ketchup

Eek, time to play catch-up with the blog.

June brought our first Smith family reunion, the Maurice and Mattie Memorial Ice Cream Social and Fishing Expedition in McComb, MS. It was overall a great success, with 41 people attending. Our hq was Villa Jenny, only a few blocks from the old Smith home on Missouri Ave. It was the ideal setting for our event, with 4 bedrooms/baths upstairs and tons of living space downstairs, as well as a pretty back yard with gazebo and a fully equipped kitchen (for Zannah!).

Friday night was hectic, crazy, funny: too many people arrived just about all at once, more than we expected so there wasn't enough food. A couple of trips to Popeyes Chicken took care of that though! Saturday morning we met up at the Best Western breakfast room, then ALL headed out to Percy Quin State Park for the fishing expedition.
Old and young, large and teeny, we sat in the shade or fished from the pier. KWS was the only one who caught any fish, two babies who we sent back to their moms.

We ended up going to Golden Corral for lunch, which worked out very well. Many of us said that it was the best GC we had even been to, and it certainly delighted the kiddoes.

Back at the Villa, adults lounged and shared stories, kids ran around the back yard and attempted to make ice cream in a special rolling ball. Eventually it was time to eat (AGAIN) so we went up the road to Justin's on the Lake in Summit for fried catfish.

Sunday morning most of us met at GC again for the breakfast/brunch buffet, which was pretty amazing. Then it was time for some to head home, others to enjoy the hotel pool before check-out time.

So. Was it worth the work and planning? Totally! Do I want to do it again? Absolutely.

pros: all nine cousins of my generation together for the first time since (none of us can remember when!); seeing tiny new family members; getting to know the next generations better; hearing stories; making new memories
cons: unnecessary drama from one person who thinks the world revolves around her

starting the day with Jon Stewart

What a way to begin a Thursday morning! Jon Stewart MCed the Adult Author Breakfast; other authors appearing were Condi Rice, John Grisham, and Mary Roach. I didn't know who Roach was, but am glad to have discovered her. We all received a free ARC of her new book, Packing for Mars, about astronautical things. The other authors didn't have books ready but we received previews of theirs and they look good.

I was standing in line to enter the ballroom for the breakfast when suddenly Stewart and his "people" came bounding down the stairs (well, Stewart bounded, the "people" just tried to keep up). He was pumping his arm and shouting and generally being his goofy, enthusiastic self. As with the Childrens Author Breakfast, the "breakfast" consisted of a "muffin bucket" as Stewart called it. And once again, the first people at the table had grabbed all the bagels. Muffins again for moi.

I had to leave the Javits Center at 11:30 to head to Newark and my flight home, so after breakfast I mostly just wandered the exhibits and picked up a few more books. *blush* One bit of excitement was discovering that the Super Shuttle could take me straight from the Javitz to the airport for a mere $15; that gave me a bit more time to stay at the Expo.

waking up is hard to do, Brontorina

Neil Sedaka!!! The book wasn't ready but he signed the CD that goes with it.

James Howe signed Brontorina.

celebrity sightings @ BEA

Adam Richman (Man vs Food) &

Rowan Jacobsen (American Terroir)

Duchess of York

fun with John and Humphrey

Humphrey at the dog park

subway fun with John

room with a view, NYC May 2010

looking down 7th Ave from balcony outside my room


looking north, toward Central Park

The Wellington, on 7th Ave between 55th and 56th

"My petticoat exploded on the customs people" and other scenes from New York

I'm just back from Book Expo America in NYC. This year I went on my own and still managed to have a wonderful time. I went early, on Saturday, so I could spend some time with my former student John. He performed in a cabaret show Saturday night, great fun and energy, at a bar called Duplex. On Sunday we went to brunch at Good Enough to Eat, yum, then wandered around doing some shopping for his new apartment.

