It’s been a strange week, featuring back-to-back blizzards and more. Out of the blue I was interviewed by Chris Hewitt, of the Pioneer Press, for a story about people who write fiction in coffee shops, which I do. I think that went well (but we’ll see how it is in print, tentatively slated for April 2nd). What was more nerve-wracking was having my photo taken. I prefer to be on the other side of the camera. Still, I met the photographer dude at Caffetto yesterday morning. Chatting with him was nice but disconcerting as he kept snapping off pix of me for an hour. Literally. During this process I was to act naturally, typing away on my powerbook. I tried to pretend I was writing something, but my concentration was shot. Instead I was really IMing with friends, one of whom had me freaking laughing and looking like a total dork because he was sending absurd ASCII art and choice lines like:
Remember… lioness in jungle! Lioness in jungle!
Do you think if you just lapsed into pirate talk he’d freak out?
or Cockney slang?
Cover one eye with a biscotti and yell, “YARRR, thar be photos!”
Oh my. How could I possibly keep it together?
In other news, we leave tomorrow. Yowza. We do have all passports present and accounted for now, but I need to run up to Kinko’s to make the suggested photocopies. While perusing the State Department’s site I came across this fabulous fact sheet for Iceland:
Extreme care should be exercised when touring Iceland’s numerous nature attractions, which include glaciers, volcanic craters, lava fields, ice caves, hot springs, boiling mud pots, geysers, waterfalls and glacial rivers. There are few warning signs or barriers to alert travelers to potential hazards. Several tourists are scalded each year because they get too close to an erupting geyser, or because they fall or step into a hot spring or boiling mud pot. High winds and icy conditions can exacerbate the dangers of visiting these nature areas.
Mmmm, boiling mud pots. Anyhow, today I have a metric crapload of laundry to do. Once washed I will have to select portions of it to pack, without over or underpacking for the trip. In the past I’ve had limited success in this department. Once I went to NYC for a full week with just one pair of pants (and I went on no shopping trips while there) but generally I err on the side of overpacking.
Bonus: My word, iTunes is so dangerous. I arbitrarily decided I was in the mood for The Cars, and they were just a couple of clicks away, of course. I’m not a completist though, so I settled on an EP containing five of their classics. Wow, I didn’t remember their songs featuring hand claps so heavily, but they sure do.