Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Primary, Promo, Progress (Plus AWP)

Watching the primary results roll in. So far it looks like most of the local races are falling the way I wanted them to, which is nice (though it's a little early yet on some of them). The networks are still declaring the Obama/Clinton race as "too close to call" here. So bizarre, having the Indiana primary in such a spotlight! I've never seen anything like this. I actually voted early, on Sunday afternoon, because I was scheduled to work the reference desk till 6:00 tonight and didn't trust myself to get there before work today to vote. It felt really weird not voting on Election Day, even though I kept reminding myself that it was OK because I had already voted.

I like voting in a very nerdy sort of way. Since 1979, when I was 18 and registered to vote for the first time, I've missed I think one primary election and no general elections (and that primary was a tiny little all-local one without very many contested races). I try to find out about the local races, like judge and treasurer and assessor and county council and stuff. Sometimes there are some really good people in those races who can make a big difference in their not-so-big jobs.

Indiana cracks me up sometimes. One of our State Senator candidates (District 44) is listed on the ballot as Tony "Big Dog" Van Pelt. I guess people wouldn't recognize the name if they put it down as Anthony.

"Big Dog" is getting whomped, though.

The newspeeps keep mispronouncing the names of places in Indiana. I think Indiana's holding back on the results so they'll keep saying we are Too Close To Call and talking about Indiana for a while longer. Because how often do all the newspeeps spend this much time actually acknowledging the existence of the state of Indiana? Flyover country, my ass! *grin*

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SSP (Shameless Self-Promotion) Department: This coming Sunday, May 11, you can hear me on the radio again.
What: Me! Poems! Three of 'em! Five minutes!
When: Sunday, 11:46 am Eastern Daylight Time
Where: WFIU radio, if you're in Central to Southern Indiana; http://wfiu.org/ (click on "Listen Online") if you're anywhere else in the world. It will be up on their podcast page in a few days, too.

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Plunging headlong into the twentieth century: I finally broke down & signed up for DSL (yes, I was the last person you knew who was actually using dial-up ... what can I say, I get dial-up for free, and free versus "the price of a plane ticket to someplace good every year" has been a powerful incentive. But times change. :) I got my router and stuff today, and the service is supposed to be activated on Thursday. Yay!

If you never hear from me again after tomorrow, you'll know I broke my computer trying to install stuff. ;) (Somehow, though, I suspect I'll be able to manage.)

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I'll put it in writing: I have every intention of going to AWP 2009. Chicago isn't that far away, after all! I will probably drive up to my mom's in South Bend and take the South Shore commuter train into the city, so I don't have to deal with a) driving in Chicago and b) parking in Chicago. I may actually splurge and stay at the Hilton; it's horribly expensive and I really can't afford it, and I'm sure there are cheaper hotels within a few blocks of there, but the thought of NOT having to set foot outside in Chicago in February is verrrrrrrrrrry appealing.

See you there?

12 comments:

Unknown said...

Re AWP, there's probably a conference rate at the Hilton. I'm pretty sure that in NYC those who were congratulating themselves on having stayed somewhere cheap didn't check that out and probably paid more.

Plus, there's a really big plus for having a room right there and a)having the privilege of using your own bathroom vs. waiting on long lines, b)having a place to put all your shit instead of lugging [books!] around with you, and c)being able to take naps, if you want.

I'm sure I could come up with mo' better reasons if I thought about it, but hey, poets are physical beings too!

I will not, however, be going to AWP in '09. Maybe fun, but too expensive -- unless, of course, I have a book to promote, but I doubt that will happen. And I'm one of those evil people who are seriously prejudiced against the middle of the country. Okay, it makes me claustrophobic to be more than a day's drive from the ocean.

Anne Haines said...

Diane, there is indeed a conference rate at the Hilton, but it's still $164 a night which counts as horribly expensive in my book. In fact, half that price would still count as "pretty expensive" on my budget. It's going to be a biiiig splurge, and will probably have to count as my one and only vacation of the year. But I think it will be fun! I'm looking forward to it.

