Constant Reader discussion
2010 CR Convention - Minneapolis
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Report on Minneapolis Convention
Glad everyone had a marvelous time. Looking forward to hearing about the highlights and the low lights.
What a fun weekend. Every meeting is a little different because of the different mix of people, what's available in that city, and the roll of the dice. This was a good one. Philip had everything perfectly planned. I especially enjoyed our meeting and readings at Philip's house where we got to meet his lovely wife Kathleen.I've more to say, but I just now got home and I need to collapse. I'll just say thank you, Philip, for all your work and planning. We had a great time.
Glad you are home safe and sound. I can't hardly wait to hear the scoop.
I got home safely around 4 p.m., after a side trip to IKEA before I left town and a stop at Best Buy in Rochester on the way south to Iowa. I can't say enough about what a great host Philip was! He planned a good mix of activities and restaurants, with a schedule that was full but not frantic. In addition to the readings at his home, I think my favorite planned activity was the book-making workshop (making simple books, not the betting kind!). As always, though, my absolute favorite activity was visiting with old and new friends!The Marquette turned out to be a nice hotel, even though it wasn't our original choice. It had very spacious, well-decorated rooms in a nice downtown city location. Sherry and I shared a room and had plenty of room to spread out. There was even a nice big chair and ottoman where I chose to read every time I got a chance :)
Unfortunately, I left my camera at home, so we'll have to wait for Sherry or Jane to post some pictures. They seemed to be our unofficial photographers for the weekend. I know they got plenty of good shots!
Glad you are home. Did you need another bookcase a Ikea. Ha!
Heehee... almost! I think I bought four books for myself this weekend and three to give as gifts. Jane also brought me her copy of the new Stephen White book I've been wanting to read, so I'm going to have to find room somewhere.
It sounds wonderful. I'm looking forward to more details and photos.
Glad everyone had a great time. Perhaps I'll make another one in another year!
Oh yes, the bookbinding class! That was great. Lots of fun and I learned a lot. And those of you who didn't hang around the Walker Museum after lunch missed some wonderful art. What a collection! I was thrilled to see it.
So glad to hear a good time was had by all. I am already excited about next year in NYC. I was there this past week and thinking about places/activities for next year's convention. Given the size and scope of NYC, lots of planning/input swapping will be required.
Well, I'm still here! After our brunch at Hell's Kitchen we went over to spend the rest of the day with our friends, Jane and Steve and are heading out to the airport in an hour. Philip was indeed the perfect host. When I take a breather, I'll post a link to photos.
Safe trip home, Sherry! It was great to meet Tom. I'm glad you had some extra time with your friends - they are interesting people, at least it appeared so across the room in the hotel lobby bar!
I enjoyed the day together so much. Thank you, Philip, for organizing it and for the warm welcome into your home by Kathleen. I loved hearing people read: often my attention span starts to wander with prose that is too long but the pieces chosen were fascinating and read with flair. Now I have to go gather up those books!
We're so glad you could come, Wendy. It was a pleasure to meet you, and your poetry performance was a treat.
Philip,You are a wonderful host, and I had a fabulous time. A note will follow by snail mail. I, too, enjoyed meeting the lovely Kathleen. My two favorite activities were the book-making and the readings.
By the way, I think the bone in my throat is gone. After dinner on Saturday, I noticed that it was not poking me in the neck so badly. I think that big hunk of French bread that I ate helped push it down my throat. When I got home I gargled with my old friend salt water and today my throat is less irritated but still sore. For those of you who weren't there, I got a fish bone stuck in my throat at dinner on Friday night. The dinner was delicious in spite of the bone!
I so enjoyed seeing all of my friends and meeting Sarah after all of these years. Wendy, I was happy to meet you, and I really liked Denise's friend, Mary. We all tried to talk her in to joining CR.
Yes I once got a fish bone stuck in my throat also it was called Moby Dick. I just gagged it up.:-)
So it seems we mostly need great venues for people to talk easily and eat well. So I don't have to be an expert on all that is Brooklyn after all?
