An Evening with Gene Wolfe 3/17/12
I apologize in advance for the long blog because I don't know how to do cuts...
The drive to Madison was gorgeous and the stay with my Aunt Barb and Uncle Tom was short but nice.
I left early from Madison on Saturday morning to get to the hotel in time to print out 40s hairstyles to show to the woman at Bella Mia in Arlington Heights. I would like to suggest to all hairdressers that if you don't know how to do a hairstyle, PLEASE do not say "Sure! Just bring a picture and I can do it!" Because I know nothing about doing hair and I can't help you if you're having problems. I was there from 1-3pm. The first half of that visit involved her trying to get the big curls to stay in my long, thick hair. She finally tried rollers which worked wonderfully. After that it didn't take too long at all. I wasn't completely pleased with my hair, but there wasn't anything I could do about it at that point.
Since I was there so late, and I had wanted to leave for the Sanfillippo estate by 3:30pm, I no longer had time to stop to get eye drops or something to eat. I hadn't eaten since breakfast at 8:30am, so I proceeded to eat half a box of almond crackers that I had brought with me for snacking. I hurriedly got dressed, did make-up, and hurried out the door at 3:45pm. Just as I left my room a couple was leaving theirs across the hall and they were dressed up as well. Of course I had to comment so I asked if they were going to a party, too. Yes, they were going to the same party that I was going to and the husband knew Gene Wolfe. I found out later that they are actually good friends. This nice man took pictures of me in my dress out in the parking lot before my hair and make-up could get destroyed, and then they let me follow them to the estate because they had done a drive-by the day before with Gene.
The estates in Barrington Hills, IL are beyond fabulous! I felt like I was walking into a scene from The Great Gatsby! I also thought that we were arriving at a golf course because the property was that big. We pulled up to the Carousel Pavilion and were then transported up to the house on GOLF CARTS! It was explained later that the shuttle they had hired did not show up. I was worried about my hair, but there was nothing that could be done at that point. What I should have been worried about destroying it was the heat. It was 86 degrees that day and I was wearing a long-sleeved dress. But who knew it would be that nice! Ah well, it was fine.
The house that I entered was filled with DOZENS of musical machines. Some of them were 3 stories tall! There was mechanical musical filling the house at all times as staff switched off one machine and started another. Some of them had flashing lights and scenery that shifted on the front. Others played entire orchestras. There were at least a dozen player pianos and as many Victrolas like my parents have. Every single machine was fully restored to brand new condition. I thought like I had entered another world. There was a 6 flight spiral staircase that had a pendulum hanging down into it for no apparent reason. And, the crowning item in the house was an organ with 8,000 pipes. The Sanfillippos had built a hall around the organ to bring out the best sound from the instrument. The tallest pipe was 32' high. It was beautiful.
I met kylecassidy almost immediately upon arrival and introduced myself to him and his beautiful wife, trillian_stars. I then went to wander the house and met another solo young woman named Lizzy, who works in a book store. She is from Chicago and we stayed together for the entire rest of the time in the house. The next part of the evening was the awards ceremony, performance by Terra Mysterium, and then a concert performed by R. Jelani Eddington on the organ. It was all so very wonderful. All of the presenters and speakers were entertaining, the performers acted out The Toy Theater and sang a portion of Coin Operated Boy *grin*, and the organ player was as amazing as he had been described. Because of the theme of the evening (steampunk), he performed The Star Wars Theme and the full version of Coin Operated Boy, as well as Over the Rainbow and 2 Irish pieces in honor of the day.
After all of that we walked back up to the Carousel Pavilion for dinner. Every single person's jaw dropped as they walked into the building. There is a rather large carousel in the building and they had the music playing. It was absolutely magical! There were about 80 or so people who attended the dinner, from what I could tell, but that could be more. They had scattered the authors at everyone's tables and there were 2 at ours. Unfortunately, I didn't get to meet the gentleman, but the lady was an amazing person by the name of Jennifer Stevenson. Right after sitting down and meeting the people at the table she passed around her notebook to get our information so that she could invite us all to a pig roast! So funny!
The person I was most pleased to meet at the table was Maura aka tigerinvaseline. She was the woman on Kyle's blog who encouraged me to attend the event by myself and said that she would introduce me to her friends. Not only did she do that, but she arranged with the person who put the whole event together to have me sit at her table so I wouldn't feel alone! Very, very thoughtful and I appreciated it so much. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming.
