One last AWP post

3 other things seen during AWP:

* an off-duty Secret Service dude in an elevator at the Hilton, official Secret Service bulletproof vest slung over one shoulder, very adamantly not making eye contact with anyone (I later found out Obama was in town & in fact had dinner not too terribly far from us... sigh!)

* ice sculptures in the park! Very cool, in both senses of the word.

* I already mentioned this, but bloggers, bloggers, bloggers! I think I must have met 30 of y'all, and even then there were several of you I didn't manage to cross paths with. It really was fun, even though I'm basically a shy person and overcompensate by babbling on. ;)

#1 advice I have to pass on to others:

* The coffee in your hotel room is bad. It barely counts as coffee. However: it is coffee. And it is in your hotel room. And if you're too poor for room service, like me, it will get you sufficiently awake to stumble downstairs.

The other #1 advice I have:

* Someone, and I have no recollection who, told me to go get my conference badge as soon as I got checked into the hotel. I did, and it took like thirty seconds once I found the registration counter. This turns out to have been fabulous advice because I hear that people who came in later were standing in line for a really long time, even if they were already pre-registered. If you get in on Wednesday, by all means get your badge and stuff that day. (And actually, getting in on Wednesday & having the evening to relax & acclimate a bit was another really smart thing that I did & will absolutely try to do again next time.)

My 2 resolutions for Denver 2010:

* I really want to read. Editors who've published me, take note! Random poets who can use another random poet in a reading, take note! I know it's egotistical as hell to want to read my stuff, but it is, after all, the Attention Whore Paradise conference (thanks Laine). And I love reading, and I'm really good at sticking to my time limit. ;)

* I really, really want to be there. I have no idea how I'm going to fund it, but I'm going to start working on some ways.

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Some good news, just in from the Indiana Coalition for the Arts:

Update on Indiana State Arts Budget!
House Ways & Means Committee Releases Budget

Today the House Ways and Means released its budget which includes an 8% reduction for the Indiana Arts Commission, rather than the Governor’s recommended 50% reduction. This would make the proposed appropriation around $3.68 million (the last biennial budget was at $4 million). This is terrific news, as it treats the IAC on par with other state agencies.