Thank you Phillip for serving as our host and guide this past weekend. John and I had so much fun returning to the twin cities after 40 years! We loved it when we were there, and enjoyed our homecoming, but best of all was reconnecting with Constant Readers we already knew from previous gatherings and meeting the Constant Readers we knew virtually, Ruth, Leif, Sarah,Denise, Mary, and Wendy. Special thanks to Kathleen for so graciously welcoming all of us into your home. The readings were great - unusual, humorous, wise, insightful, and Wendy's performance poems were marvelous.
I especially liked visiting the book stores. That so many independent stores remain economically viable suggests that something good is happening in the heartland! The restaurants Phillip chose for our meals were wonderful too - great company and fabulous food!
Driving back to Michigan yesterday across the rich Wisconsin farmland and through the Upper Peninsula where the trees are already turning, and the low temperature in Manistique last night was 37'F., we were just blown away by the beauty of the land. I've resolved to start reading that copy of DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA which I brought with me this summer but never got around to reading. Thanks again Phillip and to all participants for making this such a memorable weekend!
We returned home yesterday afternoon safe and sound. It might take me a couple of days to sort through the pictures. I'll post a link here as soon as I'm done. Once again, thanks so much Philip. You were a wonderful host.
Happy to have you safe and sound. I am looking forward to seeing the photos.
Thanks for sharing - it looks like a lot of fun
Fantastic. I want to meet everyone. You all stuffed a lot of things into the weekend.
We'd love to meet you, too, Carol. We did a lot of things, but it never felt frantic. Just the right pace. And we talked about books more than usual!
Lovely photos, Sherry. I loved that glass fish and the bunny leaping and it was nice to see all of you. The trees that were turning color were nice. Most of them haven't started to do that here yet.It looks like you all had a lovely time. :)
We had a wonderful time. Like Sherry said, Philip planned a bunch of fun things to do, but not so much that we ever felt rushed. Perfect.After our visit to the Walker Art Center Sculpture Garden, a bunch of us took off for parts unknown to me. Philip, Leif, Allen and I stayed to see the collection inside the museum. We didn't get to see it all, but what we did see was fabulous. I adored it. So much wonderful contemporary art all in one place, including several pieces by Joseph Cornell.
untitled (Canis Major constellation)
Joseph Cornell
circa 1960
wood, glass, cork, metal, sand, paper, paint
Walker Art Center
Andromeda (Sand Fountain)
Joseph Cornell
1953 - 1956
wood, glass, wine glass, paper collage, sand, paint
Eclipsing Binary, Algol, with Magnitude Changes
Joseph Cornell
circa 1965
wood, glass, clay, rubber, steel, paper, paint
Walker Art Center
untitled (pink ballet case)
Joseph Cornell
circa 1942
wood, glass, dried rose, leaf, shells, cloth, plastic, mica, cardboard
It was wonderful. My first CR convention in my favorite state--what a treat. It was great to meet everyone after all these years, and reconnect with Ruth and Sherry. Great food, fabulous views, witty conversation, and the shared love of books. What else could one want? Oh--and I got to be with my family. Without my girls. :)Thank you so much, Philip, for sharing our beloved TC with the group, and hosting us at your home. NYC will probably be out of my reach, but I hope to come to another convention before 16 more years pass.
Thanks so much for the photos, Sherry and Ruth! Yes, the trees were lovely, as well as all of F. Scott's homes :) I can't wait to meet everyone!
Ruth I love Andromeda. It looks like a discus thrower in a box.
I don't know if our leaves will ever turn. It's 95 F. here today! But we are close to the West Virginia border.Minnesota is a beautiful state. I love all the beautiful lakes there.
Your photos helped take me there, as usual, Sherry. Thanks so much. Jane, are you going to post yours as well? And, any more specifics of what you did would be welcomed. It looks lovely.
Thanks for taking all those pics, Sherry and posting the link. I could relive the fun as I looked at them!
Sherry, those pictures are great and I particularly ejoyed your caption/commentary in the sculpture garden.I was envious looking at the pictures of the readings. Unfortunately, you didn't get a chance to meet my friend, Roxy. If you did, you would understand why I had to take the opportunity to visit her in St. Cloud. Thanks to Sherry and Lynn for their readings at the hotel, I wasn't completely deprived.
