So, every time ALA rolls around I get all excited. This is my third one, but I’m still all giddy like a schoolgirl (and just what does that mean, anyway? I don’t remember being particularly giddy when I was in school).

However.

Every time I go to ALA, some disfiguring nastiness occurs. The first one, a sty in my eye. I’d never even had one before in my entire life, but here was my lower eyelid, all red and puffy and swollen. I had the plague eye. And, you know, the fact that I was still carrying a bunch of after-baby fat around (The Max was only about 3 or 4 months old at that point).

Last year, I had a very lovely pimple that was the size of New Jersey. And then The Max got bit by a spider or something in our hotel room — right by his eye — and it swelled up and turned red. He looked like a boxer who’d lost a fight. Try walking around with a one year old that looks like that and see what kind of looks you get.

This year? Well, this year I have blue hair (which is on purpose and rather lovely, if I do say so myself). But I also have a collection of red welts on my arms and legs from a deer fly attack a WEEK AND A HALF AGO plus, at the moment, a foot swollen to 3 times it’s normal size because a hornet bit me yesterday. I haz sausage foot. I’m not sure if I can even wear any shoes other than flip flops right now.

It’s my ALA curse.

So, if you go, and you see some poor little short half-Asian author person limping around and looking like a plague victim, that would be me.

In other news, I’ve narrowed down the Launch Contest entries to some finalists and have some volunteer judges going through those to determine the winners. I should be announcing them shortly! Can’t wait to meet you, whoever you are, O Grand Prize winner!