Epic To-Do Lists

Today is really going to be Get Stuff Done Day. Also known as The Day of the To-Do List. And also The Day of Removing Stuff From the Epic To-Do List. One item I've already removed was baking blueberry muffins. I had some fresh blueberries, and I thought that would be a good way to use them, plus I'd have something for those "I'm not ready to face people yet" breakfasts in my room. Then I remembered that muffins don't travel well. I tried that once, and they crumbled. Then there's the baking time and clean-up time. So I'm freezing the berries to make muffins when I get home, and I'll find a bagel shop in San Antonio for my breakfast needs.

Really, most of today's to-dos are quick little things, like plug something in or print something. I decided not to go overboard with orchestrating my travel mix CD. I let iTunes shuffle the songs I've chosen without worrying about when in my trip a particular song might fall. This way, the order will be a total surprise, which should help keep me alert. I just hope that none of the singalong opera arias fall when I'm sitting at a stop light in a small town. For those who are curious, this is a strange mix that mostly seems to involve ABBA, Billy Joel, Pat Benatar, Meat Loaf, Queen, Tori Amos, Sarah MacLachlan, Josh Groban and Unwoman, a ton of show tunes (Les Mis, Into the Woods, Phantom of the Opera, Ragtime, The Secret Garden, Wicked, Songs for a New World), some 80s stuff, a dash of Enya and a couple of arias. I could do 700 MB on the disc I was using, which came to about 10 hours of music, so it will cycle back to the beginning before I get home.

I don't normally post my convention schedules, since if you're not going you don't care and if you are going you have easy access to that information, but this is bigger and more difficult to wade though than most conventions, so here are some highlights. My autographing will be Thursday at 2. I'm not anticipating long lines. The infamous geeky knitting panel is at 3 on Saturday. Sunday at 10 is that panel on TV/film adaptations. I'm part of the Stroll with the Stars gang on Monday morning, so if you're still functional on the final day of the convention and like to walk fast, come join me (it's supposed to be a stroll, but I can't walk that slow, so mine will be the fast group). The full schedule will be available and I think is searchable, so it should be pretty easy to find me. FenCon is hosting a party on Saturday night, so look for the signs and come say hi. I don't know yet exactly when I'll be working that party, but probably early in the evening because I have early events the next day.

Which is ironic because I recently came across scientific proof that it's not necessarily better or efficient to be an early bird. I've ranted over the years about the general societal attitude that if you get up early and get stuff done, you're efficient, but if you stay up late to get stuff done (and then sleep late in the morning), you're some kind of sloth. Actually, you may be more intelligent.

I don't know how much checking in I'll be doing the rest of the week because I don't yet know what the Internet situation will be. I'm more likely to update Facebook because I can do that more easily from my phone.

Full report when I get back!