Live from the iPhone line!

It's hour number 19 here at the 5th Ave Apple Store in New York City, as we wait in line to get an iPhone. Oh sure we could waltz into a store tomorrow and get one without waiting but where would the fun be in that? Besides, we've got to have one *today*.

There is an incredible number of people here (approx 900 we're hearing), and the good folks at NYPD have placed us behind bars. That's right, they've locked us behind their favorite method of crowd control: interlocking steel bars. To move from the line (as in to relieve oneself or to forage for food), one must either walk to the front or the end of the line (which is a hell of a hike), or vault the bars (not really an option for the vertically challenged).

However, excitement is increasing as Steve Jobs was reportedly here earlier (and may still be), and they've already shut down the store. Police officers are starting to arrive in pairs to control the crowd so it seems that the situation is about to get even more interesting! Of course, we've had our share of weirdos (mostly during the night) driving by yelling "The iPhone Sucks!" and the religious zealots bearing signs claiming the end of the world is near. Standard fare for New York City, I understand.

Until I have more to report, click the picture above to see a little movie good friend and YML'er Loren Finkelstein and I recorded a few minutes ago... live from the line!

It's iPhone Week!

Whee! I've been waiting for this week for years. Tomorow I will take my place in line with my fellow MacMacs to buy an iPhone on Friday evening at 6:00 pm. And those of you who aren't into the iPhone, you should be. It could well be the coolest device in the history of the planet.

Yes, that's right, I will indeed be in line for over 24 hours. I don't know if you could call it camping per say, but I will be spending the night on the streets of NYC (which is as close to being homeless as I ever plan to be).

I won't be there alone, as (thankfully) my husband has been contracted to do a video for Macworld Magazine (otherwise I'd be on my own!). So until tomorrow, I'll have to be content with being pictured on Macworld's iPhone Central page with an iPhone in hand.

Check back for more tomorrow, live from the line!

Books, books, and more books

My name is Lesa and I'm a book-aholic. It's been 13 hours and 22 minutes since my last book purchase.

After my wine tasting (see yesterday's post), Sly, Jean, and I set off into downtown Portland for a little shopping at Powell's City of Books. It is indeed a city: four floors with several different rooms all color coded according to genre and category. A quick glance at the map sent Jean and I up a flight of stairs to the Gold Room, where all the sci-fi lives. Sly tooled around in the Rose Room where the mysteries live. I was in heaven. Sly had to fetch me a basket to hold all the books.

I'll confess that at one point I was perched high atop a ladder in the Blue Room with six different versions of Bram Stoker's Dracula all sprawled open to the first page of chapter 1, engrossed in comparing verbiage. I couldn't decide which one to buy and had to see if they differed in any way, you know, other than the introductions :)

I didn't want to leave when the two of 'em hauled me out of there; felt like I could have stayed forever. But then again, we had to get to dinner at the Blue Hour, and see if we could make that stripper bus (see also yesterday's post).

(Pictured: Poor Sly holding part of my book haul while I took a picture of the McCaffrey shelf, shown above.) Jean bought a book on Oregon wine country, Sly got a wine journal and a murder/mystery, and just for you fellow sci-fi geeks, here's what I bought:

1. Bram Stoker's Dracula (been wanting to read the original for years)

2. Priestess of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley (sequel to Mists of Avalon)

3. The Blood Books, Vol 2 by Tanya Huff

4. Moon Called by Mercy Thompson

5. Haunted by Kelley Armstrong ("Sometimes even a werewolf bites off more than she can chew."--wise words indeed!)

6. Masterharper of Pern by Anne McCaffrey

7. Skies of Pern by Anne McCaffrey

8. The Sandman: Book of Dreams by Neil Gaiman

The Girls of YML Do Portland

Here we are with yet another installment of the hugely popular segment: The Girls of YML Do... [enter your city here]". We're here in Portland, OR on behalf of iStockphoto hanging out with the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, otherwise known as "Alties." Portland is just a beautiful city - I'm so thrilled Sly could come down and join me.

