NCECA Loot

As usual I wanted to buy allllll the pots & alllll the tools. As usual I kept my spending in pretty close check. I came home with three new pots. (These photo are distinctly half-assed! Just wanted to something posted.

A Willem Gebben mug to replace one my husband Doug (aka "Buster") broke years ago...

A Linda Christiansen mug, DITTO. (Buster has been forbidden to use these. We have dozens of mugs, most of which are seconds of mine! Break those, instead, Buster!)

And a lovely little tray made by my dear friend Mary Jo Schmith of Front Avenue Pottery and Tile.

As for tools, I got myself an unglamorous shelf grinder, made of the same material my Advancer kiln shelves are made of. I do most of my shelf clean up with an angle grinder, but it's awkward for edges, and sometimes I just need a quick spiffy-up, and it's a pain to drag out the power tool & extension cord when a little scrub from an abrasive tool will do. I've had the one with the red plastic handles before, but they cost as much as a diamond cup for the grinder & really don't last long. We'll see how this performs.

What did I almost buy, you ask?
I was pretty interested in the Slab Mats. I meant to order some new kiln shelves while I was there but it didn't happen.

Also, allll the pots.

But, as they say, the real NCECA loot is the friends we see along the way! (Oh, what's that? Nobody says that? Well, they do now.) I spent time with dear friends I only see at NCECA, and others I haven't seen since I moved away from Minnesota in 2001. (Poverty is a rough bitch on friendships!)

Quiz: In which of these images was I mildly intoxicated?
If you guessed ALL OF THEM, you are correct!

Next year is Richmond, Virgina; after that, Cleveland (I think?) Will I make it to those? Hard tellin not knowin, as we say in Maine. 

Lecture: The Write Stuff - Megan Guerber

Learning to write a more effective artist's statement. Writing is a skill that can be learned

What is the point of artists' statements?

• Explains your work when you aren’t there
• Informs audiences what you made & why
• Used by curators etc to know if work is a good fit
• Used to promote show
• Used by scholars, critics, students
• Marketing tool

How to begin 

• Write a draft
• Revise draft
• Check for spelling, grammar, formatting erros
• Get feedback
• Revise
• Check for errors again
• Writing an artists statement is an iterative process

     How to approach it:

• Remember you are writing this for people who don't know anything about you or your work. Explain so anyone can understand your work
• Write how you talk (use common language)
• Write in the first person
• Avoid generalize statemtns, especially ones that many artists share ("I love color!") Be specific. Focus on the important ideas you are expressing
• Be honest. Work doesn't have to provide the meaning of life to be valuable or interesting. If your work is about perfecting handles, say that.
• You don't have to reinvent the wheel. You can follow the structure of an artists' statement that you like. Use template?

Steps:

• Free write
• Or free talk! Explain your work to a friend to clarify your ideas
• When starting draft, focus on clarity rather than spelling or grammar
• Get your thoughts down first

To get ideas, read alot

• Other artists' statements
• Books, magazines (Ceramics Monthly has lots of artist-statement-y articles)
• Articulate storytellers

Questions to ask yourself when writing

• Why did I make this work? What response do I hope to invoke?
• What do people need to know to understand this work?
• Explain references you make in your work, technique, materials
• Which aspects of my work are most important for people to take away?
• People have limited time, be concise & get to what you really want people to know
• You aren't trying to impress. You are trying to communicate
• Gyst-ink.com
• How would you explain your art to your grandpa
• Imagine a person who isn't a part of your inner circle, nor in the clay world

Examples of artists' statements

• Risa Pumo: I make…I like to think about…I hope to create…The key to understanding my work
• Ayumo Horie: My work attempts to…I use ____as a form to…
• Doug Johnson: I have been focused on…The work utilizes ------history….I have worked to build a vocabulary

Structure:

• First sentence: what do you make
• 2nd: Why do you make it? What inspires you?
• What do people need to know to understand your work
• Why does you work matter today? How does it fit into the world?

Revising:

• Wait at least a half hour, better longer
• Get spelling & grammar right

Get feedback

• Be sure to ask pointed questions to get the feedback you need
• What do you understand about the intent of this work
• Are there parts you don't understand
• What is your takeaway?
• Feedback isn't personal
• The goal of your statement is to convey the meaning of your work, it's not an art object itself
• Even editors need editors

A Jumble of Pots

Went to three openings last night - the Northern Clay Center, the Vine Arts Center (which is, in fact, covered in vines!) and the Potters of the St Croix Valley. I didn't take a lot of photos - there were too many people - but I took some. I should probably have carefully documented who each artist was, etc, but maybe this way is better - it gives a sense of the swirl of wonderful pots & potters all around, far too many to hold all the names in your head.

