Poking my head for a second (can't stay and play much today, alas):

Here is how things seem right now, in terms of schedule: I'm going to try and find a ticket for the second week of August, the 11th or 12th. To LA. A few days I'll be Allyson's guest, and a few more - Lee's. Then, on Thursday the 19th, I'll be a guest at ND's car, on the way to SF, where deb will host me, on that weekend. From there I'll fly to Boston (probably on the 23rd), and after a couple of days there, a train (?) to NYC, where I'll first be Trudy's guest for a few days, then msbelle's. When things become jammed there (the 30th? 31st?), a train (?) to DC, where I'll be Hil's guest.

Wow.

Questions? Comments? t /vampire Willow

Oh, I have to run out from the computer, sorry! But I'll check this thread as soon as I can, and again, I'm pointing at my tagline, to let you know how I feel about what you made possible.

Are we still doing okay money-wise, Allyson, or is it still too early to tell?

We have a bit over $3000. I suggested to Nilly that she try to keep the airfare down to 2K so that she'll have some spending money in her pocket. But if it costs almost 3K, I'm sure Nilly will not go hungry.

Not complicating things at all, Jon.

Allyson, as Nilly notes, I am all set to host her here. If flying in to NYC from SF is cheaper than flying into Boston, I could pick her up at LGA or JFK on the 23rd if she arrived after 5pm. Basically, I will be working every weekday she is here, but I am happy to do transport after 5pm or before 9am.

I will email you and her my contact info.

If things look like they're starting to get tight, can some of us who were broke the first donation round help out for the actual trip?

LaGuardia or Kennedy works with LaGuardia a bit easier if Nilly winds up flying to New York.

This is all seeming so REAL now! Woo hooooo!

[Edit: actually, if Newark is a killer deal I can go out there and get her too]

At Incheon (Korea), they don't allow batteries on the planes for some reason

When I flew from Bombay to Delhi, they wouldn't let me take my batteries on the plane with me. It wouldn't have been much of a problem if they hadn't insisted on taking the bag which contained my batteries as well as all my film away from me. It was 4am, the last leg of my flight from Cape Town to Delhi (via Johannesburg and Bombay), and I'd spent the last three hours getting hopelessly lost in the Bombay airport, the most poorly-planned airport it has ever been my privilege to encounter. My flight was leaving in five minutes, and I'd already been sent back to the beginning of the check-in process once for failing to procure a stamp I'd previously been told was unnecessary. I was stressed, overtired, and starving, and these people wanted to take my film away from me! I nearly had a meltdown, but there wasn't anything I could do; they were rushing me onto the plane and grabbing my bag away from me and promising that they'd get it back to me in Delhi.

So I spent a miserable two hours on the flight, trying unsuccessfully to nap, eating stale biscuits, and listening to the ratty Austrian man behind me loudly venting his spleen against the entire country of India, with particular vitriol reserved for the designers of the Bombay airport (with which sentiment, I admit, I had to agree). I had no faith that my film would be waiting for me in Delhi. All my pictures! Gone! But the airport gods were smiling upon me that bleary, chilly morning, and after a long search, the very nice man at the pickup counter finally located my film. I could have kissed him.

the Bombay airport, the most poorly-planned airport it has ever been my privilege to encounter.

It really is, isn't it? Though my most vibrant memories of the Bombay airport (at 3 am, natch) are of the man that DH and I met in the cafe (the only one open all night), who befriended us purely as an excuse to talk about how rich he was for an hour. (Of course, it was all couched in "My wife makes me take her to blah blah fancypants hotel in Dubai, it's the most expensive in the world, has a heli-pad, etc" terms. But the effect was that he *really* wanted two total strangers to know that he had lots of money.)

The funniest part is that when I went to the bathroom, he immediately switched topics and started telling DH where all the best strip clubs in India were. The instant I got back to the table, the conversation turned back to his money and how much of it his wife makes him spend on her.

But the airport gods were smiling upon me that bleary, chilly morning, and after a long search, the very nice man at the pickup counter finally located my film. I could have kissed him.

Kate has yet to fulfill Indian Guy Kissage. Check.

Does this mean Nilly will be in NYC the weekend of the 27-29? Dude, I might be able to get over there.

Allyson, if anything is needed from up here, please let us know. But I'm betting you've got it all covered.

Now that we're looking at Real! Live! Dates!, the Bay Area end of things can also start with the planning. Can I get a show of hands, or an email list, or preferably both, of people who are coming in from out of town who need a) a way to get here, and b) a bed? Nilly herself is covered, as is Ginger for a host (Jeannie, our downstairs, has offered a bed) and Bev for a host (me!)

A list would be helpful in the extreme. Nicole, Deena, perhaps sj - who else? And from LA, coming up with Nilly, ND of course - Sean?

The funniest part is that when I went to the bathroom, he immediately switched topics and started telling DH where all the best strip clubs in India were. The instant I got back to the table, the conversation turned back to his money and how much of it his wife makes him spend on her.

Ha! Very classy.

Does this mean Nilly will be in NYC the weekend of the 27-29? Dude, I might be able to get over there.

So I'd get to meet Nilly and Polter-Cow? Plus, get to see all the other fabulous NYC-istas? Sweet. I'm going to try to make appearances at both the Boston and New York shindigs; they're about equidistant from me.