Monday evening I was able to attend a taping of Late Night with Dave Letterman, which was a new adventure for me. I had to show up at 3:30 to be given a ticket and told to return at 5:15. When I got back, my group was escorted up to the balcony, which was disappointing, but oh well. I had been warned that it was very cold inside but it wasn't bad at all. The special guest for that taping was Don Rickles (age 84). It seems like he was on TV all of my life, even back when I was just a little kid, so it was pretty cool to see him in person. Then Dave had the birdcall contest winners from Piedmont High in California, which was very entertaining. The musical guest was John Prine, with Yim Yames. It was great to get to see Prine live.

Tuesday was the LJ/SLJ Day of Dialogue, which began with free breakfast (always a plus) at the Javits Center. The first panel discussed Steampunk literature (the quote in this blog's title is from a librarian and "fangirl" who was on the panel). Cory Doctorow lead the discussion. That was followed by a discussion on "The Line Between Graphic Novels and Picture Books" by David Wiesner, George O'Connor, Laura Vaccaro, and Mark Siegel. We had a free lunch (woot, big bonus!) and then had the Publisher's Pitch. I came away from the day with two tote bags stuffed full of books.

Wednesday morning was the "Childrens Book and Author Breakfast" MCed by Sarah Ferguson. After the news of her most recent scandal (attempting to sell access to her ex) I wondered if she would make the appearance, but she did, head held high, even making a couple of light jokes about her situation. The other authors on the panel were Cory Doctorow, author of For the Win (Tor Books / Tor Teen); Mitali Perkins, author of Bamboo People (Charlesbridge); and Richard Peck, author of Three Quarters Dead (Penguin/Dial Books for Young Readers. All of their talks were wonderful, both entertaining and moving, but Richard Peck's talk was phenomenal. I made a brief video of part of that and will post it later. Wednesday afternoon I attended the American Flavor presentation: Host: Melissa Clark, NYT dining columnist, author, IN THE KITCHEN WITH A GOOD APPETITE; Authors: Adam Richman, AMERICA THE EDIBLE: Why We Eat, What We Eat, Where We Eat; Rowan Jacobsen, AMERICAN TERROIR: Savoring the Flavors of Our Woods, Waters, and Fields. This was pretty interesting, and Adam Richman wasn't as odd in person as he is on his TV show, Man VS Food. He actually seemed pretty intelligent.

Cousin C and I have been working on the upcoming family reunion, the first ever official one for our branch of the Smiths, and it has been a blast. I traveled with her to Mississippi to scrutinize the B&B we've rented for the weekend, and to check out the park where we'll go fishing. We visited the cemetery where our grandparents are buried and toured the house where they used to live, thanks to the accomodating current owner.

C had the idea to make an ABC book about memories of the house and our grandparents, and enlisted me to help since I'm slightly more proficient on the computer. We worked long hours getting it just right, scanning numerous ancient letters and photographs and arranging them just so. I hope all the cousins will enjoy having the book even half as much as we enjoyed making it.

borrowed pictures

In the village of Grasmere (photo by Tracy R), where I had the most wonderful gingerbread from Sarah Nelson's Grasmere Gingerbread Shop.

Outside the Eagle and Child pub in Oxford, where we lifted a pint in memory of Tolkien, Lewis, and other literary giants. It was St Patrick's Day, hence the goofy green balloons over the door. (photo by Paul J via Tracy R)

Finally, STP for the Bongo Pudding Lady

Our last full day in England was spent seeing some more of London. Our T.D., Paul, had to travel back to the north for his grandfather's funeral; while he was away on Saturday we were left in the competent (but not nearly so wonderful) hands of Salvatore. First the entire group went to the Tate Modern, which was better than I thought it would be. I enjoyed having a snack at a table from which I could gaze across the Thames at St Paul's. Then, most of the group wanted to visit the Tower of London so Tracy and I took the four kids who weren't interested in that and went by tube to the Victoria and Albert Museum, which I had been wanting to visit for ages. Of course there wasn't time to see all of it, but I enjoyed it very much. Then we met up with the rest of the group at Picadilly Circus. Because we hadn't had time for lunch, I was ravenous! We found a place called Burger Co. and I got the "posh fries" :
Posh Fries 3.35
Fries with sweet chilli & ginger dressing and chunky guacamole Everyone’s favourite

they were yummy!