Anonymous said...

I am almost convinced to go, but I'm still working on the family. If I do go, I'll probably stay at the convention hotel and be looking for a roomie (blink blink?).

Anonymous said...

I forgot to mention, it may be nice being in Indiana, but it especially fun being in NC. Obama's election night speech was actually from NC State campus. Of course, I could not go, but it was cool seeing all the news trucks and security dudes.

Anne Haines said...

g'waltz, I thought about rustling around for a roomie myself. But sadly I find it difficult if not impossible to sleep in the same room with someone else, and that's a bit longer than I can easily go without sleep! :)

Lyle Daggett said...

I'm thinking about going to AWP this time, just because it's so close, though still debating it -- partly because of the cost (likewise a lot of money even with the discount, if I stay at the Hilton), and apart from that, trying to decide if I feel like plunging into the human feeding frenzy that the AWP can be sometimes.

Chicago is close enough that I could probably save some money on travel by taking, say, Amtrak. Not to mention getting to avoid O'Hare Airport.

The only time I've been to the AWP was when it came to Minneapolis in 1992, and then I went to staff a lit table for the local chapter of the National Writers Union, which paid the conference fee for me and one other NWU member. (The AWP conference was so small then that it didn't take up more than three rooms of the hotel.)

Not pushing it one way or another, however it's worth noting that the Chicago Hilton is the hotel where Hubert Humphrey and Eugene McCarthy stayed during the 1968 Chicago Democratic convention. Grant Park, across the street, is where some of the hard clashes between police and anti-war protesters took place -- at one point, tear gas made its way into Humphrey's hotel suite while he was watching the convention proceedings on T.V.

It might be fun to go to Chicago in February. I could hire myself out as an arctic trail guide for anyone who wanted to venture outside. :)

Anne Haines said...

Lyle: You should go! If the human feeding frenzy gets to be too much, escape to the Field Museum or something. :)

Anonymous said...

I will go to AWP in Chicago if the panel Kelly Madigan Erlandson is doing makes the cut. I'm on it!

Congrats on being on the radio again. You rocked the first time. I look forward to the podcast...being out of the area and all.

Equally as funny as Indiana: Massachusetts.

Kate Evans said...

When is AWP gonna be in Hawaii? I'd be sure to go then. WS Merwin could be the keynote; he lives on Maui.

Jessie Carty said...

I went ahead and reserved a room for the AWP but the price is atrocious! But I had miles saved up so at least my flight is free *crossing fingers that she actually gets there*

My first pick for a roomie can't go so I may or may not have one. I'm picky!!! But this may be the only year I get to go unless magically in 2009 I find the best job ever. Or wait. A job.

See you there :)

Anne Haines said...

PWADJ: I hope you go! Hell, go even if the panel doesn't make it. I hear all the fun people are going this year. ;) (Okay, just me. But I'm fun!)

Kate: Ha! I wish... Actually, no. I'd be really really sad sitting in a conference all day instead of being on the beach! If I'm going to spend more than a month's salary to get to Hawaii, I'm damn well sitting on the beach and not in a hotel all day. If I had a job that would cover the expenses, of course, then I'd be like "bring it on!" and just tack on an extra day at the beginning and the end for beach-bumming... :)

Jessie: Yay, see you there! I'm waiting to reserve a room until I see what kind of rates the other nearby hotels come up with. If I can save a significant amount of $ by walking a couple blocks, it's probably worth it to me. Though I do like the idea of not having to go outside if I don't want to...

Kate Evans said...

That's it exactly--a week in the water and a little AWP before, during and/or after! And there could be sunset cruises that include poetry readings, and whale watching trips where people read environmental writings while we waited to see the beautiful beasts...I have a million ideas. That AWP planning committee needs me!