Author: Elaine

My trip to Albuquerque with Jack on the occasion of Bubonicon was marred by a head cold. I felt a suspicious scratchiness in my throat Thursday night, and had full bore symptoms by Friday morning. However, I had a relatively pleasant time despite the cold, though I did run out of steam by late afternoon each day.

The function space in the new hotel seemed to allow for a bigger dealer’s room as well as a larger art show. The con suite was up one level from the other rooms, and due to the way the elevators worked, it was hard to go between the con suite and the other functions. Tables, both for serving and sitting, filled the con suite room, and I found it a little too cramped. However, in total, the hotel was much nicer than the one last year. The air conditioning worked a lot better as well, which is important in New Mexico.

I enjoyed my visits to rubber stamp stores “The China Phoenix” and “The Stamper’s Pad.” However, I ran out of oomph before I got to the fabulous paper store on Nob Hill. I know I am feeling puny when I can’t find the energy to visit a good paper store.

In what has become a tradition of sorts, we listed to an audiobook by Ngaio Marsh on the trip: “Spinsters in Jeopardy.” Marsh has the facility of keeping us listening while simultaneously we critique the various reasons why we don’t think much of her plotting. In this book, there were just too many coincidences: I am willing to suspend disbelief, but not to the extent Marsh required. However, the setting was gorgeous, and there were a lot of comic bits. Most importantly, it lasted all the way to Albuquerque, and most of the way back.