At each of our place settings was a book that was co-written by Neil Gaiman and Gene Wolfe that had also been autographed. That was a nice gift that was unexpected by all. The food was incredible! I ordered the vegetarian meal. What came was a portobello mushroom cap topped with all kinds of crazy goodness. I have no idea what it was, but I ate it joyfully. At the beginning of the meal, Peter Sagal of NPR's news quiz show "Wait, wait ... Don't Tell Me!" became the toastmaster and he invited several friends and family of Gene's to come up and say a few words about him. As Peter announced each person he made up a story about what their background was, which was pretty freaking funny.
After dinner everyone mingled and had wine. People got autographs and I got pictures with the people that I really wanted pictures with, except Lizzy... I have her e-mail address, though, so I will be in touch with her. As a surprise the family turned the carousel on so we could all ride it for awhile. It was kind of terrifying! It didn't just go in a circle; it also went up and down quite unexpectedly! And it was much faster than I was expecting :)
As the evening wound down I stepped outside and chatted with authors and other guests. I didn't catch everyone's name, but they were just so much fun. After the event wrapped up completely, Mara asked if I wanted to go to an after party at Valya's house. Valya is the woman who organized the entire event. So, I agreed and managed to find my way into Chicago for that. There were about a dozen of us there including Kyle, Trillian, Peter Straub, Gary Wolfe (Gene's brother), and his girlfriend, Maura, Madeline, Carl, and I think that's everyone besides the hostess and her husband whose name I don't recall. I was only there for about an hour chatting, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. I managed to get back to my hotel by a little before 3am.
I slept horribly that night because I kept replaying everything in my head. The next day as I was heading to my cousin's for brunch, I had a thought that brought tears to my eyes. We all create the magic in our own lives. We just have to be true to ourselves and live the lives that we truly want them to be. If we do that, then the magic grows because we meet other like-minded people to bring along on our magical journey through this life. That evening was filled with magical people. I received so many names and e-mail addresses from people who completely GET this part of who I am. And it filled me with such peace and love that I was filled to bursting. I am also fortunate to have many of these people already in my life back at home, so I count myself as one of the luckiest women in the world.
Thanks for reading if you made it this far.
Peace,
Leslie
The drive to Madison was gorgeous and the stay with my Aunt Barb and Uncle Tom was short but nice.
I left early from Madison on Saturday morning to get to the hotel in time to print out 40s hairstyles to show to the woman at Bella Mia in Arlington Heights. I would like to suggest to all hairdressers that if you don't know how to do a hairstyle, PLEASE do not say "Sure! Just bring a picture and I can do it!" Because I know nothing about doing hair and I can't help you if you're having problems. I was there from 1-3pm. The first half of that visit involved her trying to get the big curls to stay in my long, thick hair. She finally tried rollers which worked wonderfully. After that it didn't take too long at all. I wasn't completely pleased with my hair, but there wasn't anything I could do about it at that point.
Since I was there so late, and I had wanted to leave for the Sanfillippo estate by 3:30pm, I no longer had time to stop to get eye drops or something to eat. I hadn't eaten since breakfast at 8:30am, so I proceeded to eat half a box of almond crackers that I had brought with me for snacking. I hurriedly got dressed, did make-up, and hurried out the door at 3:45pm. Just as I left my room a couple was leaving theirs across the hall and they were dressed up as well. Of course I had to comment so I asked if they were going to a party, too. Yes, they were going to the same party that I was going to and the husband knew Gene Wolfe. I found out later that they are actually good friends. This nice man took pictures of me in my dress out in the parking lot before my hair and make-up could get destroyed, and then they let me follow them to the estate because they had done a drive-by the day before with Gene.
The estates in Barrington Hills, IL are beyond fabulous! I felt like I was walking into a scene from The Great Gatsby! I also thought that we were arriving at a golf course because the property was that big. We pulled up to the Carousel Pavilion and were then transported up to the house on GOLF CARTS! It was explained later that the shuttle they had hired did not show up. I was worried about my hair, but there was nothing that could be done at that point. What I should have been worried about destroying it was the heat. It was 86 degrees that day and I was wearing a long-sleeved dress. But who knew it would be that nice! Ah well, it was fine.
