Tsk tsk… Chan reeled me in to this secret meme… and then Anita again before I could post my answers. You post all the answers, and then if people are curious enough to ask for the questions, they can only have them if they promise to play along too.

I WARNED YOU!

1. Miss604
2. (non-blogger)
3. Princess Pea (England please…)
   
4. Chelle
5. Aunty Kathy
6. Nannybird
7. Michelle (too nice not too!)
8. Jessi
9. Chan (the enabler)
10. OW from Overwhelmed with Joy! (Boo! Snuggle Bug!)
11. Lezlie from Books & Border Collies (books!?)
12. Jessi
13. Amy aka My Friend Amy
    
14. Serena
15. Stephanie
16. Rachel from The Times We Are Living In
17. Cass
18. Anita aka Yarn Demon
19. Heather aka Domestic Extraordinare
20. Katie of Knit Me to the End of Time
21. Wendy aka Literary Feline
22. Julia
23. Trish
24. Tanabana of In the Spring it is Dawn
25. Ruth (aka ScrabbleQueen)
26. The guys from Bookgasm
27. Dewey
28. … ;)
29. Wendy aka Literary Feline (can’t get enough?)
30. Think for yourselves, and let others enjoy the privilege of doing so too.

Everything went fantastic! There were a couple of hiccups that either couldn’t be avoided or weren’t our fault, but all very minor things. Wow! How do I sum up the day? Or really, the efforts of past several months?

My part: calling exhibitors, publishers, individuals, sponsors, businesses to set up exhibiting, appearances, donations, books and magazines, etc. As well as many other things around the office during production: organizing books, magazines, instructions, surveys, treasure hunts, book bags, tshirts… The list goes on and I was only one very minor person — most of the people I worked with did loads more than me! (Thank you everyone!)

But lets get to some of the good stuff.. here are photos before the festival:

FRIDAY: The shirts finally arrive

Trevor models a Youth Medium…

And we fold, organize, sort, and label them.

SATURDAY: Set-up on-site!

(aka leave us alone!)

Loading lots of stuff overnight

Over 1000 balloons

Attached to the tents…

Exhibitor booths,

Volunteer Checkin! (where I was most of Saturday and all morning Sunday)

Happy Volunteers!

More balloons on tents

We actually close the streets!

Ready and waiting…

Sponsors who helped us greatly!

SUNDAY: the big day On The Street!

Word PlaYce: The big wordsearch!

Word PlaYce: words on the street… literally!

Info / Merchandise booth!

Magazine Life Tent (new for this year!)

Silent Auction (we’re non-profit and rely on sponsors, donations, and fundraising!)

Artist for Crow Toes Quarterly Magazine — drew an excellent crowd!

Storytelling/Puppets for kids

Members of Circus Fungus! (and Word on the Street Staff)

Fin, the Canucks mascot, signing autographs for kids

Me (in blue) at the Mint Records booth with Nardwuar

Mainstage — C.R. Avery gathering quite a crowd!

Kids dancing to children’s musicial Chris Hamilton

WOTS staff after a hard days work… having a nice dinner!

R is for… Rachel

During Book Blogger Appreciation Week, there were hundreds of giveaways and contests. Amy had publishers, bloggers, and many others all arranging various topics of conversation, interviews, and guest posts.

Upon suggestion, I’ve decided to play a bit of catch-up from all the great Daily Topics from BBAW! Technically there was no “official” daily topic… but there were certainly a lot of “question” contests. Here are some of the ones I wanted to take part in (just for answers).

[Monday] I Love These Bloggers!

Here are some of the book bloggers I already visit:

• Stephanie’s Written Word (my very first book blog subscription!)
• Books N’ Border Collies (Lezlie)
• Musings of a Bookish Kitty (Literary Feline aka Wendy)
• Hidden Side of the Leaf (Dewey)
• Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin’? (Trish)
• Should Be Reading (various Weekly Memes)

[Tuesday] You Know You’re a Book Addict When…

… you can’t stop looking at books (bookstores, blogs, libraries, secondhand stores, friends’ houses, etc) even though your TBR pile is probably taller than you.

[Wednesday] My Blogging Tips…

• What is one thing you wish you knew about blogging when you started or what advice would you give a newbie blogger? To get comments, you must leave comments.
• What is your best blogging tip? Balance your works with pictures. Text-heavy posts aren’t as much fun to look at as ones that are a good mixture.

[Thursday] What’s the Craziest Place You’ve Ever Read?

Some people wrote about reading in a public washroom (at their work) just to finish a book and cry in private. Others wrote about reading while walking, the movies, a ferris wheel, the shower!

Unfortunately I get motion sick, so I can’t read in the car, on the bus, train, while walking (anymore), and I can only barely read while flying on a plane. I suppose the oddest place I’ve read is sitting in the back of my closet as a kid. This was my “secret” spot where my parents couldn’t find me (although they probably knew I was there.)

Another crazy place to read is up a tree. I used to have this favourite tree I would climb with my backpack, and I would read, write, listen to music, and do my homework up in the tree.

[Friday] Some of the New Blogs I’ve Discovered:

Because of BBAW and the awards, I am now reading:

• My Friend Amy (of course! The creator of the awards, and the Queen of Book Blogging

I was actually surprised how many of the blogs I already knew about. But due to the great big gush of book-love during BBAW… I am now reading more dedicatedly (before it was just glances when time allowed) the following blogs:

• Savvy Verse & Wit (Serena)
• Bookroom Reviews
• A Striped Armchair
• Galley Cat (not sure what I think about this… it won Best Publishing Blog, but I still prefer the Quill & Quire blog)
• The Inside Cover
• Overwhelmed with Joy (is also a foster parent and talks about their experiences with that too)

And here are some blogs I’m hoping to get a chance to read a bit more:

• Maw Books (Most Extravagant Giveaways, among others)
  
• Bookgasm (Best General BBlog, among others)
  
• Rip my Bodice
  
• Edit Torrent

Paul Newman passed away yesterday at the age of 83 after being diagnosed with lung cancer in June. It’s pretty sad, seeing as he was one of my favourite actors, but at least he lived a long life full of amazing accomplishments. Fortunately, his famous blue eyes will live on forever in his films.

You may scoff all you like at his Newman’s Own line of salad dressing, but he donates all the of proceeds to charity, including his Hole in the Wall Gang children’s summer camp. These donations exceeded $250 million as of February 2008 (since starting the company as a joke with his friend in 1982).Fortunately, his daughter Nell Newman will be taking over the Newman’s Own franchise.

In tribute to his outstanding career and life, I’m going to watch my favourite Paul movie: ‘The Sting’.

If I have time, I’ll watch my close seconds: ‘Cool Hand Luke‘ and ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’ (left: the smile that I love).

I hope you find time to do the same sometime this week! It’s well worth it.

Here he is with his wife, Joanne Woodward, married since 1958!