from my mind grapes: meeting Susan Orlean

Finals week nearly broke me. Last last Monday, after only two hours of sleep and about twenty hours of writing one of my courses met for the final class at the professor's favorite bar. I was already drunk with sleeplessness, so you can imagine how I was after a pint of Bud Light... And I still had 28 more hours until I finally turned my last story.

BUT. I'm done now. Actually I was done Wednesday, May 4th at midnight (or Thursday morning, I suppose that would be more accurate), but I've been far too busy napping and forcing Penny to snuggle with me and watching 51 episodes of 30 Rock on the iPad over the past week and a half to blog.

I really haven't known what to do with myself now that I have free time. Okay, that's not true. I know what I should be doing with myself (cleaning, dishes, applying for jobs, etc). But since I don't want to do those things, I haven't known what to do. Or at least what to do first (should I nap then watch mindless TV, or watch mindless TV then nap???). I am very, very excited to have free time and to do things that I want to do without feeling horribly guilty about whatever school thing I'm neglecting to do so. Notably reading. I have been amassing so many books over the past year that I have not had any time to read.

I even got three brand new books in the last week of school, all signed! Y'all. For a nerd like me, signed books are like crack. Especially when they are by SUSAN ORLEAN. Who is Susan Orlean, you may ask? Let me illuminate.

The weekend before all my finals were due, BU hosted their annual Narrative Nonfiction Conference. It was quite possibly the worst timing in the history of the universe, but I went anyway, because a) one of my professors helped organize it and strongly encouraged his students to go (by "encouraged," I mean in class one morning he told us all to stop what we were doing and go RSVP so we could snag the few free student tickets bring offered) and b) there was free food, but also because c) I'm a huge nerd and I love conferences.

It ended up being totally worth it despite losing a day and a half of work because I got to see, listen to and meet one of my writing idols, acclaimed nonfiction novelist and writer for The New Yorker Susan Orlean. (...Sort of meet, at least.)

If you don't know who Susan Orlean is, here are some reasons she is awesome and I want to grow up to be her or at least play her in the movie version of her life*:
1) she is an incredible writer
2) she's a ginger
3) she's smoking hot at 56
4) she tweets more than I do
5) she's incredibly enthusiastic, funny and smart
6) did I mention she's an incredible writer?

There were some other amazing speakers too, like Gay Talese (prolific writer as good now at 79 as he was at 24 - or perhaps vice versa), Isabel Wilkerson (author of the book that the nonfiction narrative world is collectively peeing their pants over, The Warmth of Other Suns) and Jill Abramson (managing editor of The New York Times, aka the holy text of our people).

But Susan was the one I was the most excited to see. And she did not disappoint, with the most honest and useful and entertaining keynote of the conference.

And then after all the panels and keynotes and readings of excerpts, there was a reception with awesome cheeses and wine (again, worst timing ever; all events with free alcohol should be held at least two weekends before finals, don't they KNOW that?!) and book signings.

Which brings me to meeting Susan Orlean. She signed my book!

I told her she inspired us students to persevere through our finals! Note: Figuring out what to say at a book signing is seriously the most awkward thing ever.

I (and two other students) took a picture with her!

The guy taking the photo told us we looked "really good" standing behind her like that. I'm pretty sure he doesn't know the difference between "really good" and "incredibly awkward."

We legitimately look like we are stalking Susan Orlean and we just jumped into the background of a solo photo she was taking at the signing table.

But whatever, this is what it looked like in my head anyway:

please note the BFF bracelets Suze made us

Dear Susan,
Please never stop being an awesome redhead. I can't wait to read the book you signed for me. Also please don't put me on some kind of security blacklist for this post, I promise I'm not dangerous.
Love,
Kathleen


* The movie version of her REAL life, not the fictionalized craziness of The Orchid Thief.