So it's the AAN national convention and let me tell you, these folks know how to put on a conference. For example (and IDG, I hope you're reading this):

1. Great breakfast and lunch served in the expo hall every day, with coffee/tea/sodas served 'round 3:00 (Yes I understand this would be quite impossible with a crowd the size of Macworld, but it's nice all the same.)

2. They publish a newsletter every day posting photos of events from the night before, and what's happening that day. It's not huge, just four pages printed on 11 x 17 paper and folded. Efficient. Some of the information in said newsletter includes (and this is a quote from today's issue): " Travel Tip: the AAN Fridge. Need a spot to chill your brews? Try an old AAN favorite - just fill your sink with ice, and toss 'em in!" There's even a picture in case the description isn't clear enough.

3. One of the vendor booths has a huge margarita and daqueri machine. I kid you not. They are handing out flyers that say "Drink while you think." The dude with the chocolates at his booth doesn't stand a chance.

4. The dude with the chocolates at his booth is this guy (see picture). His name is Gary Brisendine and the sign on his booth says, "The Bitter Single Guy." He's a relationship advice columnist.

5. Free wireless in the expo hall.

6. Last night they hosted a reception with free wine from local Willamette Valley wineries and beer from the local micro brewery, all in the Portland Museum of Art's outdoor sculpture garden. They even hired a band with dancers on stilts. Click the photo to see the movie; it's bizarre.

7. Tonight they've arranged for a big yellow school bus (called the Bar Fly) to take us on a tour of (wait for it)... PORTLAND'S STRIP CLUBS.

:::::just let that one soak in for a moment::::::

::::and maybe just a few more moments for maximum impact::::::

8. When asked what kind of special event I'd like to sponsor at this show, I jokingly told the coordinator that an iStockphoto wine tasting would rock. She made it happen. Two local wineries are participating. It starts at 4:15 today IN THE EXPO HALL RIGHT NEXT TO MY BOOTH.

See what I'm saying?!

So last night, after Sly and I had some delicious cocktails at the museum, we did a little quality shopping at the museum store then took a walk on over to a restaurant I had been to six years ago called Jake's. That's really all I knew about it, was the name, and it's special to me because one of my favorite drinks was born there: Crown with Diet Coke and lime. (The bartender accidentally put a lime in thinking I'd asked for it, which I hadn't. The combo was so good I've stuck with it ever since.)

What I didn't realize was that Jake's is one of the 10 most popular seafood restaurants in the country and it's 110 years old. Humphrey Bogart frequented this place for Thor's sake! What a nice surprise that was. Fantastic food (we had fresh, wild Alaskan salmon from the Copper River, flown in that day), a terrific wine celler and a really unique atmosphere. If you are ever in Portland, you've got to go. The name of it is Jake's Famous Crawfish.

On the way to the restaurant, there was another shop that made quite an impact on me six years ago that I had hoped to stumble upon again. It's called Spartacus Leathers and it's an, um, "specialty shop" of sorts. Lo and behold it was right where I remembered it - directly across from Jake's. After perusing the front room where all manner of "creative clothing" can be had, we signed waivers, provided ID, and checked our bags at the counter - then we were lead through chain mail curtains into the "inner sanctum" of Spartacus. Our eyes were wide as they fell upon two huge walls, floor to ceiling, of "devices."

There were purchases and that's all I am willing to say. We were given coupons so we're hatching plans for a return trip. They're open till midnight and I *think* we'll have time to fit it in after tonight's party and before the strip club bus leaves. We thought we'd take YML sponsor, Jean from SmileOnMyMac, with us :)

Cosmic dragon!

The highlight of my Austin trip, aside from meeting tons of brilliant iStockphoto contributors, was getting a little addition to my artwork by Jose at True Blue Tattoo Studio. We spent about 2.5 hours together while he added to the beautiful dragon he had created a year before (that one took 1.5 hrs). This entire tattoo is Shawn's fault because he introduced me to Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern.

Note the red star at the lower left, and the small Apple logo where her heart would be:
She's a little itchy, and yes, it really did hurt.