State and Country Collectors: What happens when we flip 'em?

jcbemis and fla_sunshine are visiting right now. I'm thoroughly enjoying their company and tonight, just before going up to bed (I thought!), I added the header to a new page in the Friends of Toad Woods Register so they can both sign the book before heading to Worcester for ConCertino on Friday.

I left the book open on the table and started to head upstairs. Somewhere in there, I realized, wow, I'd just picked up another state. They're my first visitors from Florida since I moved here just over five years ago.

Soon I was tallying the rest. So much for going to bed right then.

In the last five years and one month, I've had visitors from 12 U.S. states (AL, CA, FL, IL, MA, MI, MN, NH, NY, PA, VA, WA) and two foreign countries (Poland and Canada). Given there are only two countries, I wouldn't have predicted that Poland would be one of them.) The repeat and multiple visitors from those states and countries is pretty impressive, too, with the numbers being eight and nine, respectively. ( More stats'n'natter )

If memory serves, during those same five years, I've stayed overnight in 19 different homes of friends and family in nine states (CO, IL, IN, MA, MI, MN, NY, PA, VA) and two Canadian provinces (ON and MB).* From memory, again, I've made repeat visits to nearly half of those, and a similar number have been extended visits (1-5 weeks, and if we total the number of nights I've stayed in debgeisler and benveniste's home, they'll either start charging me rent or I'll have the frequent stay equivalent of a Premier Exec for life on United.) So much for thinking I'm not traveling much these days.

I of course now want to look through the Friends of Toad Hall list that Karen Johnson compiled for me as part of the house cooling festivities and see how many more states and countries my "visitors from" map collects from that. There's England, Northern Ireland, Russia, Romania, and Australia for sure, and at least one more Canadian province, I think. I've had visitors from a lot more countries than I've been to.

But I'm on my way to bed, remember? I do. The rest of the map will wait for another time.

* Edited to correct myself: Three Canadian provinces: ON, MB, and QC using the current postal codes, or ON, MB, and PQ as I understand the residents of Quebec prefer.

Not FOMS

This isn't Fear of Missing Something, it's Fear of Missing EVERYTHING.

Click through the EVERYTHING to the Thursday night reading of Shakespeare's A Midsummer's Night Dream photos that dd_b took at Fourth Street Fantasy Convention.

Look at the pictures; look at the people. Friends and loved ones going on 25 years now, some I've met more recently, and others I so, so, so want to meet RIGHT NOW. (Well, okay, in the morning, over coffee and bagels in the consuite. This is Fourth Street. Please tell me there are bagels in the consuite. It's canonical.)

Look at the program that skzb and casacorona put together. Imagine the conversations that will come of that.

How can I not be there? How can any of us not be there?

dd_b, thanks a kazillion and more for the photos! I look forward to seeing more (and more and more) throughout the rest of the weekend.

For those who are there, and those who will be, I hope each and every one of you has a fabulous time. I certainly would if I were there, and I wouldn't wish you any less.

(Does anyone reading this believe I'm really, truly going to bed now?)