Minneapolis in the Early Spring

What to pack? Probably not sunscreen, I guess.

Checking the 10-day forecast, I see it's predicted to be well above freezing, and cloudy, during the NCECA conference, so...no parka necessary, either.

I don't fly. I mean, I don't not fly, either; it's just, this is only the second time in the last 20 years that I'll be getting on a plane, so the rules and rituals associated with it seem arcane to me. I have to get to the airport two hours early? So, at 3:45 AM? I have to pay to check a bag - super inconvenient but tons of space in the plane- but can carry one on for free - super convenient, but very limited space on the plane - how does that make sense? I can bring shampoo, but only in particular-sized bottles, gotta go look up how small the bottles need to be...

Speaking of carry-on bags: the rules say 45 linear inches, which, if I am reading them correctly (BIG IF HERE) means I add the measurements in each dimension & it has to add up to 45 inches or less. This suitcase measures 22 x 13 x 9, so 44. Will that gormy* thing fit in the overhead compartment? The airline says so, it must be so.

Mustn't forget to pack my contribution to NCECA's fundraiser cup sale! Just got it out of the kiln at Portland Pottery this morning:

Actually it's not all that hard being green, Kermit. 

If you won't be at the conference but you really like this mug, you can also get one in my online shop, while they last. 🙂

*A Maine word meaning clumsy or ungainly, or awkward-because-oversized.

Committed: See You In MPLS!!

Just booked my flight for NCECA, which is in Minneapolis this year. I can't afford to go to NCECA every year, but since I lived in the Twin Cities for several years, and haven't been back in almost 20 years, I couldn't resist the opportunity.

Our first real snowstorm of the year is happening right now (18-24" predicted, although forecast have been a little less reliable since the federal government has been shut down - some of the folks who interpret the data are furloughed, I guess? IDK) This weather is making me remember that Minneapolis is not a garden spot, in March! It will still be deep winter, in fact; but it's not the weather I am travelling for.

Workshops, demos, discussions, exhibits, those are all marvelous reasons to attend the conference, but I am mostly excited to see old friends, and maybe make some new ones.

I've been listening to a new podcast in the studio - this one is called "Happier," and it's all about little actions and habits that make overall for a happier life. A theme the main presenter, Gretchen Rubin, keeps returning to is the idea that relationships are one of, if not the, key feature in happy lives. During the Week of Reflection, I arrived at the conclusion that I don't put enough effort into maintaining friendships, and resolved to do better. Here's me, keeping a promise!

Hope to see you there.

Roberto Lugo: This Machine Kills Hate - NCECA 2016

Oh man. I got weepy. Fellow potters, you want to watch this. 

NCECA Demo, at last on YouTube!

So, hey, remember when I went to NCECA in Kansas City to demonstrate thrown and altered butter dishes? The video of that demo is finally available!
Well. Sort of. Turns out you have to purchase the Process Room videos. You can catch a bit of my demo in the teaser, though; enough to get a sense of how the tray to the butter dish is stretched. I'm tempted to buy the video - not for my demo OBVS but because it looks like the others were pretty fab, which I was too nervous to notice at the time.
Anyway, check it out. My bit starts about 11 seconds in.

  You can get a copy here, if you're interested.

Update: AAAARGH for some reason the embedded video keeps vanishing. If it's not appearing, you can see in here on Youtube. 

The Tidbits

Often, when you attend a workshop or lecture, the best thing you learn is not necessarily the topic of the presentation. I call these little gems "tidbits," and I learned a great one at NCECA.

I was watching George Rodriguez in the Process Room - George makes these sculptural pieces that are just encrusted with springs. He said he preferred having the sprigs already made so he could work more immediately, instead of having to make a sprig, put it on, make another, put it on, and so on.

I like to work with sprigs, too, and I also find the making of the somewhat disruptive to my creative process - but they are tiny, and dry out quickly. Wrapping them in a bunch of plastic would work but it's sort of clumsy to dig into the wrap to use them.

