you do not want to be ann kullberg tonight

The next time you wish your art career was at the same level's as Ann Kullberg's is...STOP IT!! You should be more careful what you wish for!!

I'm writing from Hilton Head, SC. I am here for a week because I'll be teaching a 5-day workshop here starting Monday. I got in late tonight. I'll admit I'm cranky and road weary, since it took me about 13 hours, all told, to get here from Seattle, and I didn't get any dinner at all, except a week old raisin oatmeal cookie I just found in my computer case....and a diet coke.

But even in one of my sunnier moods, I wouldn't be happy tonight!!! Checked into the hotel the organization booked for me. I was a little leery, as it's a very cheap hotel chain...but honestly, I'm always ready to give a place the benefit. (In fact, the Comfort Inn I stayed in last week in Clifton Park, NY was practically elegant and completely lovely and comfortable and just super-super in every way!)

But oh man. The lobby clerk was border-line rude with no smile in sight (actually basically hung up on me when I called from my room with a question) and as unhelpful as I've run across in a way long time...I have a tiny, cramped, old (but clean...I'll give them that!) room on the ground floor - one of those old-fashioned places where the door opens directly to the outside, which always makes me feel very unsafe....my room is right across the vending machines (so close you can see the Coke red through my drapes and hear each coin dropping in whenever someone uses it!) and the air conditioning isn't working, so I've got the door propped open to get some cooler air in here, which means anyone walking by is also watching me type this post.

Will have to decide at some point which I care about more - getting pajamas on, or being cool....since I clearly won't walk around my room in my nightie with the door open. (I do have the chain across the door....)

I am not staying in this room for a week. Nooooooo way.

This is a lesson I thought I'd already learned. The lesson is that I always, always, always make my own lodging plans for workshops. Always. I had a bad experience a few years back. The room I'd been booked into was so nasty I wouldn't even roll my suitcase into it! I had a car so I just told the front desk I wouldn't need the room, hopped back in my car and drove around until I found a nice Best Western, checked in, called the workshop organizer to say that the room was unacceptable, blah, blah, blah. So that was when I made that rule about finding my own hotel. Only I up and forgot my own rule!!

No car this time.....but I'll just nicely let everyone know tomorrow morning that finding another room/hotel for me is absolutely imperative. As I age and my estrogen levels drop, I've gained nerve along with a few extra chin hairs...I think it's a great trade off, since I happen to own some really nifty tweezers....

Soooooo anyhoooooo...tonight you do not want to be ann kullberg!

(and no...that is not really my chin!)