Listened to a lecture by John Casey on mentorship and writers, what mentors are, what does that mean, etc. He used a little doll to explain his points?
Lunch.
Went to the bookstore to buy a few books. It rained a bit.
Listened to the Fellows reading - Margo Rabb read from her latest. Later she came swimming with us.
Bausch read a new story for the second reading. Later on that night, he sang songs on the porch of the French House and played guitar and everyone had fun.
Then we had a 'book-signing' party in the bookstore. John Casey signed a copy of Spartina for me and Christine Schutt signed a copy of Nightwork for me. I also bought her second story collection. I talked to Jason Ockert about his book Rabbit Punches. I want to buy it. I think I will buy it tomorrow.
Then dinner.
Then I chatted with my dad on the phone; today was his birthday.
Then we went and played lots of pingpong and I defeated everyone.
Josh Weil wanted to go swimming in the swimming lake at night, so we went to the French House for a drink and then went swimming at night. We went swimming in a tiny little swimming lake on campus. It was shallow and warm. Frogs made frog sounds nearby. Then we came back and sat around then we went to bed.
Today was a slow day. I felt relaxed today. I felt good about things. After dinner I went back to my room by myself and just sat in my room and felt a little sad and alone. I then felt more relaxed, and I think I just needed to stop doing things for like thirty minutes, stop doing conference things to take a break from all this activity. I felt a little overwhelmed and then decided to do some proofreading and after that I decided to interact with people again after I had had a little break.
Also, here is a picture of my room. I have been really messy this trip.
