THE EVENT: a report

It was pretty much just awesome-ness all the way, kids! From the bomb-sniffing dog to the cute guys in uniforms to the stoic-faced secret service persons to the good-natured customers who stood in line and turned it into a party to the super efficient TKE employees to the fabulous and unflaggingly gracious Mr. Carter himself, the whole day just rocked.

I AM SO PROUD OF US. GO TEAM US!

In particular Jenny, Rachel and Anne should be proud of themselves. What super-cool organizing and arranging and possibly even secret ninja-like skills they all have! And let me give a shout out to Sally L. who was so impressive that an actual secret service person pulled Sally away from her post and asked her to shuffle people into the next room because she was just such an authoritative-do-not-mess-with-me presence. From here on out, Sally L. will only answer to the name THE OFFICIAL ENFORCER OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

Jimmy Carter

Hey, guys, I'm working the Carter event at the bookstore today. I'll be outside from 9-2, managing lines and keeping people happy. Mostly I'm just worried about staying warm. Should be an interesting day.

Speaking of the cold--my boy Dylan mentioned his cute wife, Julie, slipped and fell because of snow issues the other day. Julie is like me--she HATES to be cold, whereas Dylan is his father redux. He's all BRING ON THE SUB-ZERO TEMPERATURES, BABY, BECAUSE THAT'S WHEN I REALLY FEEL ALIVE. Knowing this, I told Dylan that Julie will hold him personally responsible for winter for the rest of their married lives.

I know this because I blame Ken every time it freaking snows.

What Sara said yesterday

Because you know how Sara is. SO savvy. I must needs quote her often.

Anyway, while we were at work yesterday, I received some discouraging news on the family front. Sara was there to hear me take the phone call. And later she said aren't you grateful that we have this? THIS, of course, is the writing part--the thing that you and I do to express and escape and impose order on all manner of unruliness.

Yes. I'm grateful for it. Even when it's frustrating, which it often is. But still.

What I'm Reading Now

We have that on our e-mail at TKE--"What I'm Reading Now"--and really I'm always so impressed with fellow employees. I feel like I'm in the remedial reading group (let's call ourselves "the Bluebirds," shall we?) compared to them.

BUT! I just finished NAKED ONCE MORE by Elizabeth Peters. Peters writes a smart, sassy mystery, so that was good times. And now I'm reading a new YA novel by an actual YA. It's edgy--plenty o' sex and profanity. But I'm reading it because I'm interested in what an actual YA chooses to emphasize in terms of issues. I'd say this novel deals mostly with the desire and search for self-worth.

On the non-fiction front I'm dipping into STATUS ANXIETY by Alain de Botton. The first three pages have been very interesting.

Ann's column

Again, Ann still hasn't joined the 21st century, so her favorite son, Geoffrey, is setting up a link to her column this week.

Book Festival!

So I had this experience today at the festival--I started reading the first chapter of THE CHIHUAHUA CHASE aloud and I suddenly went DAMN! THIS SOUNDS BETTER THAN I REMEMBERED! Do you ever have this experience? By the time you finish a project you're pretty sick of it and you're also pretty sure it stinks. And so you never look at it again. In fact, you avoid making eye contact with it out of sheer embarrassment like it's a family member that's going to make a fool out of himself or herself in front of a large group of people, thereby forcing you to lie and say WE'RE NOT RELATED before slipping out of a back door.

Yeah. That's how I feel about my books in general and this one in particular (because it's the newest). But after reading CHIHUAHUA aloud today, I thought to myself HEY! I would have enjoyed this as a kid! It was a nice moment.

Another nice moment today--a leetle girl walked past The King's English table and squealed, "MOM! LOOK! EYEBALLS AND BOOKS!" She was referring to the eyeball soaps we're selling for Halloween.

Oh, eyeballs. I love you so.

Book Festival!

So tomorrow I'm speaking/reading from THE CHIHUAHUA CHASE at 12:30 at the downtown library. There will be signings with fancy pens after. Drop by to say hi if you're in the area.

Also, I'm introducing Treat Williams and his new picture book for kids at 5:00. I. AM. SO LUCKY!