So, here's the great idea that possibly everyone else has already thought of: a damp box! Not a giant cabinet lined with thick plastic, just a little rubbermaid container from the grocery store with a couple inches of plaster poured into the box. The plaster holds water but keeps it away from the pieces, the plastic prevents the moisture from escaping, so you get a perfect little humid environment. George said he has kept pieces for weeks in his damp box.

I made myself one, though I have yet to use it. It occurred to me while I was making that this would be even better for my students. My studio is at home, so timing is not a problem for me; but they only have a few hours a week in which to work. (Yes, they can come in during open studio hours, but most of them have other pesky obligations like work and families) It often happens that they will pull six handles, but only have time to attach four before 9 pm rolls around. Damp box to the rescue! Those last two handles will now keep until next week's class.

Here's mine. Just needs a cup of water, and it's ready to be of service!

All Those Butterdishes!

I made at least a dozen butterdishes in preparation for my Process Room demo at NCECA; now I get all the fun of decorating them! This batch I have been asymmetrically quartering, alternating slip decoration with smooth surface. It's always difficult for me to stop decorating at leather hard, to leave something for the glaze to do, but I am stepping away now. Most likely, the slip-trailed areas will be glazed over, the smooth reas will be flashing slip & soda vapor, with a pattern of glaze dots. Probably white. Or some other color.

The upcoming firing will be The Mugs & Butterdishes firing, as I have a number of large (for me!) orders for mugs due in the next month or so. I am also in the process of organizing the Maine Pottery Tour, always a stress-fest for me. (Q: Why do I do things I know will stress me out? A: Good question.)

Still have lots of NCECA photos to share, but I left my nonDroid at my sister's house, so.

Soon! I promise.

Rolling into Mud/Mug Season

I had hardly deplaned before it was time to head off to a meeting of the Central Maine Clay Artists to plan Mug Season, a fundraising event we do in conjunction with local coffee shops every spring (known as Mud Season, in Maine; get it?) to benefit local arts programs.

It's kind of a three-way fundraiser: the coffee shops supply free coffee with mug purchase, the customer buys an $18 mug where maybe they had only planned to spend $2 for a cup of coffee, and we, the artists, provide mugs, at a bargain cost. It works for us, as these are typically mugs that we've had kicking around the studio for awhile - you know, the ones that just won't sell for some reason.

This year I approached it a little differently, as I didn't have any mugs that wouldn't sell - I've even sold almost all my demos. So I made some mugs specifically for Mug Season.

These have simpler decoration than most of what I make. I sometimes have a hankering to do that anyway. I do love me some highly decorated ware, but once in a while I like to let the flame do more of the work. Some of these have only flashing slip, others have a bit of slip-trailed floral design, and all of them have a lot of directional patterns from the soda ash.

Here's a list of coffee shop in Kennebec County offering Mug Season mugs:

Downtown Diner, Augusta, Maine
Slates Bakery, Hallowell
Bagel Mainea
Gardiner Food Co-op, Gardiner
Green Bean Cafe
Olde Post Office
Sheepscot General 

I'm pretty sure I am missing one - I think there were eight - so will update this list when I figure out what it is.

In other news, it was announced that NCECA will be in Pittsburgh in 2018. Yay! Portland, OR is right out, for me, barring a lottery win or similar, but Pittsburgh? that's doable.

I kind of think every other year might be better anyway, from both a financial and experiential point of view.

Home Again!

I'm happy to report that my trip went without a hitch. At least, the important part did: my Process Room demo was fine.

I got in to KC later than expected on Wednesday, due to some little issue with the plane losing an engine and having to make an emergency landing in St. Louis. Super fun. I am not a white-knuckle flyer usually but I made an exception during that landing. Anyway I got to KC too late to do much more than find some friends and drink. Oh, and sing karaoke. And take this photo with my NCECA-wife, Soozie:

I was so nervous on Thursday that I couldn't enjoy the conference. I couldn't concentrate on anything, and eventually just gave up around 2 pm and went back the the hotel room, read a book (A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms), made myself breathe slowly, and snoozed a little bit. Then I got up, found some lunch, and made my way to the Process Room to await my execution. I mean, demo. But at the time it felt more like the former.
And then a funny thing happened: we set up the wheel and tables, I arranged my tools, Paul Dresang made my introduction, I started talking...and all my nerves fell away. I was completely comfortable, just did and said my thing as rehearsed, answered questions, and it all went perfectly. Just another class, like I do several times a week.
In a way, it was like karaoke. You can't enjoy karaoke until you lose your fear of looking foolish. And once you do, karaoke becomes a no-consequence proposition: do well, or do poorly, it doesn't matter. I highly recommend it, actually. Once you understand that you don't die of looking silly, the world opens up.

