Third Annual Kidlitosphere Conference

I thought I had already written about the Third Annual Kidlitosphere Conference, or "KidLitCon" as people are starting to call it. Then, I realized that I'd had it as part of a post in draft form that I never published. MotherReader is organizing it this year. The conference will be in Washington, D.C. on October 17.

I grew up in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area and also lived there for two years during library school. There are a number of good things about that area. Free admission to museums is at the top of the list. I remember the first time I ever visited the Air and Space Museum. I was thrilled. I was in love with outer space. The piece of moon-rock at the entrance is probably the closest I'll ever get to touching the moon, but there was a lot of "scope for the imagination" as Anne of Green Gables would say. I saw my first IMAX film there (To Fly) and was introduced to the short film The Powers of 10. As the years passed, I had the privilege of viewing a number of traveling exhibitions. The penultimate special exhibit I visited was the Vermeer exhibit with my grandmother in 1998. We had free advance tickets and then stood two hours in the snow before admittance to the gallery. I wore two pairs of woolen socks and was still frozen through. It was worth it! The following year, I almost had my first date with Bede when he invited me to go the Pre-Raphaelite exhibit. I wasn't able to go when he asked me, as I was working*, but I went later, and kept the flyer. (Even though we wouldn't get together for another two years, I still thought of it as our "almost date.")

Unfortunately, I will not be in attendance this year. I would have liked to have met those of you who live in that area. I'll be heading East for a wedding the previous weekend and will have a chance to spend time with family a little further north.

*Why we didn't try to get together for another excursion probably had to do with each liking the other person but not knowing if the feeling was mutual. A few weeks later, Bede headed off to Seattle and I went to New York.