Malice, marshmallow fluff, and eyebrows

I just got back from the banquet (and post-banquet drinks), and I had a great time. Lots of fun authors and fans! And a good dinner, even if the chocolate mousse cake tasted disappointingly like brown marshmallow fluff.

And for those of you have been wondering about the Agathas, alas, the esteemed teapot didn’t go home with me. It did, however, go home with Sandra Parshall, who is a lovely woman — and, from everything I’ve heard, wrote a great book (it’s called Heat of the Moon).

I got to hang out with a TON of authors and readers, though, and took even more photos I haven’t downloaded yet. When I finally do get around to posting them all, it’s going to be one picture-riffic post.

Oh — and I’ve been saving up little tidbits the last few days — have to share them.

First, when I complimented a woman in the Austin airport on her perfume, she informed me it was “CK Ethiopia.”

To which I said: “Ethiopia? Do you mean Utopia?” (Easy to confuse, I know.)

Her response? “Yeah, that’s it. Oh, and there’s another good one. It’s called Juicy Contour.” (Correct me if I’m wrong — I am not an aficionado of these things — but isn’t it “Juicy Couture?”)

She was so nice, and the things coming out of her mouth were so fun, I just wanted to keep her talking (in part to see what other perfume names she could come up with), but alas, we were cruelly separated by the airline security lines.

My next unique discovery was a ladies’ room in the DFW airport that smells EXACTLY like a donut shop. Weird.

And my last little tidbit came from the massive horde of highschool kids on the plane. One of the rather loud, blonde girls in the seats in front of mine shouted across the aisle to a friend (in a very urgent tone): “Brittany. You HAVE to come over here. We’re discussing eyebrows!”

Another not-to-be-missed conversation, I’m sure. And it was doubtless documented by the twelve digital cameras they had with them, all of which probably exhausted their memory and battery life before we crossed over Tennessee. (We were headed to D.C.) I’m afraid the only pictorial memories of their big trip will involve the blue seatbacks of a 747 and a lot of braces.

Well, it’s past midnight here, and I have to be up in six hours for the Sisters in Crime breakfast, but I just wanted to check in and say hi.

Toodles! More soon, I promise…