Extravayarnza

The definition of stupidity: To repeat the same actions expecting to get a different result.
It turns out that myself and the electronic check-in system at the airport don’t mix. Perhaps it simply that waking up at 5 in the morning, rushing to the airport, and attempted to convince a computer that I am who I claim, that yes Cincinnati is still in existence, there is even a flight headed there before 8am, and that I am scheduled to be on it, isn’t possible. Luckily after one Delta employee told me that I had to use my credit card for an ID on the machine (which I had been doing all along…) I found the international symbol for an exasperated traveler. It’s pretty simple, first you need to give the computer the evil eye, then add in a loud sigh, tear up a bit, and end it will an attention grabbing stomp or two. A ticketing agent leapt over the counter and proceeded to be extremely helpful and cheered me up immensely. He took a look at my Travelocity printout and managed to guess my flight number (which apparently Travelocity hides in a code that even airline employees can’t figure out), then joked around when he checked in my bag (I was quite confounded how my bag managed to gain 15 lb while I was here, his foot on the scale explained quite a bit), and even didn’t charge me extra when my bag was 1 lb over the limit. What a fantastic guy, he changed my whole morning around. Security was quick and within about 20 minutes of arriving at SeaTac I was seated at my terminal. 
Madrona Fiber Arts festival was a fun bonus to end the trip. I finally got to meet Kaci & Tina from Blue Moon. I came home with a little fiber from Crown Mountain Farms & Chameleon Colorworks. I narrowly managed to convince myself that I didn’t need a $50 set of handmade mismatched (I think mismatched rocks by the way) glass double point needles. I may regret that, but I may not. We’ll see.
The most important thing last night wasn’t Madrona though… it was Chris (Knitting at Knoon Designs) and I convincing our dinner companions (Cookie & Janel from Chameleon Colorworks) that we were sick of West Coast ‘seaweed & nuts’ and needed a Midwest ‘meat & potato’ kind of meal. We found Varsity Grill and indulged. I had a half-slab of ribs with Onion Rings… yum… You can only have soup & salad for so many meals in a week.

I can’t really even express how amazing this last week has been. The whole aura about the week was otherworldly. You leave feeling like a superhero, anything is possible. If your lucky (and smart) during this glow period at the end of the week you place things in motion that will ensure that this feeling empowers you for as long as possible. I designed several projects during the week, contacted people I’ll need to be coordinating with over the next year, choose a book designer, and am now the proud owner of my own independent publishing company. I’ve been playing around with designing the logo, but considering the first time I ever even opened Adobe Illustrator was around 7am this morning I have a long way to go. I’m signing up for classes in both Illustrator & InDesign over the next couple of months. I even have yarn companies lined up to supply the yarn. I feel like I’m really writing a book or perhaps, as I said in our final big session, I feel like I’m Knitting a Book. That’s why I’m now the proud owner of Knitting a Book Press (website coming soon… oh I have to add a Dreamweaver class to that list).
There’s not too much that I can say, I’m sworn to secrecy. I can say that my goal is for my book to be released for Fall 2008. Don’t hold me to that, but it’s my goal.

I highly recommend checking out my Flickr group for the trip. We had an amazing experience on the Ferry crossing back. Cat had recommended we bring bread to feed the seagulls. A few were cruising along with the ferry. The way to feed them was to get upwind of them and toss the bread up in the air. They swoop down and grab the bread midair. These were some big birds, easily twice the size of the seagulls on Lake Michigan. They were quite graceful & eventually started to swoop and grab bits of bread from your hand. The photographs turned out really well.