The Rules of Survival is a 2006 National Book Award finalist. I'm taking my new digital camera to New York for the festivities, and the plan is to post photos and details while I'm there.
Photos and comments for Monday, November 13, 2006
1. Okay, okay. I was all set, I really was. I had figured out all the clothes, all the shoes. And then, on Saturday, I panicked. I decided I needed KILLER black high-heels for the Tuesday night thingie. So I got 'em. Four inches! The question is: Will I trip, fall, and self-destruct on my way to the podium?
But then again, to quote Coco Chanel: "Il faut souffrir pour etre belle." One must suffer to be beautiful.
2. My cubicle at work. Did I get anything much done today? Actually, yes. Just perhaps not quite as much as usual.
3. Off to catch the 5 pm Express bus. We zipped to the airport in plenty of time, which pleases me, because I neurotically always like to be early ... and I was. I was in plenty of time for fog to ground my 7 pm plane for more than an hour and a half.
5. We did pull away from the gate on time, and then sat on the runway. Not to worry. I had a book!
6. But then, I finished reading A Picture of Freedom: The Diary of Clotee, a Slave Girl, by Patricia McKissack.
Note to self: Never again be caught with only one book on a plane. What happens when you finish it? Well, you can always eavesdrop on the businessman with the enchanting British accent. What he says is perhaps not so very interesting, but how he says it definitely is. Then you sneak a look.
No, there is no picture. Trust me. Very disappointing.
Takeoff at last! And an idea for how to occupy myself.
7. Now, what's that you're saying, reader dear? Was it: "Nancy, so why aren't you working on your new novel?"
None of your business! Go away! Who asked you, anyway? Seriously! I'll play solitaire if I want to! I will! It's my time to waste, isn't it?
Ahem. Perhaps a brief nap, while the plane continues on to NYC.
Isn't it amazing what kind of tantrums one can have in one's own head? Oh, what's that? This sort of thing doesn't happen in your head, just mine?
Really?
8. Arrival at LaGuardia airport! Pray, pray, pray that my precious luggage has not been mislaid along the way. Ordinarily, I do carry-on, but there was too much stuff this time.
Okay, okay. Probably half of it I won't need.
9. Meet driver at baggage claim. I was too embarrassed to take his picture. Hooray! My bag arrived safely!
10. Speed along to the city. Arrive at hotel. Again, too embarrassed to take photos in lobby. The people who work here wear headsets. This makes them all look a little like insects. Nice insects, of course.
But here is my room. That flatscreen TV that you see pulls out of the wall on a swivelly thing so you can angle it however you like. Beneath is the minibar. I have not investigated the minibar yet.
11. Naturally, I got the laptop set up right away.
12. What's that? You want a photo of the inside of the minibar? Well. Perhaps tomorrow!
-Nancy, 11:19 pm, New York time.
Okay. Okay, fine. You knew I couldn't resist.
Exhaustive investigation of contents of minibar, below:
Now, in the refrigerator? There at the bottom? That dark chocolate bar?
It is no more.
-Nancy, a little after midnight.