I don't have a video of the demo yet.That will, eventually, be on NCECA's website. I did however, take about thirty-squirty million photos of work I saw in the various shows around town, bought some new tools, and a Victoria Christian mug; all of which I will share with you soon, maybe even later today. However, having been away for four days, I have 43 emails which need replies, pottery tour work to catch up on, and a kiln to unload; so it may take a bit of time.

Anyway, glad to be home, and excited and energized to start working again.

Where Shall We Go For St. Pat's? KC Irish Bars

Some of you may know that my brother and sister-in-law are musicians, specializing in Irish music. As a result, St. Patrick's is my favorite holiday! I am not much of a drinker but I do imbibe a bit at their shows, just enough to not feel self-conscious pretending I know how to step-dance. This year they will be at RiRa, one of Portland's best Irish pubs, from 10-5.( I will have to miss, it, of course, as I'll be at NCECA, but that doesn't mean you have to.)

It's not the same hearing me own flesh & blood, o' course, but there are - surprise!* - Irish bars in Kansas City. Here are a few:

The Dubliner - 170 East 14th Street at Power & Light
O'Dowd's Little Dublin  - 4742 Pennsylvania Ave
Kelly's Westport Inn - 500 Westport Rd

I do have an invite to the Skutt party, repping for Portland Pottery, so I'll stop in there first. It'll be right after my demo (whichisat4pmintheprocessroomincaseyouforgot!!) so I'll be either giddy with relief or drowning my shame (let's hope for Option A.) After that, I'll be looking for Celtic revelry!

*Not really a surprise!

Ovals in my Dreams

Having anxiety means I tend to over-prepare...that's when I don't freeze up and fail to prepare at all. This would be one of the former instances: I've been making stretched oval butter dishes all day, so that I'll be able to make them in my sleep come Thursday, when I will be demonstrating this form in the Process Room at NCECA. I even talked as I worked, describing what I was doing as though I had an audience, so I won't have to think of all the words while the eyes are on me.

In some ways this is silly: it's a half hour demo, of a piece that I have made about eight hundred thousand times before. I do demos, with people watching, all the time; it's part of my job. I just really want this to go well.

And, you know, I'm feeling pretty good that it will. I will finish these up tomorrow, and throw a few more, and then pack my bags.

Not leaving until Wednesday, but, you know. I want to be prepared.

Find Me at NCECA

I just found my name in the preliminary program at nceca.net:

Thursday March 17th
4:00pm - 4:30pm
2505 A/B (Level 2)
Process: That's a Stretch
By Lori Watts
If you've ever wondered how the guys at the pizza shop get the dough so thin, this demo is for you! Watts will throw the
pieces of a butterdish and then slap, flip, and swing them into oval shapes.

Come see me!

Might Take a Train, Might Take a Plane

...but if I have to walk, I'm gonna go there just the same.

Just got some exciting news: I've been selected to be a demonstrator in the Process Room at the 2016 NCECA conference in Kansas City! The Process Room features artists doing 30-minute demos of building or decorating techniques - if you were in Providence you recall the room was constantly full to overflowing.

I'll be demonstrating the thrown-and-stretched butter dishes I wrote about a few years ago.

If I were in my depressed/cynical mode, I would make note that this is not a paid gig, and that it's surprising to me how many organizations are happy to ask artists to work for free, including organizations of and for artists. (*cough*Ceramics Monthly*cough* ) But hey! I applied knowing it was not paid, save for my NCECA membership, and I am damn glad to be doing it. This might be the ONE time that the exposure really is the important part.

Muddy Waters has more to say on the subject:

NCECA Wrap UP

Yikes! Is it too late to do this? It's a week now since I returned from Providence, and I hit the ground running, getting ready for Mug Season, the Maine Pottery Tour, and of course firing and delivering work.

Here's a quick highlight reel:
Wednesday was the gallery day. The bus tour was...spotty. The shows (the ones I saw!) were great, but there was one that the bus couldn't get to (WAT??) one where nobody was home, one that had an additional cost to get into (yes, I am the world's cheapest human. But after paying for the conference, and then paying additionally for the bus tour - didn't that used to be included?? - I was cranky about being asked to pay an entrance fee for a show. So I didn't.)
I took a boatload of photos on the gallery day, with my little iThing; you can see them here. (I was going to post them all here but time just does not allow.) My most favoritest piece that I saw all week was the giant wall of porcelain panties at Brown University.

