#vpxv + v

[jazzfish]

The Viable Paradise twenty-year reunion occurs this October. It appears that there are still spots and hotel rooms available, at least for another twenty-four hours.

I suppose I ought to decide if I'm going.

Pros:

• A chance to see people that I've not seen in years, and miss.
  
• I'm planning on going back east this fall anyway.
  
• Autumnal Massachusetts.
  
• I felt like me when I was at VP.
  

Cons:

• It costs money. This is more in the nature of an excuse than an actual con.
  
• It takes time away from a potential Blacksburg trip. Meh. B'burg will still be there next year.
  
• I might need my vacation time to pack/move. Ha. I mean, maybe, but planning around the Vancouver real estate market suddenly becoming a little more rational strikes me as a fool's game.
  
• "So, what have you done writing-wise in the last five years?" "Well, for three years I was finishing up burning myself out, and then I spent a year mostly-recovering from that. And now I'm not sure but I might be burning out again. So, not much."
  
• "Oh, and I haven't been able to expand/fix that story you said you liked, either. I did finish a couple of other stories, but I seem to have run out of markets for them to get rejected from."

Bah. The cons are all along the lines of being afraid of not being a Real Writer. Which is a real fear but probably not worth skipping the reunion.

Besides, maybe the impending need to have something to show off will push me to get somewhere with this %&$ novel.

Comments

[wohali]

I dunno, I was hoping there'd be a correction of sorts with the new tax on foreign ownership in YVR. Has there been any relief?

You should go. It sounds like something you'd have fun with. And don't worry about showing off, just be yourself <3 I'd have a hard time following that advice, too, but sometimes it's not about comparing yourself to other people...

[jazzfish]

... sort of. As Deng Xiaoping said when he was asked what he thought of the French Revolution, "It is too soon to tell." There's definitely been a slump in August compared to the past several months but it's too early to tell if that's a legitimate slowdown or if it's just a speedbump while they figure out how to work around the tax. (I mean, there were properties advertised as "15% discount for foreign buyers!")

And it's not as bad as it was even last week; we're seeing some things come up we might be interested in. Up until yesterday it was all out of our price range or out of our desired area, or both.