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ResQgeek

May 2024

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During the trivia night competition during the BookCrossing convention last year, I ordered a piece of cake as a dessert to enjoy during the event. I was a bit stunned by the size of the piece of cake they gave me, and it provided a fair bit of entertainment to a roomful of people who hardly needed an excuse for more general silliness.

As the invitations to the unconvention were being sent out this year, there were a number of hints that there was a certain interest in witnessing a rematch between me and the cake.  Since I had finished the cake last year, I didn't feel that I had anything to prove, but perhaps the cake felt the need for a rematch.  I'm not sure.  In any case, it appeared that the public demand for me to eat cake was not to be ignored.

So, when trivia night rolled around during the unconvention, I was a bit disappointed to see that the shop didn't have any cake on display in the dessert case.  All was not lost, however, because we were celebrating two birthdays in our little gathering, so there was cake to be had, and it was even chocolate.  After the cake was cut, a piece almost magically appeared in front of me.  Thankfully, the cake was cut into more normal serving sizes, so that the much anticipated "rematch" ended up being anti-climactic.  Any photograpic evidence to the contrary is the result of perspective and creative camera techniques.  :o)

The trivia night was a great deal of fun, if somewhat less hyperactive, than last year.  The score was close, with our team holding onto a very thin lead going into the final question.  We gambled (successfully) that no one knew the correct answer to the final question, and bet conservatively, sealing our victory.  It was a great evening of laughter and fun, one I look forward to repeating another time.
Friday morning, crrcookie arrived in her mini-van to pick up [livejournal.com profile] skyring and me for the trip to Charleston for the "un"-convention. We had agreed that I would drive, as she isn't particularly comfortable driving long distances. She had decorated her van with a big ballycumber on the back window and BookCrossing slogans on the side windows. After loading our luggage and books, there was just about enough room for [livejournal.com profile] skyring, crrcookie, her 2yo son and me.

We got on the road a little after 8:00 am, heading south on I-95. After brief stops for fuel in Fredericksburg and a rest stop in southern VA, we were well into North Carolina when we stopped at a Subway for lunch. When we reached I-40, we turned east, heading for Wilmington and the coast. I thought it would be nice to get off the interstates and show [livejournal.com profile] skyring some more of the countryside. It turned out to be a bad choice, as it was raining by the time we reached the coast, sometimes quite hard, and there was little scenery to be seen. Between the rain and the traffic, we lost quite a bit of time, arriving in Charleston much later than I had hoped, and barely in time for the opening event of the weekend.

However, our Bally Van was a hit over the weekend, and the markings ensured that we always could find the van in any parking lot! On Monday, we reloaded the van, though it was a bit less crowded now. We also had a passenger change...[livejournal.com profile] skyring was flying out of Charleston, and we were taking solittletime to Northern Virginia to visit a friend. Monday was another long day on the road, but one filled with great conversation and laughter. We enjoyed people's reactions to our Bally Van, as we left a trail of books through three states.

When will the Bally Van make its next appearance? Regardless of when and where, you can be sure it will be fun.
During the 2007 BookCrossing Convention in Charleston, SC, a number of the visiting BookCrossers accepted [livejournal.com profile] bookczuk's invitation to attend mass at The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist to hear the cathedral choir sing. The group included a number of lapsed Catholics and at least one non-catholic. I'm pretty sure I was the only currently practicing Catholic in the group. At the time, I found myself thoroughly overwhelmed by the incredible beauty of the music. The Church itself is gorgeous and the light streaming through the stained glass windows sparkled off of the gold leaf trim throughout the interior. It literally moved me to tears.

When I returned home, I ordered a copy of the Choir's CD (available here), and have listened to it regularly since. So, when I returned to Charleston over the weekend to participate in the BookCrossing "Un"convention, I was determined to return to the Cathedral for Sunday mass. Again, [livejournal.com profile] bookczuk extended an invitation to everyone to come to mass, and so three of us (including crrcookie and [livejournal.com profile] mojosmom) attended mass together. The music was a beautiful and moving as before, though it didn't evoke any tears this time, perhaps because of my regular exposure to the CD. I'm curious what the others thought, but I know that I'll be back again someday, if only to listen to this amazing music.
Its a quiet Sunday afternoon, and I'm not entirely sure where all the other BookCrossers have gone off to. I thought I might seize a quiet moment and check my e-mail and post a brief update from the "Un-convention". A more detail account will probably follow, when I have more time to properly compose it, but suffice it to say that it has been wonderful fun, even if there hasn't been enough time to really connect with all the people who are here. Its always a delight to reconnect with old friends and to make new ones, and this trip has produced a number of warm memories to last me until I can do this again, someday. The only real disappointment of the weekend was the wi-fi promised in our hotel, which failed to function (I'm writing this from the "business center"--a computer on a table in the lobby).

I have been negligent in the photo department. I think I've only taken one picture since I arrived in town, so you'll have to look elsewhere for photos. I've simply been enjoying myself too much to be bothered with messing with my camera. All the images I need are in my head.

Hopefully, we can manage to round up a bunch of the remaining BookCrossers one more time before the evening ends. I'd hate to have to leave without seeing everyone one more time.

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