Misty Gamble is the artist. The panties are cast porcelain with added beads and rhinestones. Hilarious and masterfully done. The subject matter of her work - not just panties, but femininity - mirrors some of my interests back when I was sculpting, and maybe even now.

Frederick Douglas Opie gave a non-traditional keynote, about the role of ceramics in Incan, Mayan, and Columbian cultures. Opie, a professor at Babson College, is more a food guy than a clay guy, and the address was like a college lecture. Some people didn't enjoy the departure, but me, I'm always up to learn something new. I think, too, the point about ceramics being a marker of status made people uncomfortable. We want to think we like what we like because that's what we like, but in fact the possession of handmade claywork - the more esoteric the better - marks us as people who have the education and sophistication to appreciate it, and the disposable income to purchase it. Yeah. Uncomfortable. Sounds like snobbery, among people who think of themselves as the very earth of the earth. But status is what makes us humans go 'round, and every human culture has had status markers. Doesn't mean your preferences are fake - quite the opposite, your preferences (and mine) and the status they denote are very real, and you will have markers of some status - high, low, or in-between -  no matter what.

It's an interesting thing to think about, but a discussion for another day.

Though I spent most of my time watching demos - they are why I go to NCECA - there were some good discussions as well. Here are the ones I would have gone to, if I weren't busy ogling pots in the gallery expo, where the largest collection of inspiring functional pots could be found.

• Heidi McKenzie, The Basics of Business in the Arts
• Dustin Miyakawa, Become Your Own Photographer
• Paul Lewing, Teaching and Selling as Performance
• Panel discussion: The Social (Media) Experiment 

My fellow travellers attended discussions of injury treatment & prevention in the ceramists' hands; ceramics in psychiatric healing, and clay and community in the St. Croix valley.

I was in New Bedford, at an opening featuring former staff, residents, and Salad Days artists from Watershed on Thursday evening, but had I not been, would surely have attended the Pottery Slam: Claystories - and maybe even told a story myself. I am shy in crowds but put me at the front of the room, and I can fly with it. Strange but true.

And now: the demos. SO AMAZING, so inspiring.

• Martha Grover was the first one I saw. You can see a similar demo here; and I'm told that all of the NCECA demos will eventually be on youtube. I was delighted to learn that Martha, a Maine native, will be returning here soon. I managed to elbow my way through the throngs to give her a business card and invite her to do the Pottery Tour, when she completes her move. Martha was part of a series on quick-hit, 30 minute demos in the Process Room, about which more later.
• Linda Christenson! Watching Linda work was just..soothing. She has a lovely personality, and makes very serene pots. I used to live in Minnesota, even met Linda on the St. Croix Valley Pottery Tour a couple of times, and her accent really brought me back there. She threw, and talked about clay and life as a potter.
• Gustavo Perez - in the same ballroom with Linda. I didn't respond to his work at all, but learned a lot from watching him. My favorite quote of the conference came from him: "It can feel like there is no energy to work, and it is then, exactly then, that you must go work." And also, related: "It is a matter of discipline to work when you feel it, and then, when you don't." These are nudges that I needed!
• THE PROCESS ROOM! was where I spent the majority of my time. I don't know if this is a new thing, but it is the best. ever. I watched Martha Grover, Jason Barnett (? Not sure. Margaret Bohls was scheduled, and Jason substituted, so his name is not in the program), Jennifer Allen - though I was in the hall, peering in for much of that one - Shawn Spangler, Amy Santoferraro, Winnie Owens-Hart, and
• Chris Dufala. Chris demostrated  method of image transfer using undergalzes painted on plaster that I had never seen before. I was amazed and determined to learn it, if not for my own work, for my students. There is a link to instructions of Chris' monoprint process on his website.
• Like everyone else, I was disappointed that the process room was too small to accommodate the interest.  The overflow room set up the next day even overflowed! My suggestion: next yer put it in one of the ballrooms: three tables, one active, one being cleaned up, one set up for the next artist. It'll be full every hour of the day. 
• This is an out-of-the-box item on my wish list, inspired by the morning yoga: Let's have a fitness room, with exercise bikes & ellipticals, and a loop of past NCECA demos playing on a video screen.

