Moving around ...
Next Friday through Monday, I'm going to be one of the guests of honour at the 2008 British Eastercon, Orbital '08, at the Radisson Edwardian Hotel, Heathrow. (That's just inside the M25, London's orbital motorway, hence the name — I assume.) If you're planning on going there, you can find the program grid here (warning: PDF); I'm on too many panels and other items to itemize here. (By Tuesday I am going to be fried.)
The following weekend (March 29th-30th) I'm going to be one of the guests at P-Con IV in Dublin. (No, I'm not a guest of honour this time; the job goes to Catie "C. E." Murphy. As I said, I'm going to be fried; doing two GoH appearances on successive weekends is a really bad idea, even if you're a shameless publicity whore like me. On the other hand, I'm pleased to have been asked to be GoH at Mecon 11 in Belfast this August. It's nearly three whole weeks after the worldcon in Denver and I hope to be over the jet lag by then ...)
Finally, in the first week of April I'm going to be on a research trip and seeing folks around Washington DC. No scheduled signings or SF conventions, but I plan to spend a while here and here among other things.
Yes, I will try to blog from time to time. Yes, I intend to obey Rule #1 during this spasm of travel to three different countries in as many weeks (Rule #1 is "Don't Die"). Yes, I'm planning on getting the book finished on time. (78,000 words written, 22,000 words to go ...)
Air and Space. God, I love Air and Space. Every time I'm in DC, I hit A&S. Recently added to the must-visit-when-I'm=in-DC list: National Galleries. Hey, we can be art geeks and tech geeks, right?
Say hi to F-BVFA for me when you're at Udvar-Hazy.
Have fun at Orbital and if you run into Judith, ask her if she's finished "Halting State" yet.
Funny. As an Englishman in New York, I'm actually _in_ London this week (my Dad's 70th on Wednesday). And flying back to New York on Saturday. I already have plans for Friday.
My not-a-fan-boy-honest tendencies will have to remain un-Strossified.
If your researching Air and Space, you may want to check out the National Museum of the Air Force. Its much larger. It also has space artifacts in the missile and space gallery. The area is also home of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the Wright Brothers, Hanger 18, and Project Blue Book.
http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/visit/
John
John, it's not larger if you count NASM's Udvar Hazy annex.
Sorry, I was just considering the Udvar Hazy Hanger. The three main hangers at the Air Force museum total about 1.5 times the size of the Udvar Hazy Hanger, not considering the displays outside the Air Force Museum and the Presidential Hanger which is on WPAFB.
Air Force Hangers and outside displays.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=wpafb&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=89.557512,111.972656&ie=UTF8&ll=39.782701,-84.108421&spn=0.005607,0.006834&t=h&z=17
Udvar Hazy Hanger
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Udvar+Hazy+annex&ie=UTF8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ll=38.910429,-77.443024&spn=0.005677,0.006834&t=h&z=17
However, both places are great to see and have unique items in each.
During your visit to Washington, don't miss this: the National Air and Space Museum's Milestones of Flight gallery includes a mounted moon rock that visitors can touch. (More info at http://www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/gal100/ and a close-up image at http://www.nasm.si.edu/imagedetail.cfm?imageID=994 .