Summer vacation=SPENT

I’m not one of those people who lives for summer.  I love the extended daylight, the pitcher of iced tea that’s always in the fridge, the crazy movie slate, the summer reads, and (above all) the vacations.  But I’m something of a sweat monster, so my preferred season has and always will be fall.  Which is why, instead of bemoaning the fact that my summer frolicking is officially behind me, I’d like to formally institute COUNTDOWN TO FALL 2010!  Think of all the apple-based baked goods waiting to be consumed!  The light jackets and scarves waiting to be wrapped and layered!  The crisp sunny mornings, the crackly leaf piles; the horror movie marathons, the pumpkins and gourds and formal holidays that celebrate eating and napping!

I started a shiny new job last week (woohoo, I’m a non-profit girl now!), and the night before felt exactly like the night before the first day of school—at least, the way I, nerdette extraordinaire, always felt on the night before the first day.  There’s something so energizing about fall: meeting new people, starting new projects, stocking a new desk with new office supplies.  Oh, how I love the smell of college-ruled notebooks in the morning.

That said…summer vacation 2010 was pretty freaking spectacular.  I think it’s going to give fall a run for its money this year.

And now for something completely different: I found this on the interwebs and it has nothing to do with anything.  It is merely strange and adorable, and adorably strange.  Enjoy!

MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON from Dean Fleischer-Camp on Vimeo.

*sigh*

All vacations must end.  I SUPPOSE.

Oh ‘cuse…you outdid yourself!

Holy CRAP.  My bloggy absence has been partially due to vacation, but it also took a few days to recover from the EARTHQUAKE OF AWESOME that was This Must Be the Place’s big fat hairy Syracuse debut.  Thanks so much to the Dewitt Barnes & Noble and Marie Kulikowsky for hosting; to my parents and family for the favors, the flowers, the food, and for working the crowd with such finesse; and to YOU, for coming.  Your overwhelming show of support (my mother is still tallying a reconstructed headcount and is up to 210 people—210, PEOPLE!), your excitement and energy and joy was absolutely…I’m at a loss for words.  It was astounding, and I thank you (and my family thanks you) from the bottom of my heart.  Heck, all the way from the bottom of my feet.

Representing from Syracuse, Lyncourt, LaFayette, Tully, Rochester, Liverpool, the Lehigh Valley, Eastwood, Norwich, Pavilion, and MORE: HERE YOU ARE, IN ALL YOUR GLORY!

IN THE ‘CUSE FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY!

MY FELLOW SYRACUSANS!

TONIGHT, at the Dewitt Barnes & Noble on Erie Boulevard, starting at 7 pm, I will be reading, answering questions, and signing copies of This Must Be the Place in my beloved hometown. There will be treats and surprises, and, oh yeah, IT’S GOING TO BE (as Billy Fuccillo would say) HUUUUUUUUUGE. Hope to see you there!

Also! A great big shout of thanks to Tanja Babich and Chris Brandolino for hosting me on WSYR’s Bridge Street yesterday morning. I had a fantastic time talking about the book and my roots here in the ‘cuse! Behold, my big media debut. (I would also like to thank the CNY level of humidity for the good hair day.)

A spoon and a lake

The character of Oneida Jones, much to what would be her perpetual chagrin, was—by me—named after a lake.  A lake where I’ve spent many many happy years with family, with friends, and with books (and, let’s be honest, with food).  I’d like to think that she would take this as the high compliment it’s intended to be, especially when her namesake is so very pretty.

**sigh of contentment**