VSC Day 1 (well, really it’s the 2nd day, but I got here last night)

January 4, 2010

I’ll skip all the stuff about my delayed bus, yadda yadda.

I’m fried from sitting at the computer for much of the day– so i’m just going to just say a few words and post some pictures. But i’m having an awesome time, meeting such cool people.

Every meal I meet someone new and usually the first question out of their or my mouth is: so what do you do/what kind of work are you doing here at VSC?

Great great food: salmon dinner last night, couscous, homemade pizza today for lunch, incredible salad bar for lunch and dinners, curried chicken tonight.

My office, er, they call them studios here, which is kind of fun, is in the Maverick building, and is spacious and full of light with a view of the Gihon river (nearly frozen so that it’s just a sliver of water running by–from my window it looks thin and cold as a knife blade).  I’ve pretty much set up my office now (which, strangely smells of cedar: do they pipe it in here or what?).The snow is deep and dusts everything. It’s COLD, but i’m not complaining. It’s beautiful.

My house is called Bradley House and so far I haven’t seen anyone else in it! We all come and go at odd times and the only time we really interact is at meal time.

Cell phones (or at least mine) don’t work very often here so i’ve been free from text messages and vibrating phones–so quiet!

Took a quick walk into town (Johnson–just one street really) and picked up some beer and lotion (it gets very dry here).There’s a sweet coffee shop and bookstore and some thrift stores in town.

Going to go back to my room now and read unless I stumble across anyone having a party or anything. I actually missed the tour of the grounds because my bus was late last night and then I was working in the kitchen today (part of my fellowship) when the 2nd tour happened so I really don’t know my way around yet. Maybe everyone’s congregating somewhere and I don’t know it?

Ah well. There’s time.

More on my writing later… but i’m feeling good about it and this place does something to you… I don’t know

a. Energizes

b. Inspires

c. Motivates

d. All of the above?

There is so much creativity here– you can feel it in the air (the very COLD air).

Pictures below are:

1. My house– Bradley House

2. The street outside my house (the building on the right is the Mason Building–where the writers meet–this is where Amy Bloom and Howard Norman will speak/read)

3. The view from my studio window in the Maverick Studios

4. The Maverick Studios

5. The sign that says, Maverick Studios (ok, so not the most dynamic descriptions, sorry).

I promise more descriptive writeups after I get more settled in here.

Oh, and Happy New Year!