Playing Catch-Up

Contrary to what you might think given the length of time since my last post and now, Boston did not kill me. Neither am I still there. In fact, I've been back for more than a week, but life has been going at this pace that is somewhere between not-slow-at-all and totally-insane, so there you have my reason for not updating the blog sooner. That, and the fact that I'm trying very hard to win the "Least Consistent Blogger of 2009" award. If it doesn't exist, I'm going to be bummed.

The rest of my Boston trip was great, though. And by the way, all the doom-gloomers who are busily prophesying the end of reading and literacy and books and so on would have been heartened by the many people who turned out for the inaugural Boston Book Festival on October 24. Especially when you factor in the fact that it was pouring rain most of the day, and when it wasn't raining, the wind was blowing. (Actually, sometimes the wind was blowing while it was raining.)

One of my treasured book festival memories occurred as I was signing up at one booth to win a free Kindle. Not that I am in favor of the Kindle per se, but hey, I'm as American as the next person, which means if it's free, I'll take it, thanks, and then sell it on eBay for a tidy profit. (Actually I'm lying about selling stuff on eBay. I'm way too lazy for that.) But the point is, as I was signing up for the free Kindle raffle, I overheard not one, but two people ask, "What's a Kindle?"

Hallelujah.

Another memorable moment for me was the entire John Hodgman/Tom Perotta conversation, held in the hallowed and gorgeous sanctuary of the Old South Church on Copley Square. For those of you who don't know who John Hodgman is, he's the PC on the "I'm a Mac/I'm a PC" commercials. For those of you who don't know who Tom Perotta is, he's written some books, one of which was the novel Election, which got turned into a movie. I don't really remember much about the presentation except that it was very funny, and contained three of my favorite quotes of the day:

1) John Hodgman: "I always wanted my own megachurch."

2) Tom Perotta: "I just wonder what it's like to be disturbingly ubiquitous."

3) John Hodgman: "It's nerd time, but the law still applies."

You kinda had to be there, especially for that last one. But trust me, it was hilarious.

There's a lot more I could say about the book festival, but this post is already long, and there's still a whole 'nother day of the trip to talk about, which encompassed a drive to Maine. Argh, I suck at blogging! OK, we're doing the rest in pictures. Here we go:



That's a pic of the Visitor's Center at Kittery, ME, one of the nicest rest stops I've ever been to. It was there that we learned about the existence of Lenny the Life-Size Chocolate Moose, who resides at a candy shop in Scarborough, about an hour from the Massachusetts border. Of course, we had to go see him:



Since Lenny also lives not far from Portland, we cruised up there for a late lunch. (A fact that makes it possible for me to boast that I've been to Portland, OR, and Portland, ME, less than six months apart from each other. Because, you know, that's something to boast about.)

Here's Portland in all its cuteness:



And here's me in all of mine:



I don't know if you can read the sign, but it says, "DEMILLO'S LONG WHARF SERVING NICE PEOPLE SINCE 1954." I wonder what they do to not-nice people. Not serve them, I guess.

Here's a sign I saw outside a store:



I think that speaks for itself.

On the way back to Boston, we drove through Kennebunkport, which was pretty much adorable. And then there was the coast:



As a copywriter with clients in the travel industry, there have been numerous times where I've had to write about the New England coast even though I've never had the opportunity to go there until now (thank God for my advanced degree in fiction writing!). So I'm relieved to note that the many adjectives I've deployed to describe said coast (stunning, spectacular, dramatic, etc.) are, in fact, accurate. (Although you wouldn't know it from the picture. Oh well.)

Anyway, there it is, my not-so-quick Boston sum-up that still leaves much to the imagination. And I'll leave you now to employ that as you will, but not before extending my deep gratitude to the gracious friends who let me take over their living room during the entirety of my stay, not to mention showed me around (and even, in one case, made the supreme sacrifice of climbing the Bunker Hill monument's 294 steps with me). Thank you, thank you, thank you!

OK, back to all of our regularly scheduled lives...