Hey! I’m in Curve magazine! Go get it! I wrote an article about me’n’Lala visiting Venice for their travel issue, now on stands. Borders carries it, I know, as do most Barnes and Nobles, and any independent bookstore that carries Out and Advocate will have it, too. It’s a lesbian magazine, you should know. Just in case your husband wonders why it’s in your bedside reading, you can have something planned. I’m on pages 40-41. Woot!
I was a dork at Stitches, as usual. I had a BLAST. I got there around 1pm, and just wandered around, moving between wildly excited and completely overwhelmed. It’s kind of being a kid again at Disneyland, isn’t it? I want! I want everything, and look at this, and what about that, and that’s my favorite thing EVER, and I’M TIRED I DON’T WANT TO BE HERE ANYMORE and oooooh, pretty, I want that!
Luckily, I ran into readers who were awesome, and said hello, and made me step off my merino-high every once in a while. I only took a couple of pictures, and none turned out but this one, but it’s great:
That’s Bonnie and Bonnie. (By the way, when you organize yourselves like this in the wild, I really appreciate it.) These two made me laugh my ass off and regain some human composure again, so I really appreciate them.
I also really appreciate Cindy and Jeni and Emily and Nancy and her partner Adriana, with whom I hung out after the whole deal.
However. There was one highly embarrassing moment I’ll tell you about.
Nancy and Adriana were staying there in the hotel, and we’d been up to their room to drop off some bags (ahem) before dinner. We went back down in the elevator and exited into the lobby. It was swank. Nancy said, "Look at all this high-tech stuff! Virtual concierge!"
I looked over and saw that there was indeed a concierge desk, and behind it, up on the wall, was a huge TV screen with a woman’s face on it, who appeared to be looking into the room.
A computer-concierge! I thought that was just too nifty, so I literally ran up to the desk and smiled and waved at the computer image. It smiled and waved back! I said, "Hello!"
It said, "Hello. Can I help you?"
I turned around and said to my compatriots, "Look! She looks so real!"
"Can I help you?"
I goofed a little more, hoping to get the computer to echo my motions, like it had with the waving.
"Um, is there something I can do for you?"
It hit me suddenly, the ugly truth. "You’re real, aren’t you?"
"Yes, I’m real. What can I do for you?"
"Gahggh hrm abbat SEEYOULATERSORRY!"
And I ran away. She was real, and there had been a camera somewhere pointed at ME, so she could see ME, and I could see HER, and it wasn’t fancy-hi-tech computer-concierging, it was just a remote employee, and wasn’t that just like me? I wonder how many times that’s happened to her? I think it would be funny all the time, if I were her.
So. Stitches was great, and hello to all you sweeties who said hello, and then I went down south to the little mama’s house for the Oscars on Sunday night (Al Gore, you’ve never been more adorable) and had a great time with my sister Christy on the drive there and back, and this morning I woke up to find this in the backyard*:
How is THAT for a best-case scenario? It fell OVER the fence, but didn’t damage it, and the tree is just resting in our backyard. Must talk to the neighbors about that today, I suppose….
* In actuality, I didn’t wake to find that. I woke, opened the curtain to the window that looks out to the backyard, then decided it was stuffy, so opened the window itself, then went and let the dogs out onto this same porch, then let them back in. Then Lala called and said, "Look in the backyard," and I finally saw what had happened. I am not observant at all before I have caffeine.
Congratulations on the article…that’s awesome!
I just saw you in Curve today! I popped over to mention it and you already posted about it. Very cool, it’s a sweet article. And Va-Va-Voom, yikes, the cover!
(1) You didn’t make a Stitches confession! I am slowly making mine on the podcast, but I want to know what other people bought, too. (2) The virtual concierge? I would have totally done that. Hilarious. (3) Tree? Ouch.
I will have to pick up a copy of Curve later in the week when I head over to Borders. And that tree is definitely balancing nicely. I hope the neighbor is nice about it.
