Saturday, April 30, 2005

So far...

having a great time. Nebula Weekend in Chicago is proving rich with opportunities for good food and good conversation with good friends. The weekend started off great, when Andy and Sydney Duncan joined Robin, Clint and us for dinner last night at ye olde bar. The food was okay -- better than the food though, was the lucky coincidence of being streetside when Chicago's wonderfully organized, enthusiastic, and colorful Critical Mass rode by.

After dinner, there was a reception for SFWA's new grandmaster Anne McCaffrey. Nominees in attendance also received pins and certificates (well, those nominees in attendance except for Greg van Eekhout, who apparently had better things to do with his time than to be seen with the likes of us). At the beginning of the reception, Catherine Asaro called up Jack Williamson, who was celebrating his 97th birthday and the room sang Happy Birthday to him. Mr. Williamson's response was: "Thank you. Who is this?"

There was a late night full of conversation and laughter -- too many people to be listed, but among them were David Moles and Susan Marie Groppi, who gave me a bit of good news. I'll pass it along once I find out whether it's supposed to be public knowledge yet. It was also good to get to see Sean Stewart, whose Perfect Circle (which he's nominated for) was one of my favorite books last year.

As for this afternoon, as soon as G gets out of the shower, we're going in search of Chicago deep dish and then we're going to walk down to Chicago's new Millenium Park near the lakeshore, so we can check out their state-of-the-art three hundred space bicycle parking facility.