At the Year's End
Dec. 29th, 2005 10:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skyringLast year was a life changer for me. I had such a great time in November at the inaugural Australian BookCrossing Convention that I resolved to attend more conventions, and to be a bit less of a stick in the mud.
January caught me totally by surprise with a spur-of-the-moment trip to Washington DC. It was with a sense of wonder that I booked my flights, climbed aboard the Dash-8 at Canberra and aimed my camera out of the window as much as possible. I saw the glowing lava of the Big Island of Hawaii, the Californian coast, the Hollywood sign and a long long flight across the continent. I was directed down endless corridors, made to stand in slow queues, and bustled aboard strange conveyances in an alien land. The sight of ResQgeek at the far end of it all was welcome beyond words, and I cannot thank him enough for his kindness, especially in going so far out of his way to give me a night-time tour of Washington's grand national monuments. The next five days were pure magic as I made my way through the Smithsonians, visited the presidential memorials, met Sparky-Redhead and other friends from the Gunroom, and looked at some significant places and objects in America's struggle for freedom.
All the more wonderful for me, because I'd never been further than New Zealand before. And here I was on the other side of the equator, the Pacific and the world. With Kerri, and though she was tied up for much of each day, we had the evenings together. Not to mention one fabulous afternoon in the fresh snow on the Mall, browsing through the Natural History Museum and the Art Gallery.
I missed the Australian Wargames Convention for the first time in 18 years, but it was worth it!
February was an anticlimax after that. The kids went back to school. DD for second year uni, DS for final year high school.
March was New Zealand. Just Kerri and I, our second international trip this year without the kids, and with nothing much to do besides bum around Dunedin and Christchurch. And loving it! We staid at a lovely B&B, spoilt by the hosts and some awesome breakfasts. The train ride up the T Gorge was just amazing, truly one of the world's most spectacular railway trips. Seals and albatrosses and Lanarch Castle. We drove Rarsberry up to Christchurch and spent the next few days at a motel with various visiting BookCrossers. It was fun fun fun with some delightful people and I enjoyed every moment in their company. The bus trip out to Akaroa was scenic in the extreme, and I fluked a waterborne catch, despite attacks by seagulls. Walking with Kerri throuugh those superb botanic gardens was the icing on the cake.
Just a week at home and it was off on the big one in April. Round the world via London and the Monopoly board, Fort Worth and the BookCrossing Convention, and San Francisco for the mandatory third stop. I'd been planning this for a while and in fact had booked my flights before the Washington thing, and it was a full and rich trip. Most of all, it was the BookCrossers I met, many of whom were famous names, and many of whom were just normal average sweeties. Something about BookCrossers that makes them wonderful people to be with.
This trip I felt a bit more self assured and more the world traveller, but still it was a boost to meet the London BookCrossers in the Stamford Arms. I suspect that I am envied around the world for being able to meet YokoSpungeon, NetStation, WistfulDragon and so many others who were able to tell me where to go. Special thanks to Dagon for pointing me in the direction of the London Stone.
I got around the board, making it by the skin of my teeth, or rather the skin of my feet, because the boots I'd had resoled after slipping on Washington's icy pavements were stiff and uncomfortable.
Texas was more BookCrossers, starting with Amberlee who is total sweetness, and perhaps ending with Ron, the big cheese himself. We took a trip out to Larry McMurtry's huge bookshop in Archer City, and I had hours and hours of TexasWren and Mojosmom and JohnnieZero. That was a highlight. WhiteRaven, GoryDetails, Miss-Efficiency, so many others, but perhaps the nicest was seeing Tzurriz and jfroebe falling into each other's eyes. I felt so very much at home in Texas, and I loved every moment there as well. Especially the major league baseball game, another dream come true.
San Francisco was a bonus, and I left my heart there. Such a quirky city, spectacular and exciting. More BookCrossers, led by the energetic Suetu. I've got to get back. Soon.
May I took a part-time job to pay for the travel, June was increasingly cold, and July was a pleasant few days in Brisbane at the second convention. More old friends, many new ones, and a warm welcome. Driving a manual car down to Surfers Paradise and walking those golden sands with FutureCat and Lytteltonwitch was another highlight.
The second half of the year has been taken up to a large degree with being on the BookCrossing Support Team, where I have enjoyed researching knotty problems, helping people link up with their passwords and just generally getting a buzz out of putting smiles on faces.
In stark contrast to the mess at Wikipedia, where the old hands acted outraged when their rude, insulting and hypocritical behaviour was returned in my own cheerful manner. I had a lot of fun poking fun at some of the misfits. Then again, you may call me a misfit many times over, but at least I'm well aware of my limitations!
I overcame some of them with several public appearances and media interviews. I'll never be a polished performer, but for an extreme introvert like me, this is a big deal.
