Monday, November 8, 2010

Conference debrief

Just got back from a conference. I've never attended one with this particular group before, though I've been told for about a decade that I'd find the organization congenial and exciting. And it was--I hope to be involved with them more in the future. Though I was also aware of the ways in which a sense of embattlement that shows up here and there across the organization might keep it more fringey than it could be,--should be, with the starpower it draws. Not all battles (aesthetic, cultural) continue to be worth fighting.

Some thoughts, with no aspiration to coherence, about it:

* We stayed in an Historic Hotel. It was cold, and the shower slowed to a trickle with every vicissitude of use in my wing. This is why I'm not a historian.

* There was very little Great Food to be had in that bastion-town of Ivyness. What do those people eat?

* An acquaintance poet of some stature was there. Got to know him better: he turns out to be among the coolest people I've ever met, and I can't wait to talk with him again. His coolness arises in part from his having nothing to prove. I admire that.

* Another acquaintance poet-scholar of some stature was there, and I have to say: though we should by all rights be best buddies (so much overlap in our interests), I don't think that's ever going to happen. I think it may have something to do with the fact that we DO overlap so much, and also share this particular way of being very present in a room, very authoritative, and--though I'm reluctant to admit it--it may have something to do with our both being females. I'm getting the vibe that there's no room for 2 alpha females in her space.

* I ran a number of 6-minute miles. In a row.

* Niceness is a pretty rare commodity in the poetry biz. I mean, folks who are unfailingly generous, genuinely good, and have total integrity. I'm lucky to know many such folks.

* I have achieved a certain air-miles level, what with my commuter marriage and my conferencing, at which one gets bumped up to first class. My dad was a pilot, and my treatment on this trip reminded me of the old posh days when we'd fly with him. I'm pretty low-maintenance, but I tell you: I could get used to that kind of thing.

5 comments:

Lisa B. said...

Very very interesting. I hope to obtain more details in a non-electronic format.

B. I hope, someday, to fly first class over the ocean. Because flying not-first-class over an ocean is hellish. Indisputably.

squadratomagico said...

I flew first-class over an ocean once. My original flight was cancelled and I was re-booked onto another airline, and I had to wait in the airport for six hours before the rebooked flight took off -- but then it was Air France First Class. And it was wonderful.

I'm a total beta female. So we could be friends. :~)

Renaissance Girl said...

Yeah, here's the craziest thing: the best meal I had on the WHOLE FREAKING TRIP was the truly sublime pasta with fresh mozzarella and porcini mushrooms that I had on that flight.

Ryan and Janelle said...

Glad to have you back! :)

Renaissance Girl said...

Squad, I've seen your clothes, and they are not the clothes of a beta.

Anyway, for the record, I have no problem hanging with other alphas. I mean, wouldn't it be a sign of alphaness?: not to be threatened by other alphas?