Road blogging

I realize this is probably not a big deal for most of the modern world (i.e., those with cell phones, blackberries (for now), etc.), but for me the ability to plug my laptop into the hotel room wall and blog from Montgomery is kind of neat. Of course I have nothing to say, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity.

As you may have gathered, I'm not looking forward to this conference, but it is a nice room. I have a bed larger than my first apartment in grad school, a bathroom bigger than both my current bathrooms put together, and more towels than I could use in 6 months. Earlier I took a stroll about the hotel and discovered two things -- one useful and one useless.

• Useful: There's a coffe station just down the hall.
• Useless: The fitness room is just two doors away.

Oh, I did see one interesting thing while checking my usual roundup of sites today. Here's yet another reason to prefer minor league baseball. Evidently my favorite major league team did not foresee the huge demand for season tickets in their new, smaller stadium:

“We do not have the capacity to meet the demand for season tickets that we are experiencing,” he [Cardinals president Mark Lamping] said.

More than 3 million tickets are already committed for the 82-game home schedule through season tickets, group sales, four-game packages, club obligations and charity donations. That leaves only 500,000 that will go on sale to the public at 9 a.m. March 4.

See, you just don't have that problem in Pulaski, VA or Bluefield, WV. Of course Albert Pujols isn't in Pulaski or Bluefield either, but there's always a tradeoff.

Oh, I do have a new book recommendation: The Paperboy, by Pete Dexter. I mentioned it the day of the book sale, but I have now finished it. Here's my endorsement: I stayed up until 1:30 last Saturday night to finish it. It's been a while since I've done that, so I must have liked it. I was a little bummed at the ending, but I honestly don't think I could have come up with a better one. If I could, I guess I'd finally write that novel, huh?

Okay, that's about it. I'm sure I'll have much venting to do after tomorrow. Man, I wish I had not forgotten to bring my smiting stick. I feel sure I will meet some folks who need to be smote sorely tomorrow!