SUNDAY NOVEMBER 15th 2009 - SEATTLE

5:45 PM

I'm afraid I might be getting sick. I got into Seattle a little past 11 AM and as soon as I got out of the car I could tell something wasn't quite right. It was neither the cold nor the wet, but their combination.

I went to the big "Seattle mid-way write-in" and it just completely rubbed me the wrong way. I wasn't into the vibe at all - it was totally crowded and I didn't feel like the general approach to writing in the room had much in common with my own. Also, there was an unbelievable amount of talking - in fact there was a podium and a microphone which was used frequently, punctuated by ten minute writing "sprints" during which there was a general competition to see who could produce the most words before the ten minutes was up, and the talking commenced again. I am a fan of just letting the writing flow, but for me, ten minutes is barely time to get warmed up.

by 3:30, I was beginning to feel seriously ill - not sure if it was the vibe, the icey-wet outside, the lack of sleep, or all of the above, but visions of swine flu were dancing in my head, so I headed for my hostel, checked in, and crashed into bed. Hopefully with some good rest I will nip this in the bud...