Prolific blogger, Shawn Zehnder Lea has a job, in addition to pumping out a stream of fascinating must-read blogstuff in Everything and Nothing. So it came to pass that she had to go to a conference in Tampa, and, since she knew I lived in Florida, she asked if I lived anywhere near.
Well, yes, and no. I figure it's about a three hour drive, maybe a little more. Depends. Getting through Orlando on I-4 can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 4 hours. But it so happened that I was able to slip my leash for most of the 26th, and the early part of the 27th. So I decided to make the trek.
And so we decided to have our own mini-blogger convention. (Wait--that's not right, though at 5'2, Shawn would qualify as a mini-blogger...).
I filled my tank and plugged in my MP3 player and hit the road, early in the afternoon. The trip was uneventful, unmarred except for my 5 mile detour in the wrong direction.
I got to the hotel, just in time to meet Shawn who was coming from her convention. We went up to her room (she was kind enough to let me bunk in her spare bed.) Then we wandered off in search of food.
We wound up at Carrabba's Grill for dinner. We knew it was a chain, and that we could eat their food anywhere, anytime. But the fact remained that neither of us had ever eaten at Carrabba's, so that's where we went.
In true democratic fashion, we ordered dishes that we both liked, and shared our food. And a carafe of ruffo wine, which was very good. The waitress brought the wine and left with the menus before we had ordered, or indeed even decided. Fortunately, we were not in a hurry.
A loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and thou beside me in the wilderness (no, wait--unintended segue).
We returned to the hotel, and in true zealot fashion, found the computer room and proceeded to check our e-mail, blog surf, and generally goof off, until a couple of people came in and sat in chairs, clearly willing to wait until we had finished our business. We were nice and left.
We went back up to the room and prepared for bed, intending to hit the sack early. In true pajama party fashion, though, we then proceeded to talk ...and talk. Next thing, the wake up call came.
Shawn was kind enough to make the small carafe of coffee before I stirred from the sack, even though she did not drink any of it.
And so we packed up, and went downstairs for french toast. And then back to her convention for Shawn, back to my car for me.
In addition to letting me share her room, Shawn treated to dinner, claiming that I had already spent a small fortune on gas. And she brought me a book.
She knows that I like historical novels, and brought me The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. The blurb reads "it is a quest for the truth about Vlad the Impaler, the medieval ruler whose barbarous reign formed the basis of the legend of Dracula." Oh boy, oh boy. That is definitely next on my list after I finish my pile of library books.
In return, I promised to send her blogger (the truth hurts) Lisa Schamess's novel Borrowed Light after I have finished reading it.
After all, that's what bliends are for (neologism, courtesy of Lisa Schamess).
Sound like you had a wonderful time! Good for you!
Let me say that a few months ago I too got hold of Lisa's book and I must say in all honesty I thoroughly enjoyed it! Wonderfully unsentimental yet emotional. Amazing dialogue and well - a great read!
Posted by: Rarity | October 31, 2005 at 03:52 PM
awwwwwww, thanks for the love, ladies!
I love reading you too!
btw, timewasting link of the day rightchere: http://waxy.org/random/view.php?type=video&filename=shining_redux.mov
Posted by: lisa | November 01, 2005 at 01:03 PM
I used to purposefully try not to smile in pictures because I crinkle my eyes up when I smile - now I see that I just crinkle my eyes up period...or maybe they're just all scrunched up on their own. Of course, to overcompensate for my eye scrunchiness I open them wider and look like I'm being goosed. I give up. Just smile about it, I guess... ;)
Posted by: Shawn Lea | November 01, 2005 at 03:32 PM