Many thanks to the delightful local Canberra BookCrossers. Woosang is more and more amazing the more I learn about her. Peggysmum is just a total darling, full of energy and information. CoffeeBron, when I get a glimpse of her, is an elegant, bubbly darling. Calissa is simply adorable, quiet and intense and a smile that melts my heart. Unbalanced's smile lights up the room as he trundles in another tonne of books, taking such immense pleasure in BookCrossing that I am inspired, even as he and Woosang and Peggysmum bury me in registrations and releases. So many others - AussiNisi heading up a family just glowing with creativity, talent, intelligence and wit.
NaNoWriMo in November was a frenzy of catching up as I threw a hodgepodge of characters and dialogue into what passes for a novel. There's something publishable in there somewhere, but I need to jiggle it all into place and pull it together and tighten it up and fill it with life and colour.
I'm in the middle of writing another travel book, to be launched in April in Toronto. I'm planning another big year of travel, and I have no idea of how I will pay for it. But in preparation, I've been buying up all sorts of gadgets. Honestly, I'm going to have so many nifty light-weight compact handy gadgets that I won't be able to move! Or have any money to travel with!
A final quick trip up to the Gold Coast and Brisbane for Christmas. Lovely to see the rels, but the long drive, the heat and the humidity is trying in the extreme. Having to find an extra thousand or so for an emergency airconditioner repair didn't help.
And I'm spending a lot of time listening to the BBC. A short appearance a month ago, and I have a standing invitation to drop in on Jenny Kendall-Tobias in Guernsey, which I intend to take up in April.
Some wonderful phone calls with other BookCrossers via Skype - a free internet phone service. I love talking to BookCzuk in particular; we laugh more than talk!
Some great BookCrossing adventures, taking a book on walkabout around Canberra was fun, seeing an echidna on the shore of Lake Blue-Green, releasing Australian books in Wasjington and Richmond on Australia Day, helping to give away hundreds of books at a community fair...
And so many more things. It's been a wonderful, inspiring year, and my very best thanks to all my BookCrossing, LiveJournal and even real-life buddies for filling my heart so full of joy. I haven't really done more than scratch the surface, and if you are reading this and didn't get a guernsey, it's NOT because I don't love you. It's my lack of intellect and memory, hard at work!
So that's 2005. 2006 will, I hope, be more joy, more travel, more books!
January caught me totally by surprise with a spur-of-the-moment trip to Washington DC. It was with a sense of wonder that I booked my flights, climbed aboard the Dash-8 at Canberra and aimed my camera out of the window as much as possible. I saw the glowing lava of the Big Island of Hawaii, the Californian coast, the Hollywood sign and a long long flight across the continent. I was directed down endless corridors, made to stand in slow queues, and bustled aboard strange conveyances in an alien land. The sight of ResQgeek at the far end of it all was welcome beyond words, and I cannot thank him enough for his kindness, especially in going so far out of his way to give me a night-time tour of Washington's grand national monuments. The next five days were pure magic as I made my way through the Smithsonians, visited the presidential memorials, met Sparky-Redhead and other friends from the Gunroom, and looked at some significant places and objects in America's struggle for freedom.
All the more wonderful for me, because I'd never been further than New Zealand before. And here I was on the other side of the equator, the Pacific and the world. With Kerri, and though she was tied up for much of each day, we had the evenings together. Not to mention one fabulous afternoon in the fresh snow on the Mall, browsing through the Natural History Museum and the Art Gallery.
I missed the Australian Wargames Convention for the first time in 18 years, but it was worth it!
February was an anticlimax after that. The kids went back to school. DD for second year uni, DS for final year high school.
March was New Zealand. Just Kerri and I, our second international trip this year without the kids, and with nothing much to do besides bum around Dunedin and Christchurch. And loving it! We staid at a lovely B&B, spoilt by the hosts and some awesome breakfasts. The train ride up the T Gorge was just amazing, truly one of the world's most spectacular railway trips. Seals and albatrosses and Lanarch Castle. We drove Rarsberry up to Christchurch and spent the next few days at a motel with various visiting BookCrossers. It was fun fun fun with some delightful people and I enjoyed every moment in their company. The bus trip out to Akaroa was scenic in the extreme, and I fluked a waterborne catch, despite attacks by seagulls. Walking with Kerri throuugh those superb botanic gardens was the icing on the cake.
Just a week at home and it was off on the big one in April. Round the world via London and the Monopoly board, Fort Worth and the BookCrossing Convention, and San Francisco for the mandatory third stop. I'd been planning this for a while and in fact had booked my flights before the Washington thing, and it was a full and rich trip. Most of all, it was the BookCrossers I met, many of whom were famous names, and many of whom were just normal average sweeties. Something about BookCrossers that makes them wonderful people to be with.