The house that I entered was filled with DOZENS of musical machines. Some of them were 3 stories tall! There was mechanical musical filling the house at all times as staff switched off one machine and started another. Some of them had flashing lights and scenery that shifted on the front. Others played entire orchestras. There were at least a dozen player pianos and as many Victrolas like my parents have. Every single machine was fully restored to brand new condition. I thought like I had entered another world. There was a 6 flight spiral staircase that had a pendulum hanging down into it for no apparent reason. And, the crowning item in the house was an organ with 8,000 pipes. The Sanfillippos had built a hall around the organ to bring out the best sound from the instrument. The tallest pipe was 32' high. It was beautiful.
I met kylecassidy almost immediately upon arrival and introduced myself to him and his beautiful wife, trillian_stars. I then went to wander the house and met another solo young woman named Lizzy, who works in a book store. She is from Chicago and we stayed together for the entire rest of the time in the house. The next part of the evening was the awards ceremony, performance by Terra Mysterium, and then a concert performed by R. Jelani Eddington on the organ. It was all so very wonderful. All of the presenters and speakers were entertaining, the performers acted out The Toy Theater and sang a portion of Coin Operated Boy *grin*, and the organ player was as amazing as he had been described. Because of the theme of the evening (steampunk), he performed The Star Wars Theme and the full version of Coin Operated Boy, as well as Over the Rainbow and 2 Irish pieces in honor of the day.
After all of that we walked back up to the Carousel Pavilion for dinner. Every single person's jaw dropped as they walked into the building. There is a rather large carousel in the building and they had the music playing. It was absolutely magical! There were about 80 or so people who attended the dinner, from what I could tell, but that could be more. They had scattered the authors at everyone's tables and there were 2 at ours. Unfortunately, I didn't get to meet the gentleman, but the lady was an amazing person by the name of Jennifer Stevenson. Right after sitting down and meeting the people at the table she passed around her notebook to get our information so that she could invite us all to a pig roast! So funny!
The person I was most pleased to meet at the table was Maura aka tigerinvaseline. She was the woman on Kyle's blog who encouraged me to attend the event by myself and said that she would introduce me to her friends. Not only did she do that, but she arranged with the person who put the whole event together to have me sit at her table so I wouldn't feel alone! Very, very thoughtful and I appreciated it so much. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming.
At each of our place settings was a book that was co-written by Neil Gaiman and Gene Wolfe that had also been autographed. That was a nice gift that was unexpected by all. The food was incredible! I ordered the vegetarian meal. What came was a portobello mushroom cap topped with all kinds of crazy goodness. I have no idea what it was, but I ate it joyfully. At the beginning of the meal, Peter Sagal of NPR's news quiz show "Wait, wait ... Don't Tell Me!" became the toastmaster and he invited several friends and family of Gene's to come up and say a few words about him. As Peter announced each person he made up a story about what their background was, which was pretty freaking funny.
After dinner everyone mingled and had wine. People got autographs and I got pictures with the people that I really wanted pictures with, except Lizzy... I have her e-mail address, though, so I will be in touch with her. As a surprise the family turned the carousel on so we could all ride it for awhile. It was kind of terrifying! It didn't just go in a circle; it also went up and down quite unexpectedly! And it was much faster than I was expecting :)
As the evening wound down I stepped outside and chatted with authors and other guests. I didn't catch everyone's name, but they were just so much fun. After the event wrapped up completely, Mara asked if I wanted to go to an after party at Valya's house. Valya is the woman who organized the entire event. So, I agreed and managed to find my way into Chicago for that. There were about a dozen of us there including Kyle, Trillian, Peter Straub, Gary Wolfe (Gene's brother), and his girlfriend, Maura, Madeline, Carl, and I think that's everyone besides the hostess and her husband whose name I don't recall. I was only there for about an hour chatting, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. I managed to get back to my hotel by a little before 3am.
I slept horribly that night because I kept replaying everything in my head. The next day as I was heading to my cousin's for brunch, I had a thought that brought tears to my eyes. We all create the magic in our own lives. We just have to be true to ourselves and live the lives that we truly want them to be. If we do that, then the magic grows because we meet other like-minded people to bring along on our magical journey through this life. That evening was filled with magical people. I received so many names and e-mail addresses from people who completely GET this part of who I am. And it filled me with such peace and love that I was filled to bursting. I am also fortunate to have many of these people already in my life back at home, so I count myself as one of the luckiest women in the world.
Thanks for reading if you made it this far.
Peace,
Leslie