There was much more, but I am realizing it's just too much to type up this morning, so going to wrap up the wrap up. It is extremely unlikely that I will be in Kansas City next year - unless a money-anvil drops out of the sky - but if you are there, enjoy!




http://nceca.net/2016-nceca-invitational/

Loot from the Conference

I saw so much over the last few days, my head is swimming with ideas - which I guess is the point of NCECA. I took a bunch of photos, but I need to go through them and attach the correct names to the works, and then I can share them.

Seeing work. Watching demos. And let's not forget SHOPPING! Part of the fun of the conference is getting some new tools that send you back to your life dying to make something with them. I got:

1. A couple of sprig molds from the Marvelous Molds company. I do prefer to make my own sprig molds but these looked so much like something I would have made, I couldn't resist. I'm saving the link because I'd like to get some for soap, also.
2. A roller from MKM Tools! Again, I make myself tons of rollers, and I don't love most of those wooden laser-cut ones - the patterns read as quite mechanical. If you use them sparingly, though, they can be a nice counterpoint to a squishy or wonky pot, in the same way the a tight, architectural thrown rim works when you then twist and bend it out of round. This roller had a delicate floral pattern that I thought would work well with some of the bolder, slip trailed floral stuff I've been doing.
3. Underglaze chalk - I got three colors. I had a black one, which I got from Portland Pottery, and I was impressed by how well the detail of a soft charcoal-like drawing is preserved under a clear glaze. I had been meaning to get more colors to test out, anyway.
4. Brushes - some fine line camel-hair brushes, and a set of acrylic-bristle brushes to use with latex. There is nothing special about these brushes, except that the set of six brushes was only $2.Latex resist destroys brushes pretty fast no matter how careful I am, so it's good to have some cheapies.

I have lots more to say about the conference - what worked, what didn't, best moments - but I am firing the kiln load right now that got delayed due to high winds last Sunday, and I need to go and peek at the cones. I'm also getting the house ready for our Central Maine Clay Artists group to come over, where we'll divide up the mugs to be distributed for Mug Season, our annual fundraising event for local arts programs.

Aaaand, cone 3 is flat so I better start mixing up the soda salad.

My Cup Sale Contribution

Have I mentioned I am going to NCECA? Oh. Well, I have I mentioned the NCECA annual cup sale? It supports the NCECA Fund for Artistic Development - scholarships, residencies, fellowships, shit like that. It's also it's own kind of awesome, walking in to the Hall of Cups (I just made that up, but that should be the official name of it) full of cups and mugs from NCECA members, the famous and the obscure alike.

In the obscure category, here's the cup I am planning to donate:

In addition to just being a nice thing to do, each donated cup will be considered for a “Cups of Merit” Commission Award, and each on-site donation get the donor an extra NCECA 2016 Conference/Membership drawing ticket in addition to the ticket in the conference packet.

So, pretty much all around awesome. 

NCECA for Real!!

I just purchased my membership and conference registration - a more complicated process than one would think! For instance, why does NCECA need to know if I am deceased? Do we expect a lot of deceased persons at the conference? (If so I might have to rethink this.)

Anyway. I'm not deceased, and I will be in Providence! I am posting this now to remind you all that in order to get the early bird discount rate - a difference of $50 - you need to register by February 6th. That's tomorrow! Get on it.

So excited! See you in Providence!

Coming Soon: March, April, & May

Every year - in April, right after the end of the NCECA conference - I vow I will make it to next year's conference, come hell or high water. And then next year rolls around, and money or logistics (just kidding, really it's always money) prevent me from attending.

March looks ALOT closer on this side of the holidays (as do April and May!) and now is the time I would usually be deciding that, alas, it's Just Not Going To Happen. However! NCECA is in Providence, RI this year - a mere 3 1/2 hours from here. I am slightly less broke than in past years...all the stars are aligning! Looks like I will finally make it to a conference.

Thinking I was ahead of the curve, I went to the website to register and found I was half right. Though plenty early to receive the advance discount, all of the hotels near the conference are booked up! Kind of bummed about that, as it's fun to have a room right in the heart of things, but it may still turn out that way; it's possible someone I know booked a quad with the expectation of sharing. Or it might be time to learn how Expedia and Priceline and AirBnB work. Or, I dunno, sleep in my car! (Wouldn't be the first time but also wouldn't be my first choice.)

Point is, one way or another, I am going to NCECA. See you in Providence!