maui, gone

Just time for a quick one, as I am at work and the world is moving swiftly again.

-Maui was a wonderful rest, and now I'm tan and happier and resuming work with vigor, which is good, as I think I needed a little respite. Yet for all Maui's wonderful beautifulness the real world did manage to seep into it, now and then, curling the edges like burnt paper. For the first few days it felt like I received one emotional punch after another, and I had to quickly figure out how to shut the outside world off. Aimee had to do it as well, for she had a few (arguably) real-life issues encroach upon her too. I finally did it by turning my cell phone completely off. And I refused to check e-mail. That did it.

-I used the first five days of the trip to tour the island, and I mean really tour it this time. I went slowly, spoke to locals, hiked down to lava pools, watched old women burn taro leaves in their yard and locals fish in streams. I had lunch one day on the Kaenae coast (boy did I butcher that spelling), under a tree that was sharply bent over, almost as if it had my bad back. It cast cool shadows over the rocks and fallen coconuts, and made a perfect picnic spot from which I watched the waves crash and roll. Some of them tickled my feet and dampened my floral skirt.

-I have the pictures from 2003's trip ALMOST done in a photo album form. I'll put those up and THEN this year's. This year's are worlds better. My polarizing filter did its job, man. There are pics where you can see 20 feet out into the ocean AND down through the water to the floor, in the same shot.

-The conference was very nice. I feel as though I learned more about the business, and I had the amazing opportunity to talk with some cool authors, including Terry Brooks (who has such firm belief in Aimee's eventual success it made me even more proud to be her editor), Bruce Colville (author of 90 children's books and just the happiest guy I've ever met), and Eragon's Christopher Paolini (who does cartwheels when he's bored or has been sitting too long. You can just imagine the acrobatics performed while writing). Meeting the people behind the books always intrigues me, as it's always fairly easy to match them with their book style. I don't mean Terry Brooks carries around a staff and wears medieval robes or whatever; I mean when you talk to them, their use of language and emanating mood puts them in the same bookstore section as their books.

-I shook Aaron Sorkin's hand. I say this not as a gloat but as a statement of such incredulity that I have to write it down while I still have it ever-so-slightly in my memory, just to make sure it actually happened. I shook his hand (tight grip) and thanked him for turning my house into an all-out war zone on Wednesday nights (and for the DVD-watching festivals we have). He said it warmed his heart that my family gets together to watch West Wing the way we do. And then he was swept away by the authors and presenters at the conference, who were all just as star struck by him as we lowly attendees.

-The flying stunk, and I usually like flying in any form. Even when I am thoroughly medicated there is nothing worse for my back than sitting still for too long; it's why I always wake up in the morning in pain. So that, plus a horrendous food experience if you're doing the low carb thing (yay for mozzarella sticks in my bag), plus having the honor of being the only passenger on the long leg of my flight back whose tv screen didn't work, made it quite uncomfortable. The pills did help; I took two at the beginning of the first leg of each journey and dozed in and out. They would normally knock me out, but since I was sitting almost upright it was just enough to get me some sleep. So, the parts of the flights I missed, were good. There was no turbulence on any of them though. Oh, maybe a second or two in the beginning of the first flight back, but that's it. So, moral: yay for smooth skies and muscle relaxant pills.

-I'm back. Back to work. Saw a kid with a 300 pound rubber band ball today. It's a nice, easy re-entry process I've got.