Oof, tired, my darlings….

Oof, tired, my darlings. I want to just stay home today, but there's one last thing to do at the con -- go in and do the writers' workshop. To be honest, I'm a little sorry I volunteered for this -- if I weren't doing it, they'd have put me on three panels during this time slot, and panelling is a) fun, and b) a great way to promote my work, SH, etc. Ah well. I've done three panels already, so it's not like I didn't get my fair share. Time to give something back...

I've read the stories for the workshop, but haven't written up critiques yet, so I need to do that next. At 8:30, shower and dress -- at 8:45, head off to the con, running an errand on the way. Everything's felt very tightly packed in for the last couple of days; I can't wait for it to be Monday, when I can get back to a normal schedule again. I did some reading in Menominee, but really not so much. And now it's time to really dive into the exam reading -- one of my tasks for this week is to actually buy the rest of the books I need (a *lot* of books) for my exam list. I had fun buying some of them in used bookstores, but at this point, I think efficiency is more important, so I'm just going to do it all from Amazon. Need to remember to start at the SH bookstore so they get a percentage for all those books. I'll buy as many as I can used, but I suspect a lot of them won't be available that way. We'll see.

What's really driving me crazy is that the apartment isn't clean. I've been doing it in bits and bobs, here and there, and the main room is now mostly clear -- but it needs sweeping, and counter-wiping, and sink-scrubbing. And once that's done, all the rest of the rooms need cleaning. The bathrooms haven't been done for a month or so, and the tv room is just a big old mess. When I come home from a long day and the place is messy, it's just depressing, y'know? I should finish with the con around 2-ish today, and while I could hang around and socialize, I suspect I'll just want to come home and clean.

Aside from all that, I have been having a good time the last few days. Fun panels, and yesterday I met up with an old friend from Chicago, Ken Hite. Ken's one of my few friends who's actually making a living as a full-time writer -- he writes gaming books, the sort with tons of historical-type background. I drove him back to Hyde Park from the convention yesterday, and it was great catching up with him. He and Sheila have bought a townhouse in Hyde Park, and I lust after it. Especially the basement of books. Sigh. I'm hoping to get them up here at some point for dinner...I'm sort of tempted to do a pre-Thanksgiving potluck dinner thing, with autumnal foods, where everyone can bring their favorite Thanksgiving dish. And if we end up with eight different kinds of stuffing, so be it -- we'll have a stuffing tasting, and it will be good.

It's really nice, how many people I do know in Chicago, even if some of them are just poppping up again now. Mostly couples these days -- people my age tend to be paired off, it seems. But not entirely. Maybe a quick rundown would be helpful, especially if you're having trouble keeping these people straight. It'll also help me put together my invite list. :-)

  • Roshani and Tom and baby Zoe (you really ought to know who these people are)
  • Sheila K. (friend of Roshani, doing a Ph.D. in classics at U of C)
  • Tom's close friend, a guy, whose name I'm blanking on but who went on a picnic with us and seems really nice
  • Stephanie and Ron (friends of Utah Deb's, living in Hyde Park)
  • Ken and Sheila (aforementioned, friends from old days at U of C)
  • Mike S. and his wife (ditto previous, and I can't believe I'm blanking on her name)
  • Michael H. (whose sweetie lives out of town, sadly -- ditto U of C)
  • Shannon C. (ditto U of C)
  • Katherine R. (ditto U of C)
  • Michael M. (U of C math guy, the one I go square-dancing with on Thursdays)
  • Angeli P. (friend of previous)
  • Todd and Brandy (U of C math guy and new wife, also mathematician)
  • my cousins -- Romi and Nimmi and Pami and Adrian
  • Kevin's colleagues -- Alex and his fiance, John and his wife, that guy from France (okay, I don't know these so well, but it might be nice to invite them)
  • and the local sf writers, which includes Nnedi and Jen and Trey and Richard various others I'm getting to know better
There's probably more. And it's true that some of the above are still more friends in potentia than friends actual -- I haven't seen Sheila since I moved here, for example. But it's nice to know that there are so many possibilities. It's a happy thing.

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