conference rundown..

lowlights:

* having to evacuate during the wine reception due to a fire alarm..20 minutes of standing outside in the rain..
* calling a paramedic for a delegate who had collapsed..
* realising half an hour before lunch at 12 on sunday that we had booked the caterers for 1pm..
* the 40 minutes of panic when it looked as if dj shaz (the dj for our 'historical karaoke') wasn't going to show..
* the distinct lack of sleep..
* the pub in which we were having the karaoke running out of red wine before i got a chance to buy any..
* having to drink disgusting pink wine instead..
* schmark deserting me..
* missing 2 roddick matches..

highlights:

* all the keynotes, but especially deborah cartmell's address on adaptations of jane austen, and kate mosse's very engaging talk..
* the few panels i managed to get to being really interesting, and hanging together really well = yey for me as programme editor..
* not having to worry about the little things thanks to our fantastic conference assistants..
* all the nice things the delegates said to us, especially the lady who told me it was "the best conference she'd ever been to"..
* getting more drunk than i meant to on sunday evening..
* managing to avoid a hangover all the way through..
* surviving it..

stressed to the max..

currently experiencing increasing levels of stress and panic as the conference i (together with 4 other people) have been organising for over a year speeds towards us....how can it be in four days? urgh.

not much time to do anything other than freak out, although i am of course trying to fit in as much wimbledon viewing as possible..it's very calming, you know....here's hoping for a roddick win this year..

in my spare moments i am also very much enjoying the new album by alak (previously known as alas, alak, alaska)..it's unlike anything else i've heard recently, and is really quite charming.....go and listen to it here..if you like it, you can also download it for however much you would like to pay (minimum $1)..well worth it, i'd say.....