Tuesday, 7/3

Hey all,

It’s finally here.  I arrived last night at 1:30 AM in lovely Indianapolis, which means that it’s time to restart the ol’ blog.  Rather than write about the status of given resolutions (which I reserve the right to still do, sparingly, but which others are much more capable of doing intelligently), I thought that I would instead try to capture a broader sense of how GC is on the whole.  To do this, I plan to write at least once per day, posting pictures as I go, using some or all of the following categories:

• Fist to five: A quick check-in I used to do with campers, to rate their day on a scale of fist (zero fingers = horrible day) to five (five fingers = amazing day) or anywhere in between, along with a short description of why
• Superlative award(s): Some aspect of the day that merits special recognition
• Biggest legislative decision: Notes about important decisions we made on the legislative floor
• Person of the day: Someone I met whom I think the broader community should also meet
• Outfit of the day (OOTD): Since I’m vain and have different colored outfits and different ties for every day, I’ll post pics of what I wore on a given day
• Exhibitor of note: Description of a booth from the exhibit hall that is worth the trip to see
• Personal highlight: Anything especially fun for me

So yes, we will start with those categories, and perhaps add others later as we go.  Ideally, this will also help remind me to take pictures during the day, so that the entries can be that much more interactive.  Also, if there are additional categories that you want to see, comment to suggest them, and I’ll be happy to write about them, too.  So for today, here we go!

Fist to five: Today was definitely a five for me.  I have been waiting for GC for so long, and it’s finally here.  I have seen old friends I haven’t seen in months, and I have already been introduced to so many amazing people.  I literally woke up after sleeping less than five hours because I was too excited to sleep.  I’ve been geekily excited and happy all day long.  It’s off to a great start, and I’m flying high.

I’m finally here!

Superlative: Best new convention technology goes to the flash drives that each legislative committee secretary (like me!) is being given.  They have all our resolutions pre-loaded already, along with templates for minutes and reports.  I suspect that it will make being the secretary far easier and more standardized (and therefore useful) than letting the various secretaries take notes willy-nilly.  For a church that hasn’t been too quick to adapt to technology, I thought these were a small but very good step forward.  Props, GC Secretariat.

Biggest legislative decision: Still haven’t started the official voting yet, so nothing to report here.

Person of the day: Sister Estelle Irene, a GC volunteer from Indianapolis whom I met while I was eagerly awaiting the chance to be the first one in the door to get my deputy badge.  She is working on starting a convent for people who are transitioning and getting the church’s recognition for it.  We had spent ten or fifteen minutes having a lovely conversation.  She will be here volunteering either two or three days (I confess that I cannot remember), one of which she told me that she will be in full medieval habit, so that is something to look forward to.

Sister Estelle Irene at the GC information table, shortly before deputy certification began

OOTD: Today was teal day.  Here are my OOTDs (OsOTD?) from the past two days, looking comparatively grubby on the plane last night, and then dressier today.

Airplane outfit

 

Teal monochrome

Exhibitor of note: Hands down, this goes to St. Wulfstan’s Books (booth 529).  If you are within 100 miles of Indianapolis, you should come see this, that’s how much my mind was blown.  Just sitting out for your perusal are books.  Old books.  Realllllly old books.  Like, CoE prayer books from the 1660s.  Latin Bible from the early 1500s.  The 1789, and even the rejected 1786(!), American prayer books.  It’s all there, out in the open, and even for sale if you are looking for an awesome way to significantly lighten your wallet.  The only downside was that the exhibitor wasn’t in the booth when I came by — which is even more mind-blowing, considering that there are multi-thousand dollar books just lying out there — but I will definitely be heading back there to talk to the exhibitor, take another look, and get my Anglican history nerd on.

A first edition 1662 BCP. No big deal. A steal at $2,400.00.

Personal highlight: There were so many that it’s hard to pick.  In addition to all the aforementioned items, another great moment happened when I stopped by the ecclesiastical art exhibit, which turned out not to be open yet.  However, the gracious curators invited me in anyway for a sneak preview.  So I got to be the first one to check out this often-overlooked gem right in the middle of convention.  I only had a few minutes, but it was awesome; I’ll be back to check it out more fully and get some pictures for you all.

I’m official!

By the end of convention, this will be full.

My convention bag (courtesy of the lovely folks at Cokesbury) after one day’s worth of button-hunting

Episcopal shield emblazoned flip-flops and polar bears

…and I’ve only purchased three books so far….

So there you have it — first full day down, and I’m flying high.  More to come.  Thanks for reading, and let me know what other categories you’d like to know about.

-Matt