I spent the weekend running the hospitality room for the author and artist guests at a convention (SoonerCon). Let's see a word from our sponsors before we delve into a weekend of feeding a host of authors.
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Please come in. You're invited to make yourself at home! Join us beneath the doodle...
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I was away from the computer for 4 days and set personal diaries to post during those days - with the warning that I wasn't there to respond to comments, they were just pretty pictures for people to look at, kind of the intermissions they had during movies back in the old days, or intermissions during plays.
I didn't get pictures of a lot of this event because I was busy. Loading, in, for example. I have a small 1995 Toyota Corolla 4 door sedan. Into it, I packed a 6' foot table (it folds), 1 dorm sized refrigerator, 4 ice chests (2 48 quart and 2 60 quart), 3 60 quart storage bins, 6 crock pots, 2 coffee pots, 2 tea kettles, 1 electric hotplate, 1 large stockpot, 20 bags of groceries, 12 cases of sodas, and 8 cases of water, both monkey beds and dogs.
The hotel bellhops needed 4 carts to unload my car and carry things up to the room we were using for the hospitality room.
Last year, we were tucked into the end of the Dead Mall (that's not the real name, but it was - and still is - a 2 story mall that is untenanted and attached to the hotel - the parking garage is both above and below it) as far from the hotel as possible and still be indoors. Because it was untenanted, the plumbing was shut off - no water, no toilets. Everyone had to walk the entire length of this Dead Mall which only had emergency lighting on to reach us, and they did so despite needing to pre-plan their toileting needs. That we were busy attests to the how much the authors needed to use us.
This year, in a rags-to-riches story, we had a lovely room with running water and toilets, overstuffed sofa and chairs, and a wet bar that I converted into a mini kitchenette.
Out of this wet bar that consisted of a small refrigerator, a bar sink, and a counter, I served hot pasta, Hebrew National hot dogs, 2 kinds of chili (one with all the spices and veggies and one that lacked all the veggies due to allergies), gluten-free pasta, a halal hot pot, and a kashrut pot, as well as sandwich fixings - roast beef, turkey, ham, sliced tomatoes, onions, bell pepper, mushrooms, cucumber, pickles, romaine lettuce, radishes, celery, carrots, provolone, cheddar, and swiss. There was shredded cheese for the chili and hot dogs and Frito pies. There were also Ding Dongs, Ho-Hos, and Twinkies as a special tribute and tradition.
For breakfast, I served omelets made to order, crock pot oatmeal, toast, fruit, coffee, orange juice, and hot tea.
The ice chests contained a variety of sodas and bottled water and one filled with just ice for the tea and iced coffees.
Throughout the weekend, I had a constant flow of authors, editors, and artists coming in between their panels and discussions. This room is particularly critical because of the lack of accessible and easy to find restaurants. They are there, but since there's no signage indicating where they are and most of these people are from out of town/state, they were unfamiliar with the which buildings would have restaurants in them. It was just easier to come to me and the Green Room for sustenance - especially for breakfast and lunch.
The menu is a simple one: hot dogs, chili, Frito pies, chili mac, spaghetti, salads, sandwiches, fruit (with oatmeal and omelets for breakfast). There's just enough variety to keep them from being bored, and since most of it is home made with veggiies from my garden, no one had to worry much about allergies. The hard part was keeping the halal foods separate, but people are always quick to understand.
I like to think of the Green Room as one massive 3-day long exclusive room party. I get to meet all the guests at the convention (Peter Beagle was one of the guests this year - author of The Last Unicorn, The Innkeeper's Song. The Folk of the Air, The Rhinoceros Who Quoted Nietzsche, and more). I get to renew my acquaintance with authors and editors and artists from previous years, too.
There are 2 editors, 9 authors, and Itzl visible in this picture. Itzl is really hard to see since he's sitting on a black background.
An editor and 4 authors are visible, there's also a hidden author/filmographer sitting between the game author on the right and the standing editor.
The standing lady with the eye patch had an unfortunate accident with a scooter she was contemplating buying. She will retain her eyesight, but it was a near thing. She broke her cheek bone and upper eye socket. She's an artist and because of a comment I made, is now making paintings with a blow torch. She'd said she was just learning to use a blow torch and she meant because she was expanding her repertoire to sculpture, but I said, "Awesome! I think the world needs blow torched paintings."
She thought about it and realized she could make paintings of molten metals using a blow torch, and voila! Her newest art form is reality. She promised to show me one of her pieces, and brought one by as I was packing up the Green Room for next year. She does gorgeous work.
The lady in red and white writes children's stories. Four of the people are children of various authors.
Here's a collection of authors just finishing breakfast.
An editor is on the left, facing the camera, and across from her are 2 authors.
A picture of Xoco, showing just how tiny she is.
Peter Beagle talking about his favorite cat, and 2 authors.
Xoco inhabiting one of the monkey beds.
Itzl, guiding an artist to the buffet after alerting on his presence.
It was a busy weekend, filled with anecdotes, interesting people and conversations, and all the latest on-dits in the publishing industries. These are amazing people who don't make near enough money for their efforts.
Think of these authors and artists. They share much in common with the Top Comments, Top Mojo, and the amazing Picture Quilt here on DKos:
TOP COMMENTS
June 18, 2012
Thanks to tonight's Top Comments contributors! Let us hear from YOU
when you find that proficient comment.
[top comments here]
Submitted by commonmass:
From Cheers and Jeers, The Crank schools us in "anchor babies".
Submitted by me:
Harrije renames Voss Lighting bulbs to Jesus Bulbs and Zedmont's comment downline talks about lightbulb resurrection.
Yojimbo had an astute observation about the power of vaginas.
Commonmass explains why women need and want to talk about vaginas and other body parts belonging to women.
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TOP PHOTOS
June 17, 2012
Enjoy jotter's wonderful PictureQuilt™ below. Just click on the picture and it will magically take you to the comment that features that photo. Have fun, Kossacks!
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