National Book Festival Recap

This weekend has been great so far. It started well on Friday night when we watched the Capitols beat the Flyers in pre-season hockey. I got into the city a little early and spent an hour wandering around (shopping) and seeing all of the new shops that are popping up left and right. It's a good thing I don't work down there any more. The temptation might be too great!

Yesterday we went to the National Book Festival. After this post I'll shut up about it but first I offer a little overview of our day which started out nasty and overcast. The sky was grey and I was sure that it would pour any minute. Given the nasty weather I was amazed at the number of people in attendance. It just warms my librarians heart to see all of the people braving the rain to hear authors speak.

It did rain but by the time it started, we were all busy listening to Kathy Reichs speak. She writes the books that the show Bones is based on. She was a great speaker and I'll be watching the show with a new perspective. We also heard part of Vince Flynn and George Pelecanos's talks. Ther were all very different but really interesting. Hubbo noted that there was someone at the back of the crowd knitting while she listened.

There were so many great speakers at the festival. In a perfect world I'd have been able to hear them all because they were all good. I found it really informative listening to Rosalind Wiseman who wrote Quuen Bees and Wanna Bees - I'm sure that I'll be getting that book soon. I attended that session with the Drama Queen who enjoyed it too but i think her favorite speaker was Andrew Clements. He's written The Report Card, Lunch Money and School Story among others. For, Stinkerbelle the highlight was the Magic School Bus which she took a quick tour of.

One thing we all enjoyed together was meeting a very famous furry, red, monster. Yup, we met Elmo (and Kevin Clash - the puppeteer who brings him to life).


How cool is that?

One of the beautiful things about the festival is that most, if not all, of the authors take questions and are very accessable. DQ asked Kathy Reichs if she's ever seen anything that was too gross for her. (answer - yes, the bathtub bit in the most recent episide of Bones grossed her out) Stink asked Kevin Clash what he does when he's not Elmo. (Answer - he sleeps) Interaction like that can only enhance a budding love of the written word and I absolutely love it.

By the end of the day our feet hurt and we were weighted down with all of the free goodies from the festival. There were posters (we got ours signed) and dolls (from PBS) and a checker set (courtesy of T*rget). It was all very neat. Also, very cool was the sky which had cleared up considerably. I just love the Smithsonian Castle so I took this picture of one of it's towers against the blue sky at the end of the day.

Finally, here's a little knitting content of the screwed up variety. When I got home last night there was a package for me. No, not the Socks of Doom. I'm still standing. It was the extra yarn from KnitPicks. Boy is it ever extra. I put another wave on the scarf last night and it's now taller than I am. I'm not going to need much of the 3 ball of yarn that I ordered to complete the project. Maybe I'll make my Funky Scaf Pal a matching hat.

Yom Kippur starts tonight and I'm hosting a break the fast for 20 plus of our friends tomorrow at the end of the holiday. I've been cooking all day today in preparation and I doubt that I'll get anywhere near a computer tomorrow. If you're celebrating then I wish you an easy fast.

PS. I am totally stoked that October is here. I'm sure it's going to be full of great things.