View From a Hotel Window, 8/23/15: Aurora, Colorado
Posted on August 23, 2015 Posted by John Scalzi 21 Comments
Ahhhhh, yes. Parking lot, I missed you so.
Today: As noted previously, Fort Collins at 3pm. Be there or be square. Seriously, you’ll turn into a cube if you don’t go, Fort Collins. An evil wizard has cast a spell on your town, you see.
Tomorrow: Bay Area, you have two — yes, two! — chances to see me on Monday. If you’re in San Francisco and not doing anything in the noontime hour, come to Borderlands Books to see me do my thing. I’ll be very curious to see how this does as an event, being it’s at noon on a weekday, and presumably many of my fans have those whatchamajingies called “jobs,” but no matter what, we’re gonna have some fun. So come on down.
Then, in the evening, specifically at 7:30pm, I’ll be at Kepler’s in Menlo Park, and I’m sitting down with the fantastic Tad Williams for an evening of discussion and pie (note: the event is BYOP — bring your own pie). More seriously, this is a Kepler’s premier event, so you’ll have to splash out some money for a ticket. But I promise the discussion between me and Williams will make it soooo worth it. Come see us do our thing.
Just 30min from me; we could have had breakfast and chatted about stuff. Alas, Fort Collins too far to travel battling weekend traffic, so not attending the appearance.
You stayed in Aurora to sign in Fort Collins??? Were you looking for an hour or more commute? There ARE hotels in NW Denver or even Boulder, ya know. Or, if you don’t mind the downwind flow, there’s always Fort Collins, lol.
I’ve seen Scalzi do his thing. It’s worth the money by itself. I haven’t seen Tad do his thing, but I’ve heard the rumors, also worth the money.
Eh, it’s still summer at my university. (And I live far enough away that the Bay Area or LA is ‘could go there and back in a day, but would prefer not to’, and frazzled enough while classes are in session that I need to stay home and not interact with giant crowds of people, even if someone else is the center of attention. Also grade papers. So summer weekdays are perfect.)
I, my roomie, and my cousin will all be there at Borderlands, bringing tribute! It’s my designated ‘relax, do not study, if you don’t know it by now you’re doomed anyways’ pre-quals relaxing day. See you there!
I’m looking forward to seeing you on Monday at Borderlands. I made sure it was OK with work to work from home that day so I can walk over at lunch time. I’ve already got and read all your books so I’ll have to figure out something else to buy while I’m there. I’m sure something will come to mind.
I cannot thank you enough for using Finn and Hester in “Redshirts.” If you have not seen it, Neil did a sit and speak a while back before a Yale Psychiatry class that’s online -very worthwhile on the art process generally from his perspective. Paul Hester’s death was a big factor in re-evaluating my priorities, and making a better life for my family. I own all your books on my Kindle app, and have made my way through 3/4ths? I just wanted to thank you for giving an unexpected surprise in “Redshirts.” Yet another great read and escape. Thanks for everything.
My thoughts exactly – Why Aurora? I mean, that’s where the airport is, but — there’s the Armstrong Hotel in downtown Fort Collins*, and that’s just one possibility. But just the thought of that drive on top of the lack-of-sleep problem — you poor, poor soul.
*Haven’t stayed there, can’t report on quality or price, just noticed it while driving to the event today. As for “downwind flow,” things smelled fairly neutral to me today; guess we got lucky?
We had to entirely take your word for how tired you were; you seemed pretty darn energetic and witty and chipper for someone running on maybe an hour of oft-interrupted airplane nap. I certainly couldn’t have held up so well. Thank you for coming to read to us and deface your books for us! I think I speak for my friends (the couple in line just ahead of me) as well as for myself in saying that the event was totally worth skipping roller derby practice for. I’ll pay for it on Wednesday, but c’est la vie…
Looking forward to hours of great reading in the very near future!
I have an irrational fear that my car will be robbed while I sleep at motels–I’m always a little pleased when I get a room where I can park under a light and see the car clearly from my room if I want up in the middle of the night. No, no one has ever messed with my car. And no, it doesn’t keep me awake. But yes, I have never got up for a 3am pee in a motel without first checking to make sure n’er do wells aren’t huddled around my Honda. And the light from the parking lot helps me make to the head without stubbing a toe….
If there were a dictionary entry for ‘Hotel Parking Lot’, this would be the picture to illustrate it.
Lovely event in FoCo. Great time, funny, insightful. If you missed it, you really missed something.
(This is me, lording it over y’all, as per instructions from the boss.)
Having driven back and forth between Aurora and Fort Collins, it’s… not the commute I’d have chosen. But if you gotta get to the airport early in the morning, Aurora is certainly way closer.
Bummer. Someone interesting comes to my little burg and I was flying back from WorldCon at the time. I got “mechanicaled” in Las Vegas for a while (yech) and got home in the wee smalls. And for whoever mentioned it, it is Greeley (approx 25 miles Kansasward) that has occasional feedlot and meat packing halitosis, not Ft C. Wouldn’t trade our air for much of any – except some from an even higher altitude.
In only marginally related news, John C. Wright has written a blogpost with an exceptionally high “WTF!? I mean—huh???” quotient, which Mr. Scalzi may or may not wish to discourse upon.
Cubist:
Not in this thread, no.
Does anyone else think Scalzi is going to try and sneak a coffee table book featuring parking lots into his publishing contract? Lots! by John Scalzi
As recently as last night, I’d labored under the delusion I could make it to Borderlands today. But realistically, at 2 1/2 weeks postpartum, not going to happen. Sigh. One of these years I’ll make it! There will be more books and more book tours. Little Logan and I will be there in spirit!
Thanks again for coming out, John! I’d like to once again recommend coming for a stop in Colorado Springs next time. We have an airport that’s actually IN the city! And we also have a hotel without parking lots: The Broadmoor (http://www.broadmoor.com/)
See you next time :)
It did occur to me that this may have been a factor.
Considering that down here in Boulder you can hazard a guess that snow’s coming because “it smells like Greeley today,” I’d assumed that Fort Collins, a much closer neighbor, may get its share of the smell if the wind’s in the right direction too. Or wrong direction, more likely. Very, very wrong.
I spent a pleasant few hours before the event at The Mainliner, a bar & grill in Old Town that was open for brunch. The gumbo skillet featured actual andouille sausage and not just a spicy sausage inaccurately called andouille. One of their rotating drafts was a tasty watermelon hefe weizen. And I had a great view of College Ave from my seat, and thus also of the two-man band playing keyboards and upright electric bass on a large bicycle-towed cart that was circling the block during the noon or one o’clock hour.
It really was a lovely day.
Nichole, I didn’t know you were in Boulder. I spent 5 years of my childhood/tweenhood there and remember it fondly. Even the “being unable to walk in the chinook” parts.
Perhaps the contrary winds don’t blow to FC like they do Boulder and thus they aren’t cursed with Greeley effluvium.
I’m near Loveland, but I worked in Greeley for a year, so I’m familiar the Greeley “Smell of Money”*. I can’t recall ever smelling it here, or even in Longmont, where I work now. Maybe that’s just Boulder’s own aroma? ;P
* I worked at the poorest of the three dirt-poor high schools, so my response was always, “Whose money??”