We left the restaurant and were heading up Regent St so I could catch the train to Watford when I heard my name being called. CB was across the street and beckoned us over. One of the Canadian kids was having a migraine and needed to return to the hotel. We had no way to contact their adults, so Nancy (again, bless her heart) offered to take him back in a taxi. I felt bad about letting her do it but I really didn't want to miss out on my visit to Watford.

With no more problems, I found the correct train and settled down for a peaceful journey with my book. At the station, I was scolded for using a group ticket without being with the group, but was let go and warmly greeted by Mike and Tabitha. Joanne had prepared a lovely roast dinner of chicken, gravy, yorkshire puddings, potatoes, carrots and parsnips. It was fun to snuggle on the sofa with Tabs while watching the end of the first Harry Potter movie with the kids. At dinner, Tabs played a couple of Justin Bieber songs for me, much to Max's disgust. Sweet Joanne even made sticky toffee pudding for dessert. I felt very well-fed indeed! After dinner we had time for a bit of a cuddle with Amanita before Mike drove me back across London to the hotel, which was very kind of him. I think I would have gotten lost trying to find the hotel from the station. An odd thing happened on a road near the hotel; there was a barricade and when Mike stopped the car, a guard came over and swabbed the steering wheel. Then he let us go on. Mike said that he had never before experienced that.

And Then it was Sunday morning and time for us to leave our Canadian friends and T.D. Paul. All the kids and Paul gathered on the stairs at the hotel lobby at 6:30 a.m. for a group picture. Poor Paul, he had only gone to sleep at 3 a.m. after returning very late from the funeral. He nonetheless gathered us onto the bus and delivered us to Heathrow.

Purse-pinching bastard!

After the tour of Bath, our trusty coach took us to our London hotel, the Britannia International at Canary Wharf. This was the nicest hotel yet. It was not in the center of town but was still quite accessible by Docklands Light Rail and the Underground. After check-in, the rest of the group dashed off for a quick fish and chips dinner before going to see Wicked in the West End. I stayed at the hotel to meet up with my pal Lydia. We walked through light rain over to a nearby Indian restaurant, Lime, where we enjoyed catching up over some yummy food:

Wild Duck Shashlik £9.95 Succulent breast of wild duck marinated in a rich and aromatic mixture of exotic spices. Cooked in a clay oven with vegetables, and a lamb dish. We followed that with a shared molten chocolate cake (not Indian, but pretty dang tasty!).

On Friday morning, March 19, local guide Stewie and driver Dell took us on a bus tour of the sights of London. Stewie shared lots of information abotu the various neighborhoods. It was especially interesting to drive around the Wharf area and Wapping and to hear stories of the olde

days.

Then we walked over to watch the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. While I was snapping this wonderful photo, some low-life was pinching my purse from my tote bag! I immediately realized it was gone, but it was already too late to do anything. I immediately called home and woke up hubby to get him to cancel the debit and credit cards.

I had to soldier on for the Globe Theatre tour, which was quite well done. A docent took us through various exercises to help with understanding of Shakespeare's styles and the audience of his time. Unfortunately, I was distracted as my mind was racing through scenarios for replacing my lost IDs. By the time to Globe tour was over, EF had sent an employee named Bruno to take me (and Nancy, bless her heart) to the American Embassy so I could get an emergency passport. Bruno turned out to be French, which explained why we had a lot of trouble understanding him.

The embassy experience was interesting, though unfortunate. Before we could enter the embassy we had to turn over all electronics (phones and cameras) and our bags were scanned as we were metal-detected. After seeing several people behind various windows (and receiving an official scolding), and after Nancy loaned me $100 via credit card, I was issued a passport that would serve to get me home. Bruno then escorted us to the Spice Cellar Restaurant, where we were to meet the group for dinner. Since we were very early, we went across the street to an Illy shop for hot cocoa. Later we met the group for our Indian buffet before going to the West End to see a play, The 39 Steps at the Criterion Theatre. It was a very funny show and the kids all seemed to enjoy it very much, as did I.