Diary #505

By Maggiemcneill @Maggie_McNeill

I spent most of last week in Orlando, Florida, brainstorming with Alex Andrews of SWOP Behind Bars about a big project we’re cooking up; I can’t give you any details yet, because we’re just in the planning stages.  But I just want to say that Alex is freaking brilliant and can put together stuff that I couldn’t even come up with, much less plan!  Next step: a meeting in a few weeks with someone who may be able to facilitate our scheme.  Of course, the week wasn’t all activism stuff; I planned my travel to stop off and spend the night with one of my favorite gentlemen (because THAT kind of planning I’m fairly good at), and I also had a lovely coffee date with a reader and the best couple session I’ve had in quite some time.  I also learned a valuable lesson:  do not under any circumstances try to fly out of Orlando on a Sunday, because it will not happen.  I watched my position in the standby queue drop from 6th to 22nd to 28th while I searched flights and came to the conclusion that I’d be better off switching to a stupidly-early Monday flight and heading off to a nearby hotel to get as much rest as possible.  But y’all will be glad to know that it barely even annoyed me; I didn’t have anything on the calendar for Monday anyhow, and I landed in Seattle just after 11 AM.  I’m definitely getting better at this “taking things in stride” stuff; I hope it’ll last.