04.23.05

Woke this morning to grey skies and pissing rain. *between clenched teeth* I love Stumptown. And if I repeat that often enough, I might believe it. Actually, I have met some wonderful, amazing, generous people here...but the rain. Oy.

Wordstock.

Hang on, KaliHellKitty is softening *ow* up my *ow* lap.

Okay. Wordstock.

I parked about 10 blocks away, figuring that my ass (and the rest of me) could use a good walk. Got to the main exhibit hall smack at 10:00, found the Oregon Literacy booth, and settled in. Took some pictures for the OLI newsletter, chatted to some people, made some last-minute signs. Stayed in the OLI booth until noon, then went over and checked into the official Wordstock volunteer area.

I got my faboo volunteer shirt and a lanyard with a card that says "volunteer" on it. Then I wandered into the room where "my" stage was. Didn't have a clue about what to do, so I winged it.

Each reading lasted an hour. There was one group, the Tin Roof writers, that filled the room to capacity. I had to turn people away.

Oy. When entry is denied to a certain type of person, they act as if it's personal. Like they can't comprehend that the room is so full that the fire marshal would shut it down immediately. I gave up with one irate woman and just agreed that we were utterly incompetent in not booking enough room for her. Hmm. Who knew that agreeing with someone would shut them the hell up?

Note to self: you're no fun when you don't play along with someone's persecution fantasy...and they go away. Yay!

The last group of authors/readers were interesting. They were all stories about adversity; one woman wrote about Bill Porter (the subject of the movie Door to Door) she is/was his assistant. Another woman wrote about her experiences as a prison teacher for 17 years. And the other author wrote about her family and their struggles with drug addiction.

As they read, and I say this with hesitation, I realized that they weren't better or worse writers than me. They just had more stick-to-it-ness, or happened to be in the right place at the right time, or something. Makes me realize that I am a decent writer, just that what I'm writing ain't selling. Oh well.

That's it for now. I've had a piece of bacon to eat today and am feeling a tad peckish.

Go. Be fabulous.

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