Barb, I wish I could remember some of the things that made us laugh.
Nice to see everybody! Thanks, again, Philip.
Well you just have to introduce us to Roxy, Denise. I enjoyed making that silly commentary for the sculpture garden. I only wish I hadn't pooped out and gone back to the hotel while Ruth was enjoying the art in the museum. Someone had told us the admission was $20. I didn't think I had time to get $20 of enjoyment in, but that shouldn't have been an excuse. What's $20 when I could have been enjoying beautiful art with Ruth. When we're in NYC, I'll have to forego worrying about money.
That was me who mentioned the $20. The bad part is that it was actually $10, or $8 for seniors ... sorry! Denise stayed to visit the Walker collection too, by the way. It was loads of fun to walk through the galleries with Ruth and watch her reactions and hear her comments about the various painters and sculptors and photographers whose work we were viewing.
But yes, NYC has more than its fair share of museums! This past May when I spent a week there I managed to visit three -- the Morgan, the Met, and (for my first time) the Brooklyn Museum.
Is it possible that I was confusing the admission price of the Walker with the Met or something? Hard to explain ...oh well.
Don't worry, Philip. I think I really needed the bit of rest I had at the hotel.
Great to see you all enthusiastically participating in the book arts! Can't believe Allen still has that shirt...Sara in Iowa
Hi Sara! I thought of you when we were busily folding and cutting.
Allen told us he wears it one day a year. I'm sure he's trying to preserve it for all future conventions. It's time you showed up at another one, Sara!
Thankfully, the admission to the Met is whatever you can or feel you should pay. I wish all museums were like that. Of course I understand the incredible costs, but sometimes I think it's more to filter the population that visits.
Thanks for the photos of the trip, the sculptures, the stores, the activities, and the art. It gives a really good sense of your stay and the good time you had. As someone else said, those captions for the photos were great. And it's nice to see more faces to go with names (even though it will take forever for me to remember)
That was a lovely slide show, Sherry. Glad you all had a great time.Thanks!
Thanks, everyone. Photography is one of the things I love to do.
I just put my photos on my computer. Sometime in the near future, I will post them on Photobucket and then post a link here. Then you will get to see some photos of Sherry. She was busy taking photos of everyone else.One of my favorite parts of each convention is the readings. Here is what everyone read:
Philip - TINKERS by Paul Harding
Jane - THE WHITE TIGER by Aravind Adiga
Ruth - her own poetry
Sherry - HOME by Marilyn Robinson
Allen - a poem by Willie McGonegal
Sarah - THE OUTSIDE BOY by Jeanine Cummins
Lynn - THE LAST REPORT ON THE MIRACLES AT LITTLE NO HORSE by Louise Erdrich
Wendy - performed two of her own poems
Katy - THE BIG SHORT by Michael Lewis
John - AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MARK TWAIN
Last night, I looked at the photos on my little mini-laptop in bed, but tonight I enjoyed them even more on the big screen of my desktop. I realized that I don't know who Gayla was ("at her reading").
Jane, Thanks for the list of readings. I am so glad the fish bone issue resolved itself. I am looking forward to your pictures. I took some at Phillip's home Saturday, but my flash did not always work. Also, I have no idea how to post them. Any advice? Sherry, The captions for your pictures were perfect! They really conveyed the spirit of the Minneapolis get together. John and I were happily amused
Barb, Gayla is a friend of Philip's who read from a book she recently published titled Memory of Trees. It's about the farm crisis of the 1980s and the experience of selling their family farm when she was in college (if I remember correctly). The portion she read was about when she left the farm to go to college in Minneapolis.
Our roster came from East and West, North and a little bit South - Allen from Cape Cod; Katy and John from Washington, DC, via Michigan; Sherry and Tom from Asheville; Sarah from Phoenix; Jane from San Diego; Ruth and Leif from San Clemente; Denise from Rapid City; Lynn from Iowa; Wendy from Minneapolis; and finally Philip from St. Paul. Various local friends and family joined in for one or another event, and a fine time was had by all.
Many thanks to all our travelers, who left our Twin Towns abuzz!