This trip I felt a bit more self assured and more the world traveller, but still it was a boost to meet the London BookCrossers in the Stamford Arms. I suspect that I am envied around the world for being able to meet YokoSpungeon, NetStation, WistfulDragon and so many others who were able to tell me where to go. Special thanks to Dagon for pointing me in the direction of the London Stone.
I got around the board, making it by the skin of my teeth, or rather the skin of my feet, because the boots I'd had resoled after slipping on Washington's icy pavements were stiff and uncomfortable.
Texas was more BookCrossers, starting with Amberlee who is total sweetness, and perhaps ending with Ron, the big cheese himself. We took a trip out to Larry McMurtry's huge bookshop in Archer City, and I had hours and hours of TexasWren and Mojosmom and JohnnieZero. That was a highlight. WhiteRaven, GoryDetails, Miss-Efficiency, so many others, but perhaps the nicest was seeing Tzurriz and jfroebe falling into each other's eyes. I felt so very much at home in Texas, and I loved every moment there as well. Especially the major league baseball game, another dream come true.
San Francisco was a bonus, and I left my heart there. Such a quirky city, spectacular and exciting. More BookCrossers, led by the energetic Suetu. I've got to get back. Soon.
May I took a part-time job to pay for the travel, June was increasingly cold, and July was a pleasant few days in Brisbane at the second convention. More old friends, many new ones, and a warm welcome. Driving a manual car down to Surfers Paradise and walking those golden sands with FutureCat and Lytteltonwitch was another highlight.
The second half of the year has been taken up to a large degree with being on the BookCrossing Support Team, where I have enjoyed researching knotty problems, helping people link up with their passwords and just generally getting a buzz out of putting smiles on faces.
In stark contrast to the mess at Wikipedia, where the old hands acted outraged when their rude, insulting and hypocritical behaviour was returned in my own cheerful manner. I had a lot of fun poking fun at some of the misfits. Then again, you may call me a misfit many times over, but at least I'm well aware of my limitations!
I overcame some of them with several public appearances and media interviews. I'll never be a polished performer, but for an extreme introvert like me, this is a big deal.
Many thanks to the delightful local Canberra BookCrossers. Woosang is more and more amazing the more I learn about her. Peggysmum is just a total darling, full of energy and information. CoffeeBron, when I get a glimpse of her, is an elegant, bubbly darling. Calissa is simply adorable, quiet and intense and a smile that melts my heart. Unbalanced's smile lights up the room as he trundles in another tonne of books, taking such immense pleasure in BookCrossing that I am inspired, even as he and Woosang and Peggysmum bury me in registrations and releases. So many others - AussiNisi heading up a family just glowing with creativity, talent, intelligence and wit.
NaNoWriMo in November was a frenzy of catching up as I threw a hodgepodge of characters and dialogue into what passes for a novel. There's something publishable in there somewhere, but I need to jiggle it all into place and pull it together and tighten it up and fill it with life and colour.
I'm in the middle of writing another travel book, to be launched in April in Toronto. I'm planning another big year of travel, and I have no idea of how I will pay for it. But in preparation, I've been buying up all sorts of gadgets. Honestly, I'm going to have so many nifty light-weight compact handy gadgets that I won't be able to move! Or have any money to travel with!
A final quick trip up to the Gold Coast and Brisbane for Christmas. Lovely to see the rels, but the long drive, the heat and the humidity is trying in the extreme. Having to find an extra thousand or so for an emergency airconditioner repair didn't help.
And I'm spending a lot of time listening to the BBC. A short appearance a month ago, and I have a standing invitation to drop in on Jenny Kendall-Tobias in Guernsey, which I intend to take up in April.
Some wonderful phone calls with other BookCrossers via Skype - a free internet phone service. I love talking to BookCzuk in particular; we laugh more than talk!
Some great BookCrossing adventures, taking a book on walkabout around Canberra was fun, seeing an echidna on the shore of Lake Blue-Green, releasing Australian books in Wasjington and Richmond on Australia Day, helping to give away hundreds of books at a community fair...
And so many more things. It's been a wonderful, inspiring year, and my very best thanks to all my BookCrossing, LiveJournal and even real-life buddies for filling my heart so full of joy. I haven't really done more than scratch the surface, and if you are reading this and didn't get a guernsey, it's NOT because I don't love you. It's my lack of intellect and memory, hard at work!
So that's 2005. 2006 will, I hope, be more joy, more travel, more books!
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no subject
Date: 2005-12-29 02:00 pm (UTC)(See? I do read your journal. Humph.)
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Date: 2005-12-29 07:20 pm (UTC)