Just Observing

Just Observing

Just a couple of hours more and I'll be on my way to Old Town for the regular Tues writers' gathering. Lookin' forward to it...and watching the weather outside my office window here. Supposed to pour rain on and off through Friday. Sheesh! The SCWC*SD (Southern Californina Writers' Conference*San Diego) kicks off Friday. Trust me, we don't need any rain, considering the hotel where the conf will be held. That hotel has some of the worst excuses for patios I've ever seen. Many of the writers smoke, including me, so out on the patio we go, coffee or drinks in hand, since the interiors of everywhere in the State are non-smoking. One of those patios is only a single umbrella table wide...and umbrella tables are worthless when it rains. However, on the far side of the bar, with window-doors all along the hallway inside, there's solid overhead...and we can get a portable heater...and run the tables sideways. That's where we'll be, smoking and non-smoking writers both. That's the "living room" where everybody hangs out between workshops. Now, if the wind will just not be blowing in our direction, we'll have it made.

J, C and I all ended up down at our normal hotel on the patio for breakfast this morning. Gonna breakfast there during the conf and then drive over to Shelter Island where the conf hotel is. Will kick back until about 11:30 and then roll. Arriving at the conf hotel is like entering chaos. Writers are nuts. They won't go to bed. They're out on that patio or in one of the Rogue Workshops until the wee hours...talking.

The world of writing is a silent one. Maybe music in the background for some. Otherwise there's just the taping of keys or scratch of pen. Silence prevails when writers are writing. So when we get together with others who talk our language, man, nobody shuts up. Great fun! Most writers have day jobs...and some of those are fascinating. Do they matter during a writers' conf? No. Not at this conf. The only thing that matters is that the person you're talking to is another writer. That's important. Nothing else is. Whole different world. This conf--if you're interested--can be looked over at www.writersconference.com Just click on San Diego and you have us.

Or you can read a review at www.wordsandiego.com which is a rather new newspaper for writers here. They'll be at the conf too.

Think I'm gonna ask MSG to get a count of how many writers attending also write blogs. Now that should be interesting. I'm wondering because one of the writers here just emailed me to find out how to get one and get started. Wonder if he will. If he does, there'll be some interesting reading. Will let you know.

Meanwhile, C just ordered up a brand new Dell 3000 computer last night. But here's what we're trying to find out: the old computer has about $1000 worth of Everquest on it. But it's so contaminated with pop-ups and crap that it's unusable. So...is it possible to download Everquest onto a CD without the contamination and load it into the new Dell? One of the writers is gonna ask another who has a friend who came to the conf a couple years ago...and who is a chief animator artist for Everquest. If anybody can find out, he certainly should be able to. No way would C or I attempt to do it ourselves. Our usual compter tech gave an estimate of $70 to do that. So guess it is possible. I hope. Will see.
And that's a wrap.