their attention to the details and just all 'round NICEness.

Being a part of the Leaky family has been so interesting for me. The people to whom I've been the closest don't always stick around, but there is nearly always someone else just as nice walking in. There are definitely crews that I wish were still a bigger part of my life, but the good thing is that whenever we get together, it just feels right.

The view of the Castle from the first Leaky suite... the one we were in before they decided we were too loud and moved us. =P