AWP!

Finally able to download my pictures and get to work on this. Yes, Sully did get me sick, and then my fiancee returned from a trip to India with who knows what that left me laid up as well. But I appear to be better. And my voice is still a little hoarse and deep sounding, so I got that going for me. But it was all worth it--wasn't really thinking this when I was stuck in bed, but really, it's true.



I've been to a lot of conferences and things like that. Not for writing, but for things on globalization or crap like that, or various trainings around non-violence and organizing. By a lot, I mean probably at least 40 or 50. I think that's a lot. If you don't then I feel sorry for you, 'cuz you've probably been to waaaaay too many. But this conference had a cheat from the beginning: Sully and I had a perfect view of Times Square from our window. Seriously, we were like right above the little ball that falls on New Years. I love Philly, Philly is home, but damn, New York can be beautiful. When I've seen photos of NY taken from above, peering down at the cars roaming like little animals across the tiny yet eloborate streets, there's a certain fakeness to it. Maybe because I don't like to believe anything can look that f#cking cool. And it was cool. The room itself was just another hotel room, not bad, but man, that view. So just having little touches like that, which shouldn't count but totally do, made this pretty much the best conference I've been to. NY, winter but not too cold, bright lights, steaming breath, everything in walking distance, that's a good start.



Even better than those little touches, and this isn't corny or whatever -- or if it is screw it sometimes life is corny, in fact there's rarely anything cornier than life itself -- was the Philly crew. While I didn't get to hang out with everyone as much as I should have, for the most part I gotta say Phily was well represented. I have this image of some tight-@ssed perfectly dressed lady from the Main Line or Rittenhouse Square who dabbbles a little in writing being at the conference and saying in an offhand manner to someone, "Well, I am from Philadelphia--" and then random people from N'awlins, Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, Cali, Maine, and other spots just yelling, "PHILLY!! WOOOOOOO!!!" and the Rittenhouse lady straight up passing out with the shock and strangeness of it all.



Weird things make me laugh.



But that was how we rolled. Philly! Bam. Deal with it.

Okay. So I was going to load a picture from the slams here but can't seem to get that to work. Gonna take a minute and see if I can figure it out right. Anyway, Philly's still in the house.

Woo.