General Assembly - Ft. Lauderdale

The UUA General Assembly in Ft. Lauderdale is off and running. So far, it seems well put together, and plenary meetings and workshops are tight and well run. The opening ceremony, with the Sources Cantata by Jason Shelton and Kendall Gibbons, was beautiful, though I had to perceive that beauty through the distorted amplification. We still don't have a handle on how to support choral singing in a giant convention center hall. Kendall told me the recording was suprisingly good, so maybe I'll get a chance to hear that.

GA attendance is down about a third, I understand, from previous years. Not surprising. We're all cooking down here in the steamy Florida heat. I remember this heat, the same Houston heat and humidity, and while one adapts to it, one never truly gets used to it.

Beside the heat, my one other whiny complaint has been internet access. My hotel is great in every other way (free breakfast!), but even when I broke down and was ready to pay the usurious $10 a day fee for internet, it wouldn't work with my machine. The internet at the convention center cafe was broken, too. I was reduced to poaching free wireless outside the door of the low-priced hotel a friend stayed at. Finally, I found a coffeeshop with French pastries and free wireless., so I'm catching up on email, journaling, and these posts. Life is good.