I’ll have to check out Curve… maybe I’ll do it at Border’s so as to not make my husband nervous. 🙂
Saturday was fun, it was a blast to hang out with all of you and I would have been laughing harder except I was so post-Stitches exhausted…
You know, I was wondering what you were talking about with that picture – cute dogs all playing together? Nice plant arrangement? New fence? Oh! Yeah, that tree IS horizontal, isn’t it?!
Congratulations on the article! I’m sorry I missed you at Stitches ’cause it would have been nice to meet the one and only Rachael. About the virtual concierge–I saw that and didn’t realize it was a real person until I saw a woman getting help from the woman on the screen. How cheesy is that? I mean, she’s sitting at a desk anyway, why not have her interact with her customers IN PERSON? Unless of course she’s multitasking and is working different hotels at the same time. But I digress… maybe we’ll meet at a spin-in some day, huh?
Jeez – I have had my caffine and my sugar and my salt and I still did not notice the tree on the fence. Just thought it was cute the the twinkle lights were on the fence. Yah, I am not observant as well but I crank on those “What has changed in the picture” games. Go Figure.
i too kept gazing at the picture to see what you were “on” about–cute dogs (always the first thing I look at), a new knitted item (none in sight), berries growing on the plants (no such luck) then finally–the tree! Ta da. Glad none of you were out there.
I’m going to go buy a copy of Curve and leave it on my bedside table just to make husband wonder… 🙂
Congratulations on the article!
Yay you! I need to see if I can get a copy.
This post made me giggle because it sounds like you had a triple espresso before you wrote it. I love the computer conceirge part.
I am sitting in a classroom while student take their chemistry test and I am attempting not to laugh out loud. A computer-concierge. Note to self, don’t read knitting blogs while giving a test!
I love how uninterested the dogs seem, too. ‘Yeah, a tree fell over. Ho-hum. Oh, look! A bird!’
Curve! Yay! So cool! I’ll have to find a copy. Yay! Did I mention I miss you?
Here’s a link to the photo taken with my camera: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebon/401392886/ Hey look! You’re whole face is in it! It was awesome to meet you, so much fun. And because I’m too lazy to send the email I promised, the tshirt is from dieselsweeties.com, it’s the yarncore tshirt, comes in red and brown. he’s also got an electric sheep tshirt that I have and love.
You are hilarious. “Like being a kid at Disneyland…” I get that! Complete and utter sensory overload. Makes you want to say, “One of everything, please!” 🙂 And, I’m another one that didn’t get the tree ‘cross the fence. I was looking at the pretty, large ‘shrub’ in the back yard. Took me a few moments to notice the horizontal trunk coming out of it. And I’ve already had my coffee.
I must confess it took me about 10 tries to figure out what was wrong with your back porch picture, even after you said that the tree was down! OK I need more coffee I guess. I never have been good with those “find the differences in the 2 pictures” games.
Hey, I got sick late that night after Stitches. I’ve been in bed every day since. My mom dropped off fresh produce so I won’t get scurvy. And HA! There I am in that photo just hours earlier looking all crazy and jaundiced!!! LOL
Hey, it was so fun to hang out with you. I think it had been something obscene, like a year since I’d seen you. I ran out and got a copy of Curve immediatamente. You two look so kewt and it was a really great article. Congrats!
Congratulations on the published article–it was so nice to meet you in person at Stitches! I hope you ended up with some great loot!
Oh, you are such a dork. But woot! Your article! I’ll check the newsstands ASAP. Congratulations!
Congratulations on the article! I’ll have to go look at the article, Powell’s will have it. I read some NY Times article about people with lots of money buying apartments in Venice and thought, that should be Rachael! And La! Instead of PlasticMan and his lovely wife (I’m not kidding, they look photoshopped in. Weird, weird pictures).
Heh, like a kid at Disneyland. That’s a great comparison. Wish I could have been there.
Congrats on the article!