Saturday, November 10, 2007

So, I Lied, But I Have a Crazy Idea to Make Up for It

I know, I said I was back about a month ago, but I've really only been about half back, haven't I? Everyone else has been busy celebrating NaBloPoMo, and I seem to have been celebrating NaNoBloPoMo. Oh well, it can't be helped. I've just got too much on my plate right now: still unpacking, conferences for work, and now I'm getting ready finally to go spend some time with my sister and nieces. I promise I'm not gone for good. Every so often, I'll still be posting, I will finish the ghost story over at Things That Go Bump in the Night, and, occasionally, I will still visit each of your blogs and maybe even leave some comments. One day, maybe as a New Year's resolution, I will get back to a nice routine, and my blog posts will once again be more frequent.

Meanwhile, I'd like to throw out a crazy idea to everyone. How about an international blogger meet up in Philadelphia, PA next year (say, in August)? I'm not at all familiar with Philly yet, having had no time to explore it (hell, I haven't even had any time to explore Lancaster yet), but I figure it might be a good place to find a museum (I do happen to know that the library is fabulous, so maybe we could meet there. It might even be an "event" the library would sponsor: The Gathering of Book Bloggers. Of course, then I'd have to lie again and pretend I'm a book blogger) or something where we could all meet. If anyone is interested, I'm willing to do the exploring and to set it all up. We can meet in the morning, and if no one is getting along by noon, we can all go our separate ways, or if things are going well, we can keep hanging out with each other (kind of like a blind date for drinks rather than dinner and a movie). Then, maybe this could be an annual thing, and I'll have an excuse every year to go somewhere really exciting.

If you can't possibly come to Philly next summer, in January, Courtney is in the process of arranging a meetup in New York around AWP for a little prelude to the Philly meetup. I'll be there, probably insisting we all go to the Hungarian Pastry Shop, inconveniently located way up on the Upper West Side, and whining about how much I want to live in the city.

10 comments:

Rebecca H. said...

Oh, count me in! August would be great too, when school isn't in session. This sounds fabulous.

Anne Camille said...

I think it is a great idea. Have never been to Philly, so this may be my opportunity to do so. Though you know that if I could I would absolutely meet at the Hungarian Pastry Cafe.

mandarine said...

Do you think you can make me regret to be living on this side of the Ocean with such cheap tricks?

OK. I won't even be jealous if you post permanent coverage of the event.

Anonymous said...

You know I would love to do this. My health has been so awful this autumn that I haven't dared to commit to anything, but if I were well enough I cannot think of anything I'd like more than to meet my blogging friends for real.

Rebecca said...

That's not a crazy idea, it's a great idea. I'm in!

Anonymous said...

Ooh, I'm in for the Philadelphia gathering! I've always wanted an excuse to visit that city (never have) and I have a few friends there I'd love to see.

Off to New York in a few days--sorry not to see you there!

Anonymous said...

I'd love to but I cannot yet say for sure if I can actually make it.

Anonymous said...

I'd love to meet up! Count me in. I just left a comment on Courtney's blog about my plan to visit a friend in Connecticut this winter -- so if there's a meeting in NYC I'd love to go. And Philly? Same.

Anonymous said...

You know I'll be there! And New York is shaping up nicely, too. I think I will put some text in a widget about the New York conference once we settle on dates/times. I will email :-)

Emily Barton said...

Dorr, maybe you can include a job interview or two while you're here? :-)!

Cam, yes, one day we have to meet up for Hungarian pastries (and then take them up to Riverside Park to eat and people watch).

Mandarine, that just means you'll have to host the next one in France.

Litlove, well here's to a year of perfect health then (not that we don't all want that for you in any event, but if it increases the likelihood of meeting you...).

Becky, perhaps we need a little excursion to Philly soon to figure out where we should all meet?

Danny, well, if not NY, then Philly. Hope you had a great time. Meanwhile, when Mandarine is done setting up the next blogger meetup in France, I'll be waiting for you to plan one in L.A. at some fabulous movie theater, of course.

Stef, well we certainly hope you'll be there.

Bloglily, yea!

Court, twice in one year. Won't that be great?