tin house - day 2 trees, hula-hoops & more

Day 2 - Sunday July 10th. woke at 5am, didn't know where the hell I was for a minute & noted the resemblance of the dorm room to those "places" where they put difficult women (a good description of one of these features prominently in my memory of the "Bell Jar")...gave up on sleeping, did some work for an hour or so and then got ready to go to the gym only to be told by a neighbor that the gym would not be open today. This is right up there with the "no Diet Coke" (those there's some in the bookstore I've been told - which of course, isn't open). Gym visit impossible, I showered (BTW - we have ONE shower and TWO toilet stalls for the ENTIRE floor)...and did some more work.Then headed out to try to find some more WATER (there's no water anywhere to be had other than the tap water...which tastes like the green, green pond...)...Breakfast had been moved from 7:30 until "maybe 8 or 8:30?"...We were told later by an editor that the "kitchen staff was confused". Back to do more work & then took a long walk on some trails through Reed Canyon - enjoying the light rain, the 64 degree temps and the REALLY REALLY BIG trees everywhere. One thing that can do in Oregon is make REALLY REALLY BIG trees. Breakfast...on offer were lots were - bacon, eggs, or french toast. I had 3 kinds of fruit and some instant oatmeal...Apparently, all this talk of catering to vegans was a big lie. Ahem. I refilled my water bottles (realizing that there may not be any more water anywhere the rest of the day) and went off for another walk...10am our workshop started and it lasted until nearly 1pm. More on that later, but let's just say, Chris Offutt is a phenomenal teacher. Then it was on to lunch with the workshop peeps & other new friends from the day before. (12:30-1:30 lunch)...2-3 Panel with the Tin House editors "Getting Into Print" followed by 3-4pm panel "The Agent Game" 4:30 "cocktail hour" (no more open bar) and 6-7 dinner...there's apparently some attempt to get us all to play with hula-hoops. Which is why I'm not in here (Computer Lab) writing this, since of course, dial up won't work from my cell...I mean "dorm room". in a combination military barracks and jail. And now... off to a reading with DA Powell & Aimee Bender. And a Reception and Student Readings and more work. [note: DA Powell broke my heart & Aimee Bender made me laugh - more in detail later...]