I flew from Portland to Boston on a red-eye. ("A redeye on a JetBlue": that sounds like a lyric...) The result was having to, more than once, remind myself later that no, yesterday was Wednesday and today is Thursday and, later, no, yesterday was Thursday and today is Friday. For a while there, I felt like I'd lost a day.
I showed up earlier than needed at Portland International Airport -- easy trip through security, thank everything -- partly to have time to eat at the Good Dog/Bad Dog restaurant, as its downtown location I used to like to go to has closed. The worker there let me know that there is another non-airport location, in the Beaverton/Tigard area. I want to support good meat vending, so I might go there sometime. And as a loyal Rick Emerson listener, I knew once I was through security to buy a couple of bottles of that vitamin drink Viso that more of us Portlanders are going on about, because it's good. (End free plug! Except to say the caffeinated one I got saved my ass on Saturday at the con...)
Flights went all right; both were quicker than expected, and I got into Boston Logan early. Punchy and smelly, but early. I made it through the airport without LEAVING BEHIND ANYTHING MASSIVELY IMPORTANT. (Back story: I visited Boston in 1998, and managed while moving through the airport to leave behind an entire camera bag with one of my cameras, most of my lenses, and exposed and undeveloped film, all lost...lost... and yep, I'm still a little annoyed with myself for that!) But I had the energy to retrieve my rental car, with GPS added to better navigate what
shadesong has called "the upchucked spaghetti" of the Boston area road system, and drive to 'Song and yendi's home in Watertown. The weather was warmish but welcoming -- breeze is a good thing -- and I had the nice sensation of knowing I'd made it and could relax. A little. Somewhat.I met up with
shadesong and settled in for my overnight at their house, a.k.a. Gojirawitziev. I immediately was awed by their extensive (and almost all alphabetized) book and DVD collection; I see why theferrett called it "Nerd Castle." And, as I said earlier, there's something very comforting about their place. Conversation was had, good reading was had, visiting was had (Elayna returned with her grandparents, who'd taken her to see family on the Cape I believe; and later yendi returned for work), Italian food was had. (I've had a lot of Italian food on this trip for reasons of sheer coincidence.) The family introduced me to the highly clever TV series The Middleman ('Song says the show's giving her a Halloween costume idea); they tried introducing me to Eureka as well, but by then I was too exhausted to keep up with it. Not even the chicken-broccoli ziti the Gojirawitze got for me gave me enough energy to counteract the day-and-a-half of travel prep and actual travel I'd been engaged in until then.I slept the sleep of the dead on their living room couch, withat least two of their three cats hovering near me and regarding me in their inscrutable cat way. (Their cat Jack was very friendly Thursday and skittish and slightly stand-offish Friday. Go fig.)
yendi headed to work, and the visiting grandparents returned to treat 'Song, Elayna and me to a good breakfast and good visiting. They provided my first dose of New York accent on this trip. Don't get much of that in flat-accented Portland. (And yay for ego-stroking: they said I have a good radio/announcer's voice...)Elayna had decided to join 'Song and me at Pi-Con, and this ended up a good decision; she had a blast and was a blast. She's neat. The three of us ran back to their house (the grandparents let us split while they finished their breakfast), picked up some stuff, and drove to a speaking engagement of 'Song's. She is a speaker and counselor for the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center, and she went to speak to counselors-in-training. Elayna and I stayed in another room, reading, except for the time I needed more change for the parking meter and hied my way to a Dunkin' Donuts to buy something and generate change. I was aided in meter-feeding by a good guy who was delivering to the same building; he added the change he'd've needed to add to a meter had he not been parking in a loading zone, and briefly at that, while I needed to keep the meter fed for longer. For good reasons, 'Song's talk went long -- she had an engaged audience asking good questions -- and we left the building with 'Song feeling a deserved sense of accomplishment. Westward travel began; 'Song served as backup GPS so I could manage to reach the Massachusetts Turnpike, and we pointed towards West Springfield and the con hotel. (My intentionally dumb comment open seeing a sign for Worcester, which is pronounced "Worster": "Worster! Is there a Bester?" 'Song: "This isn't Babylon 5.")
I never had to flee screaming from the con this weekend. What did I do? Find out later!
