Punk Planet rocking at their BEA booth.

Even late on Sunday, Alice McDermott had an enthusiastic line of fans.

I was warned clearly by previous BEA attendees that picking up books was a bad idea. They have to be schlepped around the convention floor (growing heavier with each step), then hauled all the way back to LA. Get them shipped, I was told. But I caved yesterday, especially after picking up the most excellent tote bag (made from recycled tires) from worldchanging‘s booth. They’ve got a book coming out early next year that will be a kind of best-of encyclopedia from the site.

A few books that made their way into my new cute tote bag:

Chris Anderson has been all over the conference talking about The Long Tail, the book-length version of his article, but I haven’t caught  any of his appearances. So I grabbed "the new Tipping Point" (that’s what the blurb says) and will soon learn Why The Future of Business is Selling Less of More (that’s the subtitle).

Boy Detective Fails by Joe Meno from Punk Planet Books and Akashic Books (in stores in September). I loved the description by the folks at Punk Planet, but I don’t think I’ll do it justice until I’ve had a chance to read it myself.

Memorial by Bruce Wagner (on Simon & Schuster). Apparently it’s not set in Hollywood. That’s new.

La Porte, Indiana by Jason Bitner on Princeton Architectural Press. Bitner, one of the founders of Found Magazine, walked into a diner in Indiana and noticed some photos that had been tacked up. Turned out they were from a long-closed portrait studio and the diner had boxes and boxes of portraits in the back. The book are those potraits, and they’re beautiful. The stories that accompany them are great; I heard a few and hope to get Jason to visit the Paperhaus with them.

Maul by Tricia Sullivan on Night Shade Books. I think it’s time for me to start reading science fiction again.

The bound shooting script of Adaptation from Newmartket Press. Because if Charlie Kaufman is the greatest writer of our generation, shouldn’t I have something by him on my bookshelf?

One of the best ways to get around DC for BEA is the Washington DC subway.

But the government wants to remind you that any backpack could be cause for suspicion. Really, is this 1984?

And at one stop, there’s a clear reminder that you’re not using the coolest transportation in the universe.

Bat Segundo, the host of the literary world’s best podcast, made his first in-the-flesh appearance last night. He insulted partygoers, kissed Matt from Mumpsimus and did his best to create havoc. All at top volume.

The smart and cool litbloggers of the LitBlog Co-Op threw a party Friday night. Gwenda and Lauren were both stylish and conveniently seated near one of the few lights. The dark was good for atmosphere, not so good for pictures.

The editor of the LA Times Book Review, David Ulin, hid the books he was carrying before I could snap a photo. I saw at least one LA-based writer’s ARC in the pile. That’s not giving away too much, is it?

The sitting woman is from Newsweek. Or Newsday. She does books for a newsy publication. News-something.

As others have mentioned, it’s hard to blog when the convention center is charging $50 a day for wifi. I mean, it’s hard for those of us who need sleep, and easy for anyone else. I’ve got some photos up but now I have to run to the convention center. I’m the latest blogger ever.

Today’s goal is to really hit the floor. There are hundreds (thousands?) of publishers and they’ve all got books and banners and chairs and it’s a little overwhelming. There are the few that try a little too hard to make an impression, like these guys I spotted in the lobby. See my other BEA photos on flickr.

BEA got underway this morning. Everything kicked off for me with a podcasting panel, unfortunately led by the man who wrote Podcasting for Dummies. Literally, the dude who wrote the book. He was painfully awful, never connecting podcasting to books (let alone literary books), never going beyond shallow business jargon. It was such a lost opportunity that I was flashing between fury and disappointment. Ed was able to stomach far more than me. I felt terribly sorry for the people in the audience, who came curious to learn something about podcasting and were being subjected to a low-rent marketing schpiel. "You have to treat podcasting like a business solution," he said. Call me crazy but I thought you had to think of it as a creative endeavor. He also called podcasting the Next Big Thing. Hello, got any snake oil?

So a quick chain of fortunate circumstances later and I’m heading to the National Museum of History with Cecil and David and Steve to see the new Muppet exhibit. How cool! Except it’s just 5 sealed cases of puppets, one of which contains only the Swedish Chef. No Gonzo whatsoever. No Sam Eagle, no Miss Piggy, no Dr. Bunsen Honeydew or his sidekick Beaker. We could see the muppets but no touchy touchy. Eh, it was still better than a lame podcast session.

Later I was lucky again and ran into Kassia and met Lauren and Wendi and Megan and saw Ron and Mark and trailed around on the subway behind Ed, who has a very good sense of direction. Tomorrow I will try much harder to grin and bear any panels that suck — because none can be as crappy as today’s podcasting panel.